This book offers imaginative biographical essays of prominent political
and scientific revolutionaries. Contributors illustrate how supporters
of Newtonian mechanistic and materialistic ideologies helped to
transform eighteenth-century scientific and early industrial life;
explain how nationalistically inspired revolutionaries in the Americas
and Europe worked to destroy inequitable institutions and establish
viable republics; and reveal how biography can be used as an effective
tool for studying the rapidly growing and vibrant field of Atlantic
history.
These profiles demonstrate the impact of nationalistic, republican, and
radical egalitarian doctrines upon nations from three continents.
Chapters concerning the American Revolution depict the military
achievements of George Washington, the feats of the heroine Molly
Pitcher, and the brilliant diplomatic accomplishments of Benjamin
Franklin. Essays covering revolutions in Latin America describe the
leadership role of Toussant L'Ouverture during the Haitian Revolution;
the aspirations of Father Hidalgo during the Mexican Revolution; and
sections covering Europe focus on the leadership of Brissot during the
1789 Revolution; the salient status of Adam Czartoryski during the
Polish Revolution; and the accomplishments and failures of the Irishman
John Mitchell and those of the Hungarian Louis Kossuth during the 1848
Revolutions. An essay about Alexis De Tocqueville suggests the motives
behind his denouncement of the radical ideologies and violence that
arose during the 1848 French Revolution.
