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Atlantic Revolutions

Driving Question: How was the period from 1750 to 1825 an “age of revolution”?

What does it take to drive a society toward revolution? Beginning in the late eighteenth century, revolutionary movements swept across the Atlantic Ocean and turned the world upside down.

Learning Objectives

  1. Identify the conditions that led to revolutions in the Atlantic world.
  2. Use the historical thinking skill of causation to evaluate the causes and effects of the American, French, Haitian, and Latin American revolutions.
  3. Use a graphic biography to support, extend, or challenge the overarching narratives of this period.

Vocab Terms:

  • conservative
  • egalitarian
  • exploitation
  • liberal
  • nobility
  • peasant
  • the Enlightenment
STEP 1

Opener: Atlantic Revolutions

Teaching Tools

Consider using Three-Step Reading with students to “read” visuals: First, get the big picture. Then, zoom in on details. Finally, think about what the image means. Page 3 of our Reading Guide spells it out.

In this lesson, you’ll learn about political and social upheavals that swept the world. This activity will get you thinking about the impacts of the Age of Revolution.

STEP 2

The Two Faces of Revolution

Teaching Tools

We have a Three-Step Reading Tool just for Graphic Bios. Use it to guide your students to observe, understand, and connect.

The Age of Revolution was complicated, and so were the people who participated. This graphic biography explores the duality of British thinker Edmund Burke.

STEP 3

American, French, Haitian, and Latin American Revolutions

Teaching Tools

As students identify causes of revolutions and build their recipe for a revolution, you may want to differentiate for some learners. We’ve got ideas to support all learners in our Differentiation Guide Locked .

Beginning in the late eighteenth century, a revolutionary wave swept the Atlantic Ocean, overturning old governments and ushering in new ideas about freedom.

STEP 4

Closer: Atlantic Revolutions

Extension Materials
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The article below will help you extend your exploration of the French Revolution through an examination of what followed the revolutionary fervor of the late eighteenth century.
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Napoleon: Tyrant or Revolutionary?

The revolutions that swept the Atlantic world may have been idealistic at the start. But in many cases, things got messy. Few revolutionary figures illustrate this better than Napoleon Bonaparte.