In 1750 CE, most people didn’t take part in the government of the state in which they lived. For most people, the most important communities were religion, family, or local. With increasing interconnections between societies, however, new ideas emerged about sovereignty—who has the right to govern. These ideas gave birth to many of the concepts of community we have today, such as democracy, human rights, citizenship, and the nation-state. In some places, the mix of ideas and conditions was right for revolution. But there were limits to who could participate in the new political order being created.

This video will provide you with an overview to begin evaluating how revolutions in the Atlantic world in the Long Nineteenth Century had implications far beyond this region and after this period. It gives you your first two pieces of evidence to begin exploring these changes: a case study from Saint Louis in West Africa and data on the number of democratic states in the world from about 1750 to the present. Finally, it asks questions that can help you to think about, and use, this information to evaluate the limits of political revolutions.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Before you watch the video, open and skim the transcript. Additionally, you should always read the questions below before you watch the video (a good habit to use in reading, too!). These pre-viewing strategies will help you know what to look and listen for as you watch the video. If there is time, your teacher may have you watch the video one time without stopping, and then give you time to watch again to pause and find the answers.

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. What, according to the video, is sovereignty?
2. Who, generally, could participate in government of most states around the world before about 1750?
3. How would you describe the big political changes that began in this period?
4. The French revolution promised political participation to many. What did the inhabitants of Saint Louis, a West African port under French rule, think of this revolution, and did they get to participate?
5. What does the evidence suggest about the spread of democracy around the world since 1750?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. How are ideas about sovereignty expressed in our political and legal system today? Do these concepts have any limits? How do you experience the limits of personal and political sovereignty?

The liberal and national revolutions were among the important changes in the Long Nineteenth Century that helped create the modern world. People shared new ideas about individual and national political rights, including sovereignty. They used these ideas to revolt against an existing political system in which they had few rights. The result was a series of revolutions that began in the Atlantic world. In the longer term, this led to the spread of nationalism and liberal political ideas around the world.

This unit overview will introduce you to new ideas such as nationalism, liberalism and two core ideas for the course: individual and national sovereignty. Here, you will learn about the political revolutions built on these ideas. In particular, you will encounter four sets of revolutions for the first time: the Haitian, French, American, and Latin American revolutions. Finally, this article introduces the idea of nationalism, something you will see on national, regional, and global scales throughout the course.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. This should be a quick process—a couple of minutes at most. This process is intended to help you get a general idea of what the reading will be about, and to scan the article for features such as title and headings, images, image captions, graphs and tables.

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

In this read, you should be paying attention to the information that most helps you understand the article. To do this, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. In general, what were politics and government like around the world at the beginning of the Long Nineteenth Century?
2. What important new political ideas resulted from the Enlightenment?
3. What is a revolution? What revolutions does this introduction suggest you will be studying in this unit?
4. What is nationalism, and what role does this author suggest it played in political revolutions?

Evaluating and Corroborating

For the third close read, you should think about how the article relates to the idea or question you thought about as you read.

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. What ideas from the political revolutions described in this overview continue to be important today?
2. Does this overview provide any sense of the limitations of these revolutions? Who do you think didn’t get to fully participate in these changes?

The world in 1750 had many types of communities with different forms of government. But for the most part, people were subjects—they were governed by others and had few political rights. The nation-state was a new kind of government in which a nation of citizens could govern themselves in a particular territory. In this period, a number of nation-states were formed, and they have since come to dominate the world. But this was also an era in which many people were under the rule of empires, and remained subjects, rather than citizens.

This video describes important changes in the Long Nineteenth Century as viewed through the communities frame, which looks at how people organize themselves into groups. The communities frame provides a particular perspective on the era, but isn’t a complete picture of people’s experiences, or global trends, in the Long Nineteenth Century.

Preview – Skimming for Gist

Before you watch the video, open and skim the transcript. Additionally, you should always read the questions below before you watch the video (a good habit to use in reading, too!). These pre-viewing strategies will help you know what to look and listen for as you watch the video. If there is time, your teacher may have you watch the video one time without stopping, and then give you time to watch again to pause and find the answers.

Key Ideas – Understanding Content

Think about the following questions as you watch this video:

1. What were some of the biggest communities – empires – in 1750?
2. What other kinds of communities were important to people’s lives, or governed people, around 1750?
3. What, according to this video, did almost everyone share in this period, whether they lived in a big empire or a smaller community?
4. What were three new ideas about community that emerged in this period, according to this video?
5. What new kind of community did these ideas help to create?

Evaluating and Corroborating

1. The video ends by saying that that we live in a world of nation-states today. Why do you think the nation-state has become the dominant kind of community in the world, for now?
2. Is the nation-state you live in the most important kind of community in your life?

