-
Period: to
The American Revolution
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration clearly spelled out the reasons the colonies wanted their freedom and independence. The document charged that King George III had violated the colonists' natural rights. The Revolutionary War became a war fought to protect and expand the ideas of natural rights and self-government that were drawn from Enlightenment thinkers. The American troops fought British troops for seven years. -
William Blake publishes Songs of Innocence
Songs of Innocence was the first of Blake's illuminated books published in 1789. The poems and artwork were reproduced by copperplate engraving and colored with washes by hand. In 1794 he expanded the book to include Songs of Experience. The spellings, punctuation and capitalizations are those of the original Blake manuscripts. -
Period: to
The French Revolution
The French Revolution (1789–1799), was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France that had a lasting impact on French history and more broadly throughout the world. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed within three years. Old ideas about tradition and hierarchy were abruptly overthrown by new Enlightenment principles of equality, citizenship and inalienable rights. -
Mary Wollstoncraft critiques female educational restriction in A Vinidiction of the Rights of Women
Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) is a declaration of the rights of women to equality of education and to civil opportunities. The book-length essay, written in simple and direct language, was the first great feminist treatise. In it Wollstonecraft argues that true freedom necessitates equality of the sexes; claims that intellect, or reason, is superior to emotion, or passion; seeks to persuade women to acquire strength of mind and body; and aims to convince women that -
Charles and Mary Lamb publish Tales from Shakespeare
Tales from Shakespeare was written by Charles Lamb (1775-1834) and his sister Mary Lamb (1764-1847) in 1807 as a prose adaptation for children. We present here the edition as illustrated by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) in 1899 and 1909. Mary wrote most of the comedies, about 14 of the 20. We use the public domain files first scanned by Tokuya Matsumoto and donated to Project Gutenberg. However, we correct many misspellings (e.g., "velour" for "valour") and restore italicized phrases. We have add -
Brother's Grimm begin to publish Grimm's Fairtales
The first volume of the first edition was published, containing 86 stories; the second volume of 70 stories followed in 1814. For the second edition, two volumes were issued in 1819 and a third in 1822, totalling 170 tales. The third edition appeared in 1837; fourth edition, 1840; fifth edition, 1843; sixth edition, 1850; seventh edition, 1857. Stories were added, and also subtracted, from one edition to the next, until the seventh held 211 tales. All editions were extensively illustrated, first -
Jane Austen publishes Pride and Prejudice
First published in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has consistently been Jane Austen's most popular novel. It portrays life in the genteel rural society of the day, and tells of the initial misunderstandings and later mutual enlightenment between Elizabeth Bennet (whose liveliness and quick wit have often attracted readers) and the haughty Darcy. The title Pride and Prejudice refers (among other things) to the ways in which Elizabeth and Darcy first view each other. The original version of the novel w -
Mary Shelley, daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, publishes Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel written by Mary Shelley about a creature produced by an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was nineteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first edition was published anonymously in London in 1818. Shelley's name appears on the second edition, published in France in 1823. -
Noah Webster publishes An American Dictionary of the English Language
Noah Webster, the Father of American Christian education, wrote the first American dictionary and established a system of rules to govern spelling, grammar, and reading. This master linguist understood the power of words, their definitions, and the need for precise word usage in communication to maintain independence. Webster used the Bible as the foundation for his definitions.
This standard reference tool will greatly assist students of all ages in their studies.
No other dictionary compare -
Victor Hugo publishes The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris, "Our Lady of Paris") is a novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The French title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered, and is a metaphor for Esmeralda, the main character of the story.
Victor Hugo began writing The Hunchback of Notre-Dame in 1829. The agreement with his original publisher, Gosselin, was that the book would be finished that same year, but Hugo was constantly delayed due to the deman
