In the 1700s thinkers argued that reason, not tradition, should guide society. Their ideas inspired colonists in North America to claim independence.
🧠 Ideas of the Enlightenment
John Locke argued that people have natural rights to life, liberty and property and that governments rule by the consent of the governed. Montesquieu proposed the separation of powers among legislative, executive and judicial branches. Voltaire defended freedom of speech and religion. Rousseau wrote about the social contract and popular sovereignty. These ideas challenged the divine right of kings.
Montesquieu: 3 branches (legislative, executive, judicial)
if each branch can check the other 2: 3 · 2 = 6 checks
Locke’s rights: life, liberty, property → 3 rights
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🗽 The American Revolution
After the costly Seven Years’ War, Britain taxed its 13 colonies (the Stamp Act in 1765, the Tea Act in 1773) without colonial representation: “no taxation without representation.” Protests such as the Boston Tea Party (1773) led to war in 1775. The Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776), written mainly by Thomas Jefferson, used Locke’s ideas. With French help the Americans won at Yorktown (1781), and the Treaty of Paris (1783) recognised independence. The Constitution (1787) created a federal republic, and the Bill of Rights (10 amendments) followed in 1791. Slavery continued and women could not vote, so the ideals applied only to some.
war 1775 → Treaty of Paris 1783: 8 years
Declaration 1776 → Constitution 1787: 11 years
13 colonies: 13 stripes on the flag
The Declaration says all men are created equal, yet it did not end slavery. Abolitionists and suffragists later used its words to argue for their own rights.
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Locke
John Locke argued that governments get their authority from:
Consent.
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Separation of powers
Montesquieu proposed:
Branches.
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Taxation
Colonists’ slogan “no taxation without representation” meant:
Vote and tax.
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Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is:
Ten amendments.
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The American Revolutionary War began in 1775 and the Treaty of Paris was in 1783.
How many years is that?
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years
Subtract.
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The Declaration of Independence was in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787.
How many years between?
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years
Subtract.
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Each of 3 branches of government can check each of the other 2.
How many checks (3 · 2)?
Enter an exact answer, without rounding.
Multiply.
📝 Lesson quiz · 5 questions
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Question 1 of 5
The Declaration of Independence was written mainly by:
Question 2 of 5
Rousseau’s “social contract” says that government rests on:
Question 3 of 5
Which battle persuaded Britain to negotiate?
Question 4 of 5
The American colonies numbered:
Question 5 of 5
One limitation of the American Revolution’s ideals was that:
Lesson 2 · Age of revolutions
🇫🇷 The French Revolution & Napoleon
In 1789 France, the most populous kingdom in Europe, overthrew an absolute monarchy and invented new ideas of citizenship that spread across the continent.
🔔 Causes and events
French society had three estates: the clergy (First), nobles (Second) and everyone else (Third, over 95% of the population). The Third Estate paid most taxes. Debts from wars and a poor harvest led to food shortages. When the Estates-General met in 1789, the Third Estate declared itself the National Assembly. On 14 July 1789 Parisians stormed the Bastille prison. In August the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaimed liberty, equality before the law and popular sovereignty.
Estates-General 1789 → Louis XVI executed 1793: 4 years
if the Third Estate is 97% of 28 million: 0.97 · 28 = 27.16 million people
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🗡️ Terror and Napoleon
France became a republic in 1792 and Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. Under Robespierre the Reign of Terror (1793–94) executed thousands, tens of thousands in total, before he himself fell. Napoleon Bonaparte, a general, seized power in 1799 and became emperor in 1804. His Napoleonic Code gave legal equality (for men) and shaped many countries’ laws. His armies conquered much of Europe, but the disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia broke them. He was finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815.
1789 → Napoleon’s coup 1799: 10 years
Napoleon emperor 1804 → Waterloo 1815: 11 years
Grande Armée to Russia: about 600 000 men; about 100 000 survive
600 000 − 100 000 = 500 000 lost
The tricolour flag and “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” became symbols of the Revolution’s ideals.
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Third Estate
The Third Estate was made up of:
Everyone else.