In this course, we explore the period between 1750 and 1914—what is sometimes called the “long nineteenth century”—as an era of great change. In later units, we will look at social, cultural, economic, and technological transformation. In this unit, we focus on political change. We particularly look at political revolutions—big changes in government. Before you start reading about these revolutions, you might want to make some predictions about the changes you will see. The tool you’ll use for making these predictions is a political map of the world in 1750—a map that shows many of the states that existed in this period and their borders.

You’ll begin this activity by predicting some factors that might lead to political revolutions. Then, you’ll use a political map to identify some states, including empires, that existed in this period. You’ll annotate a blank map with these identifications. Finally, you’ll use your annotated map to make some predictions.

Step 1

With your teacher, brainstorm some factors that might have led to political revolutions in the nineteenth century. Why do you think there might have been revolutions in many places during this period? Your teacher may add some factors you haven’t thought about.

Step 2

In small groups, you should select one of the “political units” categories from the table and label the four places listed on the blank map. When this is complete, each group should share their answers until all 20 features are labeled on your map.

Step 3

Now make a prediction about two places where revolutions are likely to happen during the long nineteenth century that follows the period depicted on this map. Remember the factors you discussed earlier. You should annotate the blank map you labelled with those predictions.

This repeated activity should help you become familiar with a process for understanding unfamiliar words any time you encounter them in the course.

Take out your vocab tracker and be sure to record new and unfamiliar words on it according to your teacher’s instructions.

Understanding vocabulary is integral to you being able to access course content. This word wall activity will expose you to some of the most important words in Unit 2.

In this activity, you’ll work with your class to create a word wall using the Unit 2 vocabulary.

Your teacher will assign a vocab card to each of you. Once you get yours, take a few minutes to look it up in the Unit 2 Vocab Guide and then examine the unit itself (click around and quickly skim the content) to see where in the unit your word might be most applicable. Once you’ve done your research, create a sentence using your word. And, just like you did in Unit 1, get ready to argue for why your word is the “best” one to start with. After everyone has given a pitch on their word, you’ll all decide which two words should make it onto the wall first.

Your teacher may add some fun twists to this assignment, so be sure to listen closely for directions!

Each unit of the WHP course is guided by a Unit Problem. You’re learning a ton of stuff in this and every other unit, and it can be hard to keep track of what’s most important. It would be pretty easy to become obsessed with a detail that, although interesting and a great way to impress people at a party is relatively unimportant. This activity will help you stay focused! You’ll think about the Unit Problems, and then you’ll respond to them in writing. By keeping track of how your thinking changes throughout each unit, you’ll see how much you’re learning as you move through each section of the course.

Use the Unit 2 Problem Notebook Worksheet to respond to the prompts as best as you can. Be prepared to talk about your ideas with your class.

From ice cream consumption, to climate change, to Nicolas Cage and deadly pools, charts convey some critical information. But they’re not always easy to read. In this guide, Marissa Major introduces you to some common types of charts and provides strategies on how to read them. But remember, people can use charts—and data—to lie. So, it’s always important to evaluate the stories told by the charts you encounter. The future of mint chocolate chip just might depend on it.

This guide is the first part of Project X. Project X is a series of articles and activities built into the course that are designed to teach you how to read, evaluate, and use data and charts. This guide introduces some of the basic concepts of different kinds of charts and warns you about some common ways that people use charts to manipulate the truth. Don’t throw away this guide when you’re done reading it—it will be useful later, when you encounter your first Data Exploration. In the next Project X activity, you will learn another Three Close Reads process, specific to Data Explorations, but for this article, you can use the Three Close Reads process you already know so well!

Preview—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Why is the chart linking violent crime and ice cream sales misleading?
2. Where are the x-axis and y-axis located on the chart about student knowledge in WHP?
3. What are variables?
4. What is scale in charts?
5. How is the “Average Annual Global Temperature in Fahrenheit” chart misleading?
6. Are Nicolas Cage films drowning people in pools?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following question:

1. Can you think of any examples you’ve seen of someone using data or charts to present misleading information?

Access to the “World Population Since 10,000 BCE” chart

In this activity, you are introduced to the WHP Three Close Reads for Data tool, which will provide you with a method for unpacking the charts you will encounter in this course and identifying the various elements of data visualizations. Instead of simply accepting data visualizations as truth, you will learn to evaluate the quality of data and the ways that data can be manipulated in charts. This will help you throughout this course, as well as encourage you to be thoughtful and inquisitive when coming across visual representations of data in your everyday life.

The Three Close Reads strategy for articles may already be familiar to you. In order to help you develop your ability to “read” data, the Three Close Reads for Data process is solely focused on the charts and graphs in the data articles.

