I realized that I think of the 18th and 19th centuries the same way I think of the individual decades of the 20th century. Was culture changing as quickly and distinctly as it appears to be in modern times?
In other words, would a person living in 1830 view the 1800s the same way someone living in the year 2000 might view the 1970s in terms of it being a "different time?"
I'd be curious of this as well. We're already seeing a bit of this in the 21st century, but there are also decades that blurred together a little more in the 20th - like 1900s late 1910s. Anyone more knowledgeable on the 18th and 19th?