As you migh have noticed, there aren’t only strictly 18th-centurian topics on the Trapped in the 18th century website. You can find content from as early as the 1680’s and also from the years of George IV’s reign (1820-1830).
This approach isn’t just about adding a few extra years here and there. It’s about understanding that history doesn’t stop and start at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 1700, or 1800. Big ideas, revolutions, and cultural movements unfold over time, often overlapping with one another. The “long 18th Ccentury” gives us a wider lens to explore an era that changed everything—from how governments worked to how people thought about freedom, art, and society itself.
The year 1688 is a perfect place to kick things off.
That’s when the Glorious Revolution happened in England, a pivotal event that overthrew King James II and replaced him with William III and Mary II. This wasn’t just a power shuffle—it set the stage for something new. The Glorious Revolution established the idea that rulers couldn’t govern without the consent of Parliament. It was a step toward modern democracy and constitutional monarchy, a system that influenced countries around the world.
The end of the “long 18th century” onTrapped in the 18th century is marked by 1830, when the reign of George IV came to a close. There are several key reasons for this choice. First, George IV’s death marked the end of a turbulent period of political instability in Britain, which included the Napoleonic Wars and the difficult transition from agrarian economies to industrial societies. By 1830, the Industrial Revolution had firmly taken root in Britain and spread across Europe, radically transforming the landscape of society, economy, and technology. Additionally, the political structure had changed significantly during George IV’s reign, with important events such as the passage of the Reform Act of 1832, which began the process of expanding the franchise and modernizing British political institutions.
Second, 1830 represents the year of the July Revolution in France, which marked a significant turning point in European politics. The overthrow of Charles X, the last Bourbon monarch, and the establishment of the July Monarchy under Louis-Philippe in France signaled the consolidation of revolutionary ideals and the end of the “old regime” across much of Europe.
This revolution, combined with the broader spread of nationalist and liberal movements, serves as a symbolic closure for the era that had begun in the late 17th century.
But history is more than battles and political shift. It’s about how people lived, worked, and experienced the world around them.
My website uses the “long 18th century” also to explore everyday life between 1688 and 1830, a period when cultural and social changes completely transformed how people thought, interacted, and went about their daily routines.
One of the biggest shifts during the “long 18th century” was how people experienced time and space in their daily lives. In 1688, life was still tied closely to natural rhythms. Candles and daylight dictated when work could be done. Most people lived in small, rural communities, and news traveled slowly. But by 1830, the Industrial Revolution was well underway, and everything had sped up. Gas lighting extended the day, railroads began shrinking distances, and the hustle of city life replaced the slow pace of the countryside for many.
These changes altered how people thought about work, leisure, and even themselves. The rise of clocks and schedules meant time was no longer just a backdrop to life—it became something people measured, organized, and tried to control. This transformation may seem ordinary to us now, but at the time, it fundamentally redefined what it meant to live in a structured, modern society.
The “long 18th century” wasn’t just a time of change—it was a time when people began seeing themselves and their world differently. Art, literature, and philosophy encouraged individuals to value reason, emotion, and personal experience. Whether through reading a novel, enjoying a piece of music, or decorating a home, people began expressing themselves in ways that felt deeply personal and meaningful.
For my website, focusing on this period allows us to dive into these cultural and social shifts, looking at how they shaped everyday lives. The “Long 18th Century” wasn’t just about kings and revolutions—it was about tea parties, novels, family dinners, and the small, seemingly ordinary moments that laid the foundation for our modern world.
By exploring this era through the lens of culture and daily life, we can see how history isn’t just something that happens to nations—it’s something that happens to people. And in those people, we find reflections of ourselves.