Studied by 41 people
Absolutism
Def: the political theory that monarchs have complete control over their subjects by divine right
Sig: this theory allowed many monarchs across Eurasia to consolidate their power at a time of remarkable change to their societies and to handle the religious diversity of their many subjects
Adam Smith
Def: a Scottish economist, Enlightenment philosopher and author as well as a moral philosopher who authored "The Wealth of Nations"
Sig: Opposed mercantilism because he believed government should not have a hand in directing the economy (i.e. laissez faire); believed economy should be directed by consumers and supply and demand; credited for creating classical economics and championing capitalism
American Revolution (1775-1783)
Def: a revolutionary war raged by the British American colonists against their colonial power, Great Britain, that led to the successful independence of the United States from Great Britain
Sig: influenced by Enlightenment ideals, revolutionary documents such as the "Declaration of Independence" were created that espoused ideas of freedom and liberty; the American Revolution influenced later revolutions including the French Revolution, Haitian Revolution and Latin American Revolutions
Bourgeoise
Def: the largely middle class who defended the French Revolution against the aristocracy; in Marxist ideology, a class or group of people committed to owning private-property
Sig: later become termed as "capitalists" who, according to socialist ideology, exploited the labor of the working class to become wealthy, leading to issues such as poverty, inequality, etc.
Boxer Rebellion (1899-1900)
Def: led by a group of the same name, who unsuccessfully tried to rid China of foreign influence but failed due to foreign forces moving quickly to put it down
Sig: their defeat allowed foreigners to gain even more concessions from the Qing, thus further weakening the dynasty
Capitalism
Def: an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state
Sig: was a direct result of Industrialization and Imperialism; the system spread, along with democracy, around the globe; heavily influenced globalization and led to direct competition with socialist countries and economies
Communism
Def: Inspired by Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto", this is a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production and controls all sociopolitical facets of the country on behalf of the previously exploited lower classes
Sig: inspired many local resistance movements to capitalism; was the theory of the Bolsheviks in Russia that overthrew the czarist government to establish the Soviet Union, and spread around the globe; this spread led to competition between democratic Western nations and communist Eastern nations known as the Cold War
Cult of Domesticity
Def: the rise in America of an ideal of feminine behavior and womanliness in the period of 1820 to 1860; woman was portrayed as the chief homemaker and caregiver due to what was considered her "unique" moral and temperamental qualities
Sig: propagated quickly through popular culture, such as magazines, newspapers, and fiction, to set the standard for the ideal woman; still influences conservative views of a woman's role in modern societies
“Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” (1789)
Def: set forth by the National Assembly in 1789, this revolutionary document that was established during the French Revolution; it described ideals of natural rights, rights of man are universal and the protection of individuals under the law
Sig: further spread Enlightenment ideals and influenced the eventual overthrow of the French monarchy; it influenced the spread of freedom and democracy around the globe into the 19th century, including Haiti
Enlightenment
Def: also known as the "Age of Reason"; period of time where thinkers began to apply principles of reason and nature to government, economics, etc.; thinkers such as John Locke, Montesquieu and Voltaire were among the most influential
Sig: these ideas caused people to question and reject traditional forms of government, most notably absolutism; played a critical role in revolution and rebellion against existing governments, as well as the abolition of slavery, suffrage and the end of serfdom
Factory System
Def: method of manufacturing using machinery and division of labor; led to the significant increase in the mass production of goods, development of interchangeable parts and creation of the assembly line; emerged as a result of the Industrial Revolution
Sig: increased the global economy and drive for a source for raw materials; harsh and dangerous working conditions led to the development of labor unions championing better pay and working conditions and governments passing legislation to protect workers
French Revolution (1789-1799)
Def: a rebellion of the common people against the absolute monarchy, church and aristocracy of France; caused primarily by increased taxation but lack of representation in government and excessive spending of the monarchy; began when the Third Estate broke off from the Estates General to form the National Assembly
Sig: led to the downfall of the French monarchy and rise of a constitutional assembly; the Reign of Terror led to instability in the government and mass casualties; perpetuated Enlightenment ideals and spread revolutionary fervor through Europe
First Industrial Revolution
Def: technological innovations in the 1700s led to the industrialization and mass production of goods using machine power; was a gradual process that spread throughout western Europe to Russia, the U.S. and Japan
Sig: revolutionized production of goods through machines such as the flying shuttle and spinning jenny; standard of living rose and rapid urbanization occurred as people moved to the cities to work in factories; led to the rise of the bourgeoisie; governments passed legislation to protect workers
Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)
Def: the first colony in Latin America to gain its independence; leaders such as slave Toussaint-Louverture organized the revolt and they gained their independence from France in 1804
Sig: first well-known successful slave revolt; inspired slaves to challenge authority in other areas of the Americas while inspiring fear among the white ruling classes
Karl Marx
Def: socio-economic theorist that wrote the "Communist Manifesto" with Friedrich Engels; his ideas included and analyzation of class relations and social conflict to drive economic and governmental policy; belief that industrial capitalism is an inherently unstable system, doomed to fail through revolutionary upheaval by the proletariat, creating a classless society
Sig: his ideas inspired socialist movements of workers and intellectuals during the Industrial Revolution in Europe; socialists created political parties in most European states and internationally; inspired many late 19th and early 20th century revolutionary movements
Labor Unions
Def: an organized association of workers, often in a trade or profession, formed to protect and further their rights and interests; these became more widespread in the late 19th century, as a result of the spread of socialist ideas and a resistance against abuses in the factory system and urban issues
Sig: successfully led to widespread reform across many western countries, including a higher minimum-wage, child labor laws, better working conditions and hours; also further spread socialist ideas and led to widespread protests in several countries, including the U.S.
