1800s (decade)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Coronation of Napoleon ICeres (dwarf planet)MorphinePeace of Pressburg (1805)De Rivaz engineHaitian RevolutionCharlotte DundasLouisiana Purchase
From top left, clockwise:
United States of America in a scale larger than ever; to this day the purchase is still viewed as one of the largest expansions within North America to date; Symington's Charlotte Dundas became the world's first functioning steamboat; Haiti declares independence in 1804, becoming the world's very first black-led republic and the first independent Caribbean state, with its victory marking the world's arguably only successful slave revolution in history; Morphine is successfully isolated from opium and is produced for the first time as a separate medicinal product in 1804; Francis II abdicates in 1806, thus dissolving the Holy Roman Empire
.

The 1800s (pronounced "eighteen-hundreds") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on 1 January 1800, and ended on 31 December 1809.

The term "eighteen-hundreds" could also mean the entire century from 1 January 1800 to 31 December 1899 (the years beginning with "18"), and is almost synonymous with the 19th century (1801–1900).

The decade was a period of drastic change. The advancements of the previous three decades towards the end of the 18th century had propelled the Industrial Revolution into a global movement, with entire wars fought with the newly developed technologies – creating an impetus to imperialist campaigns across Africa and Asia, as well as the counter-movement on Latin America later on.

Politics and wars

The early 1800s saw the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, who led the French Army to conquer a substantial portion of Europe during this time.

Napoleonic Wars

The European political landscape was dominated by the Napoleonic Wars, a series of conflicts declared against Napoleon's First French Empire and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to the application of modern mass conscription. French power rose quickly, conquering most of Europe by the end of the decade. The decade brought hard times.

On 9 November 1799 (

Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, marched through Germany and defeated the Russians on 14 June 1807 at Friedland. The Treaties of Tilsit divided Europe between France and Russia and created the Duchy of Warsaw
.

The

.

Other wars and political upheavals

Slavery

This decade marked the greatest increase of the Atlantic slave trade to the United States. During the period of 1798 and 1808, approximately 200,000 slaves were imported from Africa to the United States.[2] Still, the abolitionist movement began to gain ground in this period. Britain enacted the Slave Trade Act 1807, which barred the trade of slaves in Great Britain (though slavery was still legal). The United States enacted a similar ban in 1808.[3] However, Napoleon revoked the French Empire's ban on slavery with the Law of 20 May 1802.

On 30 August 1800, under the cloak of religious meetings,

Gabriel Prosser and Jack Bowler planned a slave rebellion in Richmond, Virginia. The rebellion was postponed due to poor weather and was ultimately unsuccessful because of unnamed two slaves betraying the cause.[4]

Prominent political events

World leaders

1809

Colonies

Science and technology

Electricity

A voltaic pile on display in the Tempio Voltiano.

This decade contained some of the earliest experiments in

Légion d'honneur
.

Also in

thermoelectric currents and anticipated the discovery of thermoelectricity by Thomas Johann Seebeck
.

In 1806, Humphry Davy decomposed potash and soda, employing a voltaic pile of approximately 250 cells, showing that these substances were respectively the oxides of potassium and sodium, which metals previously had been unknown. Employing a battery of 2,000 elements of a voltaic pile and charcoal enclosed in a vacuum, Davy gave the first public demonstration of the electric arc lamp in 1809.[5]

The London Steam Carriage

Steam transportation started to become viable during this decade. In 1803, William Symington's Charlotte Dundas, generally considered to be the world's first practical steamboat, made her first voyage. Later, in 1807, Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat, the world's first commercially successful steamboat, made her maiden voyage.

In

railway locomotive
.

The first railway began operating during this time. The Surrey Iron Railway in Great Britain was established by the British Parliament in 1801,[7] and began operation on 26 July 1803. The railway relied on horse-drawn haulage than powered locomotives.

In

Isaac de Rivas made a hydrogen gas-powered vehicle, the first vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine.[8]
James Watt creates first steam engine based on Newcomen's design.

Astronomy

Other advances

Culture

Ludwig van Beethoven in 1804

Music

Fashion

High-waisted dancing dress from 1809

Fashion in this period in

eighteenth century
.

Beau Brummell

Fashionable women's clothing styles were based on the Empire silhouette — dresses were closely fitted to the torso just under the bust, falling loosely below. Inspired by neoclassical tastes, the short-waisted gowns sported soft, flowing skirts and were often made of white, almost transparent muslin, which was easily washed and draped loosely like the garments on Greek and Roman statues. No respectable woman would leave the house without a hat or bonnet. The antique head-dress, or Queen Mary coif, Chinese hat, Oriental inspired turban, and Highland helmet were popular. As for bonnets, their crowns and brims were adorned with increasingly elaborate ornamentations, such as feathers and ribbons.[10] In fact, ladies of the day embellished their hats frequently, replacing old decorations with new trims or feathers.

1800–1809 was the height of

wigs and powder into this period, but younger men of fashion wore their hair in short curls, often with long sideburns. This period saw the final abandonment of lace, embroidery, and other embellishment from serious men's clothing outside of formalized court dress. Instead, cut and tailoring became much more important as an indicator of quality.[11]

Other

Wikisource reference work

  • Adams, Henry (1889–90). History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson . New York: Charles Scribner's Sons – via Wikisource. History that in part contains six chapters of narration remarking upon significant individuals of that era with added wikilinks linking back to their Wikipedia articles

References

  1. ^ a b c J. McNamara, Robert. "Major Events of the First Decade of the 19th Century". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  2. ^ "U.S.-Africa Chronology". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  3. ^ Foner, Eric. "Forgotten step towards freedom," New York Times. 30 December 2007,
  4. ^ “Slavery in America.” Ferris State University, https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/timeline/slavery.htm.
  5. ^ Maver, William Jr.: "Electricity, its History and Progress", The Encyclopedia Americana; a library of universal knowledge, vol. X, pp. 172ff. (1918). New York: Encyclopedia Americana Corp.
  6. ^ a b C.D. Buchanan (1958). "1". Mixed Blessing: The Motor in Britain. Leonard Hill.
  7. ^ Introduction to Rail 150: The Stockton and Darlington Railway and what followed by Jack Simmons, publ. 1975 by Methuen
  8. .
  9. .
  10. ^ "Regency Fashion and Costume". Archived from the original on 6 March 2004. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  11. ^ Payne, Blanche: History of Costume from the Ancient Egyptians to the Twentieth Century, pp. 452–455, Harper & Row, 1965. No ISBN for this edition; ASIN B0006BMNFS