World History · Era— 1750 — 1900 —

The long 19th century.

The Industrial Revolution and the imperialism it powered. Atlantic and Latin American revolutions, the scramble for Africa, economic imperialism in Asia, and the resistance — and complicity — of those it touched.

What you need to know

Britain’s Industrial Revolution transformed first cotton, then iron, then everything — and the wealth and weapons it produced let Europe and (later) the U.S. project power across the globe. The Atlantic revolutions (American 1776, French 1789, Haitian 1791, Latin American 1810s–20s) destroyed the old colonial system in the Americas; in the same century, a new colonial system appeared in Africa (the “scramble,” 1881–1914) and Asia (British India, French Indochina, Dutch East Indies, treaty-port China). Slavery ended in the British Empire (1833), the U.S. (1865), and Brazil (1888). By 1900, roughly 84% of the Earth’s land surface was claimed by some European empire, the U.S., or Japan.

Key developments (6)

The era, topic by topic.

  • 1.

    The Industrial Revolution

    Cotton, then iron, then steam, then everything. A new kind of economy.
  • 2.

    Atlantic Revolutions

    American, French, Haitian, Latin American — the old colonial order falls in the West.
  • 3.

    The end of Atlantic slavery

    Abolition movements, emancipation, and the systems that replaced slavery.
  • 4.

    New imperialism

    Africa partitioned, Asia carved into colonies and treaty ports, the Pacific divided.
  • 5.

    Resistance and reform

    From the Haitian Revolution to the Boxer Rebellion — colonized peoples push back.
  • 6.

    The Second Industrial Revolution

    Steel, electricity, chemistry — the technological base of the 20th century.
By 1900, eighty-four percent of the planet’s land surface was somebody else’s empire. That was new. It would not last fifty more years.

Where this era shows up in your courses

APWH:Units 5–6 cover this period directly.

APUSH:Periods 3–6 overlap throughout.