5.2 Nationalism and Revolutions in the Period from 1750 to 1900

The political revolutions that transformed the world between 1750 and 1900 were rooted in Enlightenment ideals of liberty and self-government. Across the Atlantic world, people began to reject monarchies and empires that claimed divine or hereditary authority. Instead, they asserted that legitimate rule derived from the consent of the governed. This idea gave rise to nationalism.