Neoclassicism
The Fires of Revolution

The Enlightenment in Action

• The Political Revolution
  • Divine right of kings questioned
  • Republican governments replace authoritarian
• The Economic Revolution
  • Rising demand for Laissez faire capitalism
  • Property rights and economic freedoms
• The Human Revolution
  • Emphasis on individual over group rights
  • Natural law of individual rights and the subjugation of government to man

The Spark - American Revolution

• American colonies seek economic and political freedom
• A unique "American" identity develops
• Lexington and Concord - British march to disarm colonist (April 1775)
• Thomas Paine writes The Crisis and Common Sense (1776)

The New Order - Neoclassicism

• Classicism - Greco-Roman tradition
  • Demos = of the people (democracy)
• Two Romes:
• Republic of Rome (America) idealized as precursor of Medieval aristocracy
  • Fear of tyranny and government power
  • Madison's government formed to limit federal power and control
• Roman Empire (French) idealized as forming a broader empire
• Hallmarks of Neoclassicism
  • Classical motifs and images
  • Heroism for the cause
  • Sacrifice for the revolution
  • Paine The Crisis

The Fire Spreads - French Revolution

• Old Regime no longer tolerable as the American success inspires an uprising
  • Famine and class warfare
  • "Let them eat cake…"
• French vs American Revolutions
  • Famine/class war Vs independence and individual freedom
  • French history without self rule experience Vs colonial self-rule
  • French revolution ends in a Reign of Terror vs. American constitutional government
  • French embrace the Roman Empire - American the Roman Republic

Napoleon Ascends to Power

• Tyrant Napoleon restores order
  • Post revolutionary France in chaos
  • Reign of Terror sees the guillotine used as a political tool of blood purge
  • Napoleon rises to power during the disorder to eventually become the emperor
• French Neoclassicism as Roman Empire
  • Paris becomes a new Rome
  • Napoleon becomes a French Caesar
  • George Washington becomes an American President
• Beethoven Symphony 3 - Eroica
  • Originally the 3rd symphony is dedicated to a "great man" - Bonaparte
  • Napoleon crowns himself emperor before the symphony is complete
  • Beethoven, as did other revolutionaries, reject his power grab
  • Beethoven renames his symphony Eroica - The Heroic

Humanities Resource of Mark Hunter