Latin American Revolutions
Def: a series of uprisings in the Spanish colonies of Latin America (1810-1826) that established the independence of new states from Spanish rule but that for the most part retained the privileges of the elites despite efforts at more radical social rebellion by the lower classes; these revolutions were inspired in part by the ideals spread from the American and French Revolutions
Sig: led to the decrease of Spanish global power and the rise of many independent nations across Central and South America; however, many lower class peoples were still repressed and didn't truly gain political power or influence in these countries
“Letter from Jamaica” (1815)
Def: was a document written by Simon Bolivar in 1815; he explained his thoughts on Spanish power in the time period and the possible future of new states after the results of revolutions against Spain; he called for the support of Europe in the Latin American's struggle for independence against Spain
Sig: heavily influenced by Enlightenment ideals and those revolutionary documents from the American and French Revolutions; Bolivar expressed ideas of equality under the law, democracy, and natural rights of all
Liberalism
Def: a political ideology asserting that individuals possess certain rights such as liberty and equality and that the purpose of government is to protect these rights
Sig: developed in response to the Enlightenment ideas and the changes brought about by the American and French Revolutions and reflective of the spread of transnational ideologies in this time period
Limited-Liability Corporation
Def: a type of business with limited liability for the owners, with the advantage of not paying corporate income tax; the owners of the company are not personally liable for any of the debt or other issues within a company
Sig: developed in the 19th century as a new financial instrument and came to replace many joint-stock companies of earlier times; became increasingly popular in many western nations including the U.S.
Mary Wollstonecraft’s “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” (1792)
Def: one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy; Wollstonecraft argues that all women should have the right to education, as they are the ones educating children; additionally, she argued that women have fundamentally the same rights as men.
Sig: became extremely popular and initiated many debates across countries and the need for greater women's rights; influenced by revolutionary and Enlightenment ideals, the publication further spread ideas of freedom and equality around the globe.
Maori Nationalism
Def: a series of protests of the native Maori New Zealand population against British colonial rulers; the Maori nationalists used petitions, court cases, deputations to the British monarch and New Zealand governments, passive resistance and boycotts to achieve independence as a separate Maori political system
Sig: led to a series of conflicts and even violent revolts against the New Zealand government; the Maori population was not fully successful in achieving full independence, but eventually would receive land rights and greater political representation in New Zealand government
Meiji Restoration (1868-1912)
Def: rebellion overthrew the shogun and established a government led by the emperor, who initiated a series of social, economic and political reform to modernize the nation by selectively borrowing Western ideas, including rapid industrialization and modernization of the military, to avoid the same fate as China
Sig: began a foreign policy of empire building that would establish Japan as a global power into the 20th century and chief antagonist of the United States in the Pacific
Muhammad Ali
Def: ended traditional Egyptian society and Mamluk's rule after French occupation; made cotton the chief crop of Egypt but efforts to industrialize failed
Sig: founded a dynasty which ruled Egypt from the early 19th to the mid-20th century; encouraged the emergence of the modern Egyptian state through economic, social and political reform
Nationalism
Def: feeling of pride in one's nation; played a significant role in political movements throughout the late 18th and 19th centuries, including during the French Revolution and the unification movements in Germany and Italy
Sig: beginning in the 1700s, this global trend emerged as people began to develop a new sense of identity based on shared language, religion, traditions and territory; influenced the Zionist movement, Sepoy Mutiny and the Tanzimat Reforms in the Ottoman Empire
Nation-State (definition)
Olympe de Gouges “Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Female Citizen”
Def: written in 1791 by French feminist and activist Olympe de Gouges in response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen during the French Revolution; de Gouges hoped to expose the failure of the revolution in establishing gender equality in France and create more gender equality in the new French government
Sig: as a result of her writings, de Gouges was immediately executed; it brought attention to a set of feminist concerns that collectively reflected and influenced the aims of many French Revolution activists; it helped to spread the ideas of feminism throughout Western Europe
