18th century

The 18th Century: Century of the Furnace (Millennium) 8 of 10

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• published: 30 Jun 2016
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The 18th Century: Century of the Furnace _________________________________________________________________ Finland: Shape of the World In 1736, the French Academy sponsored the most elaborate scientific experiment ever devised. Pierre de Maupertuis led an expedition to the Arctic Circle to settle an argument about the shape of the Earth. Maupertuis and his team believed that the power of science could crack every problem. They believed that observation and experiment could master the world. To map the world was to control it. The problem Maupertuis set out to solve was this: Was the Earth a sphere, as was traditionally claimed? Or was it flattened at the poles, like an orange, according to Sir Isaac Newton's theory? Or was it shaped more like a lemon, elongated toward the ends? _________________________________________________________________ Portugal: Enlightenment On November 1, 1755, the people of Lisbon, Portugal, were preparing to celebrate the Day of All Saints. Never did the sun rise with such brilliance as it did that Sunday. The churches were full. Families offered up prayers for their dead. Then came the first shocks. A witness of the day wrote: "At four minutes past nine o'clock, the ground opened to inferno, fires raged. The great earthquake of Lisbon had struck." More than 10,000 died in the Lisbon earthquake. The shock waves convulsed the whole of Europe. The credulous were convinced that this was divine justice. Others saw an opportunity to reorganize society on rational principles. _________________________________________________________________ United States - France: Revolutions In 1768, Thomas Jefferson began to build Monticello, his tribute to the European Enlightenment. Jefferson shared and celebrated the Enlightenment belief that native peoples uncorrupted by modern influences possessed their own wisdom. Time passed agreeably at Monticello. From his hilltop home, Jefferson imagined the new world growing away from the old. The original English settlers in North America were joined by a great influx of immigrants with no ties to England and no allegiance to the British crown. Dissatisfaction with colonial status and the burden of taxation began to grow, along with a common identity. _________________________________________________________________ India: Expansion While the West was caught up in the excitement of new political ideas, the countries of the East flourished. India was rich in natural resources, and in land. Textile crops -- cotton, silk and, later, jute -- were the country's mainstay. India in the 18th century was an industrial giant and the world's biggest exporter of manufactured goods. The country's trading system was the envy of the world. Merchants made their fortunes in silk, spices and perfumes. Europe saw India as a province. India's political instability encouraged the British to transform a trading foothold into a grip on power. After taking control of the northeast state of Bengal, the British formed new alliances with disaffected Indian princes and expanded down the eastern coast. _________________________________________________________________ China: Coiled Dragon China prospered in the 18th century under a dynamic imperial dynasty that promoted agriculture. The population tripled to 300 million. China's wealth reached record levels. The Qing emperor, Kangxi, needed a new labor force to revive China's devastated agricultural lands, which had been destroyed by conquerors in the previous century. Kangxi ordered more than a million people from the densely populated coastal regions to resettle barren Szechuan. He and his successors wanted to prove themselves to their conquered Chinese subjects. They encouraged farmers to plant crops that had been brought from the new world: maize, peanuts, potatoes and sweet potatoes. Hardy new crops helped extend the land area under cultivation. When the emperor decreed a tax freeze for farmers, he created the conditions for a boom.