Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World

Abstract

In recent years, the 19th century has become increasingly important to the study of the Atlantic world. Whereas only a few years ago most Atlantic history scholars were early modernists and colonialists who focused primarily on Britain and its American colonies and ended their studies in c. 1800, now many historians incorporate much, if not all of the 19th century, into their studies, and they study all geographic areas of the Atlantic world. This has led to three important historiographical trends: First, more than ever historians are now studying developments from the late 18th and 19th centuries in ways that incorporate their full Atlantic context. This includes subjects such as the Age of Revolution, the Age of Emancipation, the Black Atlantic, and capitalism and slavery. In doing so they recognize connections and influences among people from Europe, Africa, and the Americas throughout the region. Second, historians have become interested in explaining how and when to “end” the history of the Atlantic world. They have pushed the end date deep into the 19th century, and there is now a consensus that this era must be studied in order to understand the end or transformation of the early modern Atlantic world that has been the focus of so much interest in the past generation. Last, many historians are studying the 19th century as a period of transition, in which previous relationships among Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans can be better understood in global terms. Historians writing in a number of languages addressing themes such as slavery, abolition, and migration have produced a lively scholarly literature that, among other things, better incorporates the South Atlantic into discussions of the Atlantic world.