Propaganda Movement (1872-1892)
Def: was the first Filipino nationalist movement and was led by mestizos and creoles who were relatively wealthy, and had been influenced by Enlightenment ideals spread around Europe. The leaders felt that the Philippines should be fully incorporated into Spain as a Spanish province, not as a colony, with the Filipinos granted the same rights as Spanish citizens
Sig: the movement failed to succeed in granting the Philippines a territory of Spain, and remained a colony; however, the ideals of the movement spread nationalism throughout the Philippines and would later influence their fight for independence in 1896; Filipino cultural identity were also established as a result of this movement
Second Industrial Revolution
Def: emerged with the invention of electricity and the production of steel, chemicals and precision machinery in the later 19th century
Sig: created heavily industrialized nations and increased military power; created globally-dominated countries with the use of new technology and weaponry; spread capitalist ideals to a global market
Self-Strengthening Movement
Def: a series of reforms enacted by the Qing dynasty as a result of a series of unequal treaties and internal revolts; the reforms focused on the introduction of selective Western technology in the hopes of modernizing the nation
Sig: had limited success (allowed China to bolster its military to a limited extent) but China remained an agrarian-based society centered on traditional Confucian thought
Simon Bolivar (1783-1830)
Def: a creole from South America who led a successful revolutionary movement against Spanish rule; for over a decade he led military campaigns against the Spanish, winning independence for Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia
Sig: was inspired by the American and French Revolutions and Enlightenment ideals; desired to create a United States of Latin America but was hindered by nationalist sentiments, which led to the creation of individual nations instead
Socialism
Def: the belief that people should work toward the creation of a perfect society in which everyone was equal; encouraged workers to take control and create a classless society; pioneered by Karl Marx in his "Communist Manifesto"
Sig: this theory gets adopted by the Bolsheviks in Russia and the later Soviet Union; spread largely due to unhappiness in existing forms of government and/or imperial rule
Specialization of Labor
Def: the breakdown of jobs into more narrow and specific tasks; rose with the prominence of the factory system in the 19th century, with certain workers taking on certain roles within the factory system
Sig: led to the rise of factory jobs and increasing use of machinery for labor; eventually decreased human labor in favor of machinery and moving parts to create products
Stock Market
Def: a general term used to describe all transactions involving the buying and selling of stock shares issued by a company; developed as a new financial instrument in the 19th century as a result of the new global nature of trade
Sig: led to the growth of larger international and transnational corporations that increased the power of Western nations, such as the U.S.; led to the decrease of the power of traditional joint-stock companies
Urbanization
Def: an increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements; during the Industrial Revolution, large amounts of the population migrated from rural areas to cities in search of work
Sig: led to widespread poverty, overcrowding, crime, pollution and overall decrease in the standard of living in cities; many governments struggled to have the infrastructure in place to support the large migration of people
Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864)
Def: a rebellion by Chinese peasants challenged and threatened the imperial rule of the Qing dynasty; the leaders of the revolt were heavily influenced by Christian teachings and offered ideas such as the redistribution of land, public education and rights for women
Sig: although the rebellion was successful in gaining supporters and captured Nanjing, led to a tremendous loss of life; ultimately failed but forced the Qing to make reforms, such as the Self-Strengthening Movement
Tanzimat
Def: was a period of reform in the Ottoman Empire through various attempts to modernize the empire, and secure its territorial integrity against internal nationalist movements and external aggressive powers.
Sig: many overall reforms remained in place, including higher education, greater rights, and modern art, architecture, clothing and lifestyle were implemented. Though a constitution was implemented, the sultan's power remained largely untouched.
Transnational Business
Def: a business that operates in several different countries but has their primary office and headquarters in one country; the growth of the global nature of trade and production led to the increase in these businesses in the 19th century, as the influence of mercantilism and joint-stock companies decreased
Sig: led to greater economic imperialism by several countries, including the United States, who used transnational businesses as a way to influence other countries; examples include HSBC, Unilever and the United Fruit Company
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