| 1775–1783 | American Revolution |
| 1786–1789 | Height of French monarchy’s financial crisis |
| 1789 | Ratification of U.S. Constitution; storming of the Bastille; feudalism abolished in France |
| 1789–1799 | French Revolution |
| 1790 | Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France |
| 1791 | Slave insurrection in Saint-Domingue |
| 1792 | Wollstonecraft publishes A Vindication of the Rights of Woman |
| 1793 | Execution of Louis XVI |
| 1793–1794 | Robespierre’s Reign of Terror |
| 1794 | Robespierre deposed and executed; France abolishes slavery in all territories |
| 1794–1799 | Thermidorian reaction |
| 1799–1815 | Napoleonic era |
| 1804 | Haitian republic declares independence |
| 1812 | Napoleon invades Russia |
| 1814–1815 | Napoleon defeated and exiled |