Project X includes several articles that will introduce you to a series of charts from the Our World in Data website. While the articles provide historical context and an overview of the information contained in the charts, the Three Close Reads for Data tool will guide you through the process of reading, understanding, and evaluating each chart you encounter. Before you begin the Data Explorations, be sure to read the article, “A Guide to Reading Charts.”

Even though charts and maps are graphics—they’re essentially pictures—they still need to be “read” in much the same way you read text. Three Close Reads for Data is a helpful tool for getting all the information you need from the charts. Don’t worry— you’ll get faster and faster with each reading!

Take a look at the Three Close Reads for Data worksheet and quickly review the process for opening and reading the charts linked in the article.

Overall question or idea to think about as you read:

Before you read the article or open the chart, your teacher will give you a question or idea to think about as you read. Write this question or idea in the box provided at the top of the Three Close Reads for Data worksheet. Keep this framing question or idea in mind as you explore the charts.

Reading 1— What do we have?

The first close read is really meant to be a quick scan of the chart to identify its labels, variables, and scale. It should be very quick and allow you to identify what the chart is measuring. You should be looking at the title, labels, and captions. You should determine whether this is an interactive chart, but don’t start playing with any interactive functions just yet. On the Three Close Reads worksheet, look at the “Questions” section for the first close read and see which questions you can answer quickly.

Reading 2— What do we know?

Now, look at second section of the worksheet. Here, you’re trying to understand the “story” the chart is telling by identifying its arguments and evaluating its presentation of data. Review the “Pay Attention to…” and “Questions” sections of the worksheet so you know what to keep in mind as you start to examine the chart and play with any interactive elements. If the chart is interactive, what elements can you change? Does that change your understanding of the chart’s story?

By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How has the global human population changed in the last 12,000 years?
2. In what 50-year period did the human population increase most dramatically?
3. Has the global human population ever shrunk? When? What events might have caused this?
4. What argument is this chart is making? How did the creator of this chart want you to feel after seeing it?
5. What dates do we seem to have the best data for? Do you think you can trust the population data used in this chart?

Reading 3— What does this tell us?

Now, it’s time for the third and final read. For this read, focus on why this chart matters, how it can inform us about the past and prepare us for the future. At the end of every Reading 3, you should make a prediction about how the topic covered by the chart will change during your lifetime. How might the global population change in the next 25 years? 50 years? 100 years?

At the end of the third read, discuss the following questions with your class:

• Why does this chart matter? What do global changes in population tell us about human communities, networks, and production and distribution?
• Using this chart, make one prediction about how the global human population will change in your lifetime. What evidence from the chart supports your prediction? Is there any evidence that challenges it?

Open “World Population since 10,000 BCE” chart in your internet browser: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/world-population-since-10000-bce-ourworldindata-series

Demography is the study of populations. This article and the chart it contains introduce you to what is probably the most important demographic story in history: the dramatic increase in the human population in the last two centuries. The chart measures human populations from 12,000 years ago (10,000 BCE) to today. For most of our history, the human population has grown quite gradually. Then, after about 1800, our numbers began to rise very quickly and reach very high numbers. Today, there are over 7 billion of us on this planet. In 1800, we numbered about 1 billion.

This article introduces you to what we call a data exploration. In each data exploration, you’ll be asked to read one or more charts. The ability to read, analyze, and evaluate charts is really important—in this course and beyond. Reading, analyzing, and evaluating charts helps you understand how people are representing history, but it can also help you be a better consumer of media and the news. We constantly see data used to make claims in the world, so it’s important for you to be able to fully understand and analyze data visualizations like this chart so you can come to your own conclusions about that data.

Your teacher will let you know if there is an overall question to hold in your mind as complete your three reads of the article.

Preview – What Do We Have?

Fill out the Read 1: Preview section of the Three Close Reads for Data worksheet as you complete your first close read. Remember—this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas – What Do We Know?

For this read, your goal is to understand the “story” the chart is telling by identifying its arguments and evaluating its presentation of data. You will decide what claim or claims this chart is making and what evidence is being used to support those claims. Do you think the data is reliable? Is the chart misleading in any way? By the end of this read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How has the global human population changed in the last 12,000 years?
2. In what 50-year period did the human population increase most dramatically?
3. Has the global human population ever shrunk? When? What events might have caused this?
4. What argument is this chart is making? How did the creator of this chart want you to feel after seeing it?
5. What dates do we seem to have the best data for? Do you think you can trust the population data used in this chart? Why or why not?

Making Connections – What Does This Tell Us?

The third read is really about why the chart is important, what it can tell us about the past, and how it can help us think about the future. At the end of this read, respond to the following questions:

1. Why does this chart matter? What do global changes in population tell us about changes in human societies? How has population growth affected the way we organize ourselves, communicate with each other, and make and use goods?
2. Using this chart, make one prediction about how the global human population will change in your lifetime. What evidence from the chart supports your prediction? Is there any evidence that challenges it?