Modern World History Honors Final Exam Study Guide - M12 to M18

Flashcards for vocabulary review

The Enlightenment

An intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Argued that men and women should have equal rights and everyone should have the right to an equal education.

John Locke

Believed people could learn from their experiences and improve and therefore had the natural ability to govern themselves; introduced the idea of Natural Rights (Life, Liberty, and Property).

Thomas Hobbes

Believed people were wicked, selfish, and would likely act in their own self interest; believed that the best form of government was an absolute monarchy.

Checks and Balances

A system in which each branch of government limits the power of the other branches.

Diderot

Developed the Encyclopedia in which published works of scientists and enlightenment ideas were compiled for people to read, contributing to the spread of enlightenment ideas.

Church and State

The relationship between religious organizations and nation-states.

Republic

A form of government in which the country is considered a public matter, not the private concern or property of the rulers; typically has elected representatives.

Censorship

The suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.

Adam Smith

Introduced the idea of a free market society in which people acted in their own best interests in order to drive economic progress of society as a whole.

Old Regime

The social and political system in France prior to the French Revolution.

Estates

One of the three social classes that the French were divided into under the Old Regime.

Estates-General

The delegates of the three Estates meeting regarding taxes, eventually leading to the formation of the National Assembly.

Tennis Court Oath

Pledge made by members of France's National Assembly in 1789, in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution.

National Assembly

Representative government established by the Third Estate delegates, seen as the first sign of the French Revolution.

Reign of Terror

A period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins.

Robespierre

A French lawyer and statesman who was one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. Leader of the Committee of Public Safety.

Napoleon

Leader then Emperor of France who led France out of the revolution and began to stabilize French society and economy.

Industrialization

The movement of people from rural to urban areas, providing labor for industrial growth.

James Watt

An English inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the Industrial Revolution.

Agricultural Revolution

The transformation of agriculture from traditional methods to more productive seeding and harvesting techniques, boosting crop yield.

Textile Industry

The site of the first industrial growth during the revolution, employing many women in mills.

Factory Acts

Laws that led to changes in working conditions during the Industrial Revolution, primarily aiding in the reform of child labor.

Luddites

A group who rebelled against factory work and manufacturing by breaking machines and sabotaging supplies, an early example of organized labor.

Tenement Houses

Urban housing that multiple families would live in, often with inadequate conditions.

Corporation

A company that is formed to conduct business and typically for a profit, selling shares to investors.

Monopoly

A company that controls all aspects/products within a sector of the economy.

Trust

A group of companies that are run by an individual or a group of people (trustees).

Imperialism

Control by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region.

Colony

Land or region controlled by another country.

Protectorate

Land or region indirectly controlled by another country.

Sphere of Influence

An area or region in which a colonial power has exclusive trade rights but does not “control” the area.

David Livingstone

A Scottish missionary and explorer who supported the rights and freedoms of native peoples suppressed by European imperialism.

Boer War

A conflict in South Africa, sparked by the discovery of gold and diamonds, between the Boers and

Ethiopia

The only African nation to successfully resist the Europeans and their goal of colonization, led by Menelik II.

Berlin Conference

A meeting of 14 European countries in 1884-85 to agree to terms of colonization of Africa and to divide up the land.

Geopolitics

Interest in or taking of land for its strategic location or products.

Cash Crop

agricultural product produced in large quantities for market prices