charles_darwin

SERIES FOREWORD
American statesman Adlai Stevenson stated, ‘‘We can chart our future
clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the
present.’’ This series, Greenwood Guides to Historic Events, 1500–
1900, is designed to illuminate that path by focusing on events from
1500 to 1900 that have shaped the world. The years 1500 to 1900
include what historians call the early modern period (1500 to 1789,
the onset of the French Revolution) and part of the modern period
(1789 to 1900).
In 1500, an acceleration of key trends marked the beginnings
of an interdependent world and the posing of seminal questions that
changed the nature and terms of intellectual debate. The series
closes with 1900, the inauguration of the twentieth century. This
period witnessed profound economic, social, political, cultural, religious,
and military changes. An industrial and technological revolution
transformed the modes of production, marked the transition
from a rural to an urban economy, and ultimately raised the standard
of living. Social classes and distinctions shifted. The emergence
of the territorial and later the national state altered man’s relations
with and view of political authority. The shattering of the religious
unity of the Roman Catholic world in Europe marked the rise of a
new pluralism. Military revolutions changed the nature of warfare.
The books in this series emphasize the complexity and diversity of
the human tapestry and include political, economic, social, intellectual,
military, and cultural topics. Some of the authors focus on
events in U.S. history such as the Salem witchcraft trials, the
American Revolution, the abolitionist movement, and the Civil War.
Others analyze European topics, such as the Reformation and
Counter-Reformation and the French Revolution. Still others bridge
cultures and continents by examining the voyages of discovery, the