Reflections of Empire: British Atlases from the Imperial Century

Reflections of Empire: British Atlases from the Imperial Century
Presenter: Jenny Marie Johnson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The British Imperial Century, often defined as the period between the 1815 Treaty of Vienna ending the Napoleonic Wars and the 1914 beginning of the First World War, was a period of exploration, economic growth, expansion of geopolitical influences, cultural exchange, and technological changes. Cartographic and textual content of British world atlases produced during and slightly before and after this period can be examined to find expressions of imperialism as Great Britain’s imperial focus shifted from being primarily on North America and India (the First Empire), to being a nearly unchallenged global power, and lastly to initial stages of dismantlment.