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Bastille
The storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 became a symbol of:
Rebellion.
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Napoleonic Code
The Napoleonic Code:
Law reform.
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Waterloo
Napoleon was finally defeated at:
1815.
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The Estates-General met in 1789 and the king was executed in 1793.
How many years?
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years
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Napoleon became emperor in 1804 and was defeated at Waterloo in 1815.
How many years later?
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years
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Napoleon’s army entered Russia with about 600 000 men and about 100 000 survived.
How many were lost?
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men
Subtract.
📝 Lesson quiz · 5 questions
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Question 1 of 5
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaimed:
Question 2 of 5
Robespierre led the:
Question 3 of 5
Napoleon first came to power in:
Question 4 of 5
Which was NOT a cause of the Revolution?
Question 5 of 5
After Napoleon, European monarchs met at the:
Lesson 3 · Industrial age
🏭 The Industrial Revolution
From about 1760 in Britain, machines, factories and steam power replaced hand work and animal power, transforming how people lived, worked and travelled.
⚙️ From farms to factories
Britain had coal, iron, rivers, capital, colonies and a growing population, and farming improvements (the Agricultural Revolution) freed workers from the land. Inventions: the spinning jenny (Hargreaves, 1764), James Watt’s improved steam engine (1769) and the power loom. Textile mills moved from cottages to factories near coal and water. Railways followed: the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened in 1830, about 56 km long.
a hand spinner makes 1 thread; a jenny makes 8:
8 times faster
train average 28 km/h over 56 km:
56 / 28 = 2 hours (a day by horse coach)
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🏙️ Cities, workers and reform
People moved to towns for work: urbanisation. London grew from about 1 million in 1800 to about 6.5 million in 1900. Factory work was long, dangerous and noisy, and child labour was common. Cities were crowded with poor sanitation and disease such as cholera. Reformers and workers pushed for change: the Factory Act of 1833 banned children under 9 from textile mills, and trade unions fought for better pay and conditions. Production rose, prices fell, and many people gained new goods, but wealth was unequal.
London 1 million → 6.5 million: 6.5 / 1 = 6.5 times larger
growth = 6.5 − 1 = 5.5 million people
12-hour day, 6 days a week: 12 · 6 = 72 hours
(modern full-time week: about 40 hours)
Coal and steam powered industrialisation, which also began the large-scale rise in CO₂ in the atmosphere.
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Steam engine
James Watt is known for:
Steam.
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Urbanisation
Urbanisation means:
Cities.
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Factory Act
The Factory Act of 1833 aimed to:
Protect children.
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Why Britain
Which helped Britain industrialise first?
Resources.
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A train travels at an average 28 km/h along a line 56 km long.
How many hours does the journey take?
Enter an exact answer, without rounding.
h
time = distance ÷ speed.
✍️ Type your answer · 6 of 7
London grew from about 1 million (1800) to about 6.5 million (1900).
How many times larger was it?
Enter an exact answer, without rounding.
Divide.
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A worker labours 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.
How many hours a week?
Enter an exact answer, without rounding.
h
Multiply.
📝 Lesson quiz · 5 questions
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Question 1 of 5
The Industrial Revolution began in:
Question 2 of 5
The spinning jenny was invented to:
Question 3 of 5
Which was a problem in industrial cities?
Question 4 of 5
A trade union is a group of:
Question 5 of 5
The first main power source of factories was:
Lesson 4 · Nation-states
🏴 Nationalism & Unification
In the 1800s people with a shared language, culture and history demanded their own nation-states, remaking the map of Europe.
🚩 What is nationalism?
Nationalism is a strong sense of belonging to a nation, with shared language, history and territory, and the belief that each nation should govern itself. The French Revolution and Napoleon’s conquests spread it. After 1815 the Congress of Vienna tried to restore old monarchies, but nationalist and liberal revolts broke out, notably the Revolutions of 1848. Greece won independence from the Ottomans after a war (1821–1830). Nationalism could unite peoples but also lead to rivalry and conflict.
