Chapter 2: The Age of Revolutions: American, French & Industrial

James Watt: Improved separate condenser steam engine (1769).
James Hargreaves: Spinning Jenny (1764).
George Stephenson: Steam locomotive rocket (1814).

1. The American Revolution (1775–1783)

Root Causes: British mercantile mercantilism, Stamp Act (1765), Boston Tea Party (1773), and the rallying cry "No taxation without representation".
Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776): Penned by Thomas Jefferson, asserting universal natural rights.
Treaty of Paris (1783): Great Britain formally recognized American independence.

The Three French Estates (1789)

Outbreak: King Louis XVI convened the Estates-General (May 1789). The Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly and swore the Tennis Court Oath (June 20, 1789).
Storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789): Symbol of royal despotism destroyed by Parisian masses.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (August 26, 1789): Proclaimed "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity".
The Reign of Terror (1793–1794): Led by Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety; utilized the Guillotine against perceived counter-revolutionaries.
Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte: Coup of 18 Brumaire (1799) crowned Napoleon First Consul, who enacted the Napoleonic Code (1804) before defeat at Waterloo (1815).

Initiated in Great Britain due to agricultural surplus, coal/iron reserves, capital accumulation, and patented mechanization:

⚡ Concept Quick-CheckTest Your Conceptual Intuition

The Tennis Court Oath of June 20, 1789, in which deputies pledged not to disband until drafting a written constitution, was taken by which body?