World history: revolutions and industrialization (grade 10)

The American Revolution came first, with the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In France, the government was deep in debt from wars, including aid to the Americans. Commoners paid most taxes while nobles and clergy paid little. In 1789, a crowd stormed the Bastille prison in Paris.

In Haiti, enslaved people rose up against French rule. In 1804, Haiti became the first nation founded by a successful revolt of enslaved people.

In South America, Simón Bolívar, born in Venezuela, read Enlightenment writers and led wars that ended Spanish rule in much of the continent. Like the American colonists, he and his allies rejected rule by a distant European power. In 1848, revolutions broke out across Europe.

The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the late 1700s. Britain had plenty of coal and iron. Coal powered steam engines, and iron built machines and rails.

Early mills ran on water wheels, so they had to sit beside fast rivers. Better steam engines burned coal instead. Factories could now be built in cities and near coalfields. Then steam railways carried raw materials and goods between factory cities.

Workers moved to cities for factory jobs faster than cities could build safe housing. Cities became crowded, with poor housing, dirty water, and coal smoke.

Factory work meant long hours, low pay, and child labor. Workers formed labor unions to bargain together. Governments passed laws, like Britain's Factory Acts, that limited child labor and work hours.

In the 1850s, Western powers forced unequal treaties on China and Japan. After 1868, Japan's Meiji leaders quickly built railways, factories, and a modern army. Their goal was to make Japan strong enough to resist Western powers and stay independent.