Greek independence war: 1830 − 1821 = 9 years
Congress of Vienna 1815 → Revolutions of 1848: 33 years
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🇮🇹🇩🇪 Italy and Germany
Italy was divided into several states. Count Cavour, prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, used diplomacy and war, and Giuseppe Garibaldi led his Red Shirts to take southern Italy; the Kingdom of Italy was declared in 1861, and Rome joined in 1871. In Germany, Otto von Bismarck, the Prussian chancellor, used “blood and iron” in wars against Denmark, Austria (1866) and France (1870–71). The German Empire was proclaimed in 1871 at Versailles. The old German Confederation had 39 states; the new empire had 25.
Kingdom of Italy 1861 → German Empire 1871: 10 years
39 states → 25 states: 39 − 25 = 14 fewer
Franco-Prussian War 1870 → 1871 = 1 year
Unification came by war and diplomacy more than by popular uprising, and it created two new great powers in the heart of Europe.
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Nationalism
Nationalism is:
Nation.
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Bismarck
Bismarck unified Germany mainly through:
War.
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Garibaldi
Garibaldi led the:
Volunteers in red.
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Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (1815) tried to:
Order.
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The Kingdom of Italy was declared in 1861 and the German Empire in 1871.
How many years later?
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years
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Germany had 39 states before unification and 25 in the empire.
How many fewer states?
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Subtract.
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The Greek War of Independence ran from 1821 to 1830.
How many years?
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years
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Question 1 of 5
Italy’s unification was helped by:
Question 2 of 5
The German Empire was proclaimed in:
Question 3 of 5
The Revolutions of 1848 mostly:
Question 4 of 5
Which country won independence from the Ottomans in 1830?
Question 5 of 5
One danger of nationalism was that it could:
Lesson 5 · Global empires
🌍 Imperialism & Colonial Empires
In the late 1800s industrial powers raced to control colonies for raw materials, markets and prestige, forever changing Africa and Asia.
🗺️ The Scramble for Africa
Motives were economic (raw materials, markets), political (power and prestige), and social (a mistaken belief in European superiority and the “civilising mission”). Technologies such as the steamship, the Maxim gun and quinine (against malaria) made conquest easier. At the Berlin Conference (1884–85) European powers set rules for dividing Africa without African leaders present. In 1870 only about 10% of Africa was ruled by Europeans; by 1914 about 90% was, except Ethiopia and Liberia. Colonial borders ignored ethnic and cultural lines. In King Leopold II’s Congo Free State (1885–1908), forced labour for rubber caused terrible suffering.
Africa under European rule: 10% → 90%
increase = 90 − 10 = 80 percentage points
Berlin Conference 1884 → 1914: 30 years
Congo Free State: 1908 − 1885 = 23 years
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🇮🇳🇨🇳 India and China
Britain’s East India Company gained control of much of India; after the Rebellion of 1857, the Crown took direct rule (the British Raj, 1858–1947). In China, Britain sold opium to balance its tea purchases. After the First Opium War (1839–42) the Treaty of Nanking opened ports and gave Britain Hong Kong. China’s weakness led to the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901). Japan avoided colonisation by modernising rapidly after the Meiji Restoration (1868), building industry and a modern army, and became an imperial power itself.
British Raj: 1947 − 1858 = 89 years
Hong Kong ceded 1842 → returned 1997: 155 years
Opium War 1839 → 1842: 3 years
Resistance was widespread: from the Zulu and Ashanti to Ethiopia, whose army defeated Italy at Adwa in 1896, preserving its independence.
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Berlin Conference
The Berlin Conference of 1884–85:
Europeans only.
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Motives
Which was a motive for imperialism?
Economics.
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Opium Wars
The Opium Wars forced China to:
Unequal treaties.
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Japan
Japan avoided colonisation by:
Modernised.
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In 1870 about 10% of Africa was under European rule and by 1914 about 90%.
By how many percentage points did it rise?
Enter an exact answer, without rounding.
points
Subtract.
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The British Raj lasted from 1858 to 1947.
How many years?
