18th Century

16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

Thinking about World History: Historic Maps as Sources

What can old maps teach us about world history? What sorts of evidence do they offer, and is displaying evidence the main purpose of these maps, or can they do other things?

Peter Nekola
August 1, 2017

15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, Collection Essays

Religious Change and the Ottoman Empire, 1450-1750

What did the rise and expansion of the Ottoman Empire look like in the eyes of European observers? How did the Ottomans shape the political and religious history of early modern Europe?

Edin Hajdarpasic, Loyola University
March 15, 2017

18th Century, Collection Essays

American Indians in an Age of Empire and Revolution, 1750-1783

Anthony Di Lorenzo
January 24, 2017

18th Century, 19th Century, Collection Essays

Living in British Colonial India, 1750–1850

Why did British imperialism take the form it did in India? How did this change the lives of colonial servants in India? Why did individual Britons go to India? What did they expect to find there? What common experiences did they have?

Ruby Daily
October 29, 2015

18th Century, 19th Century, Collection Essays

Other Americans and the American Revolution

Who identified as “American” during the Revolution? To what extent did the American Revolution serve the interests of all inhabitants of the emerging nation?

Carolyn Latshaw, National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution–Chicago Chapter 2014 Newberry Teacher Fellow
September 22, 2014

16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, Collection Essays

The French Colonial Empire, 1500-1800

Map of a small island mostly filled with fortified structures. Above and below the island are keys in French describing its features.

Why did France’s empire expand to so many parts of the world in the early modern period? How did its expansion shape the history of the United States, Canada, Haiti, and other modern-day countries?

Blake Smith
September 14, 2014

16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, Collection Essays

The World of Don Quixote

How did Cervantes’ Don Quixote respond to the social conditions and literary traditions of early modern Spain?

Hana Layson and Glen Carman
October 23, 2013

17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

Mapping Chicago and the Midwest, 1688–1906

How do maps tell the early history of Chicago and the Midwest? How have maps been used by different empires and nations to secure control of the region?

Hana Layson and Diane Dillon
October 22, 2013

16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, Collection Essays

Maps and the Beginnings of Colonial North America

What can maps tell us about how people from different times, places, and cultures make sense of their world? How did maps and mapmaking influence the development of colonial North America?

Neal Dugre
September 1, 2013

18th Century, Collection Essays

Subject to Citizen, Kingdom to Nation: Changing Notions of Identity in the Age of the French Revolution

Two-page spread showing the same image on each page. On the left in black and white and on the right in color. The image shows a white man standing at a podium speaking to a large audience of other white men in a room with classical statues and architecture. The men's clothing is also Roman-inspired.

How did French people bring about—or resist—the transition from monarchy to republic during the Revolution? What did it mean to become a citizen of the new nation?

Hana Layson and Jessica Grzegorski with Valentina Tikoff
February 26, 2013

18th Century, 19th Century, Collection Essays

Representing the American Revolution, 1768–1893

How did people interpret the events of the American Revolution in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? How did the meaning of the Revolution change over time? In what ways has the Revolution meant different things to different people at any given time?

Hana Layson with Eric Slauter
December 6, 2012

18th Century, Collection Essays

Olaudah Equiano and the Eighteenth-Century Debate over Africa and the Slave Trade

What arguments did eighteenth-century writers make about the slave trade? How are these arguments based in understandings of African civilization? How does Olaudah Equiano contribute to these debates?

Hana Layson with Valentina Tikoff
October 22, 2012