Historical Perspectives Research Project: The Enlightenment Era

Enlighten your students to the notion that humans from over two centuries ago were not all that different than we are now! Includes EIGHT historical texts, analysis questions, project instructions and rubric!

This research project asks students to analyze historical texts and make connections to these modern topics:

• Industrialization and pollution
• Gender roles
• The Opioid epidemic
• Racism
• British imperialism and modern American foreign policy
• Class structure and income inequality

Students will read an artifact text from the Enlightenment Era (18th century) and analyze its meaning. They will then be tasked with independently researching a modern controversy that is similar to the subject of the 18th century text.

The objective of the project is to encourage students to initiate independent research complex topics, and to enable them to view their world within the perspective of historical context.

Pro Tip: This project is attached as one large Google Doc which includes all necessary worksheets, graphic organizers, and handouts. Copy and paste sections out into separate documents (or print specific page ranges) to divide the document into useable parts.