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years
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Hong Kong was ceded to Britain in 1842 and returned to China in 1997.
How many years?
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years
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📝 Lesson quiz · 5 questions
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Question 1 of 5
Which two African countries stayed independent in 1914?
Question 2 of 5
The “Scramble for Africa” was:
Question 3 of 5
After 1858 India was ruled by:
Question 4 of 5
Colonial borders in Africa often:
Question 5 of 5
The Meiji Restoration refers to Japan’s:
Lesson 6 · Society
✊ Reform, Rights & New Ideologies
The 1800s and early 1900s saw many movements to widen who could vote, who could work in safety and who had a share in the new wealth.
🗳️ Votes for women
Women’s movements in many countries demanded the vote. The Seneca Falls Convention (1848) in the USA issued a Declaration of Sentiments. New Zealand became the first self-governing country to give women the vote in national elections, in 1893. In Britain, the suffragettes led by Emmeline Pankhurst used protests and civil disobedience; women over 30 won the vote in 1918 and equal voting age with men in 1928. In the USA the 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the vote.
Seneca Falls 1848 → 19th Amendment 1920: 1920 − 1848 = 72 years
New Zealand 1893 → USA 1920: 27 years
UK 1918 → 1928: 10 years
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The nineteenth century widened rights and produced new ideas about how society should be organised.
⚒️ Labour and ideologies
Industrial workers formed unions and political parties. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published The Communist Manifesto in 1848, arguing that history is a struggle between classes and that workers would one day take over the means of production. Liberals wanted individual freedom and limited government; conservatives wanted gradual change; socialists wanted collective ownership and equality. Reforms such as universal male suffrage, public schooling, factory laws, and early social insurance (Germany, 1880s) spread in industrial countries.
Communist Manifesto 1848 → Russian Revolution 1917: 69 years
factory reform: working day cut from 12 to 10 hours
12 − 10 = 2 hours saved; 2/12 = 1/6 of the old day
Democracy widened step by step: first property owners, then all men, then women, and later those excluded by race.
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Suffragettes
The British suffragettes campaigned for:
Votes.
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NZ
Which country first gave women the national vote (1893)?
In the Pacific.
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Marx
In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels argued that history is shaped by:
Classes.
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Socialism
Socialists generally favoured:
Equality.
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The Seneca Falls Convention was in 1848 and the 19th Amendment in 1920.
How many years?
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years
Subtract.
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New Zealand gave women the vote in 1893 and the USA in 1920.
How many years later?
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years
Subtract.
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Reforms cut the working day from 12 hours to 10 hours.
How many hours were saved?
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h
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📝 Lesson quiz · 5 questions
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Question 1 of 5
Which document did Marx and Engels publish in 1848?
Question 2 of 5
Universal suffrage means:
Question 3 of 5
Liberals in the 1800s wanted:
Question 4 of 5
Why were unions important?
Question 5 of 5
The US 19th Amendment (1920) concerned:
Final Challenge
🏆 12-Question Challenge Quiz
Questions from every topic in this course. Pick an answer for each one, then hit Check My Answers.
0 / 12
💪 Keep practicing — go back through the lessons and retake the quiz!
Q1 · The Enlightenment & the American Revolution
The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement emphasising:
Q2 · The Enlightenment & the American Revolution
One limitation of the American Revolution’s ideals was that:
Q3 · The French Revolution & Napoleon
The French Revolution’s slogan was:
Q4 · The French Revolution & Napoleon
After Napoleon, European monarchs met at the:
Q5 · The Industrial Revolution
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened in:
Q6 · The Industrial Revolution
The first main power source of factories was:
Q7 · Nationalism & Unification
Which chancellor led Prussia to create the German Empire?
Q8 · Nationalism & Unification
One danger of nationalism was that it could:
Q9 · Imperialism & Colonial Empires
Which technology helped Europeans penetrate Africa’s interior?
Q10 · Imperialism & Colonial Empires
The Meiji Restoration refers to Japan’s:
Q11 · Reform, Rights & New Ideologies
Which movement won women over 30 the vote in Britain in 1918?