The Age of Revolutions in the Atlantic World, 1776 - 1848 (saylor.org)

This course will introduce you to the history of the Age of Revolutions in the Atlantic World from 1776 to 1848. You will learn about the revolutionary upheavals that took place in the Americas and Europe during this period. Each unit will include representative primary-source documents that illustrate important overarching political, economic, and social themes, such as the secession of the American colonies from the British Empire, the outbreak of the French Revolution, the dissolution of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires in the Americas, and the spread of revolutionary ideals throughout the Atlantic World. Running alongside and extending beyond these political revolutions is the First Industrial Revolution. By the end of the course, you will understand how an Atlantic World, dominated by European empires in 1776, was transformed through revolution into a series of independent states by 1848 and of the profound changes that Europe would experience, and continue to experience, through the development and consolidation of capitalism.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

think analytically about the history of the revolutionary age between 1776 and 1848;
define what a revolution means, and describe what made 1776–1848 an “age of revolution”;
define the concept of the Atlantic world, and describe its importance in world history;
explain the basic intellectual and technical movements associated with the enlightenment and their relations to the revolutionary movements that follow;
identify and describe the causes of the American Revolution;
identify and describe the many stages of the French Revolution: the end of absolutist monarchy, the implementation of constitutional monarchy, and the rise of the Jacobin Republic;
compare and contrast the declaration of the rights of man and other major statements of the revolutionary period and enlightenment thinking;
identify and describe the impact of the first successful slave rebellion in world history—the Haitian Revolution;
compare and contrast the debate between Edmund Burke and Thomas Paine; and
analyze and interpret primary source documents that elucidate the causes and effects of the age of revolutions.