Three Revolutions in the Atlantic World

This course considers the literature, culture, and politics of three major revolutions in the Atlantic world at the close of the eighteenth century: the American revolution, the French revolution, and the Haitian revolution. The so-called “Age of Revolutions” has long been described as the era in which the American and French revolutions took center stage as major historical events in world history, enacting the premises of Enlightenment thought in profound political upheaval and change; more recently, critics have argued for the importance of viewing the first successful revolt against race slavery—the Haitian Revolution—as a similarly world-changing event. The class will consider both the three specific revolutions and key political and literary texts that emerge from them, as well as the broader concept of the Atlantic world and the notions of freedom, liberalism, capitalism, and racialization that were important components of this world. In particular, we will consider the way in which each revolution had reverberations across the Atlantic as citizens and would-be citizens of other countries attended to the scene of revolution elsewhere and considered its implications at home. We will also play close attention to the relation between developing literary genres—including sentimentalism, confessions, the gothic novel, and melodrama—and the politics of revolution.