Definition of The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement that happened in the 17th and 18th centuries, influenced by 17th-century philosophers Descartes, Locke, Newton, and others. Prominent supporters of The Enlightenment included philosophers and/or writers Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, and Adam Smith. The movement emphasized reason over tradition. (Source: Oxford Dictionary)

According to general Enlightenment beliefs included:

1) The ability to reason is the most important ability a human has.

2) Reason allows one to break free from primitive and superstitious beliefs; through reason, one betters him- or herself, learning to think and act correctly.

3) Reason will make the world better and better.

3) No belief should be accepted just because a priest (or a similar figure) said it, or because it's what people have always believed. Beliefs should only be accepted on the basis of reason.

4) Knowledge is more important than emotion.

(Source: PBS)

Definition of Romaniticism

Romanticism is a mix of beliefs about art and life--sometimes called a "philosophical movement"-- that started to become popular, especially in England and Germany, around the late 1700's.

Romantics generally believed:

1) that imagination was the greatest thing a human was capable of (as opposed to reason)

2) in addition to imagination, a human's ability to feel and express emotion was also very, very important, and both emotion and imagination were necessary for great art

3) that nature could be a healing power, a safe escape from society, or the subject of art, and was best described in sensual, emotional language. (While the rationalist/Enlightenment view of nature was scientific--nature could best be described as a system of mechanical laws.)

4) that the interior journey of the self was very important.

(Source: Brooklyn College)

The British Empire.

The British Empire was the empire consisting of Britain and the territories it controlled. It began in the early 1600's and peaked around the end of World War I, around 1920. At its height it included the British Isles, parts of the West Indies, Canada, Guyana, parts of West Africa, parts of East Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand. (Princeton)

By 1815, Britain had become the dominant world power--it's power and wealth having been built on the slave trade and on the growing world demand for crops grown in British colonies, like sugar, tobacco, cotton, tea, and coffee. (George Mason University)

Definition of Social History

Social history examines the lives of everyday people, generally combining women’s history, African American history, immigration studies and working-class history. (Source: CSU/Fullerton)

The pic above, by Théodore Géricault, is called "A Paraletic Woman" (1820). It's part of the "Images of London's Poor" exhibit at The London Museum.  (Source)