Big Era Five: Revolutions, Empires, and Nations (1750-1900 CE) Flashcards

120 vocabulary flashcards covering the key people, events, and concepts of Big Era Five (1750-1900 CE) based on the lecture transcript.

Big Era Five

A historical period spanning from the year $1750$ to $1900$ CE characterized by revolutions, empires, and nations.

The Modern Revolution

A period of global transformation driven by fossil fuels, democratic politics, and the communication revolution.

Fossil Fuels

Energy sources like coal that humans began using to meet the growing resource needs of an increasing population.

Steam engine

A device improved over time to harness the energy of coal for industrial and transportation purposes.

Power loom weaving

A technological advancement in Lancashire that allowed people to produce textiles more efficiently.

Robert Fulton

The inventor of the Clermont steamship, which allowed for quicker water travel.

Clermont

Robert Fulton's steamship that demonstrated faster travel capabilities during the Modern Revolution.

George Stephenson

The engineer who developed the "Rocket" steam locomotive in $1829$.

The "Rocket"

A steam locomotive built in $1829$ by George Stephenson that revolutionized land travel.

Agrarian economy

A type of economy focusing on agriculture and the export of raw materials like cotton to industrial economies.

Industrial economy

An economy based on manufacturing that imported raw materials and exported finished textiles.

Adam Smith

An economist who argued in The Wealth of Nations that people should be able to buy and sell land, labor, and goods freely.

The Wealth of Nations

The influential book written by Adam Smith advocating for free market ideas.

Metric system

A standardized system of weights and measures established in $1790$.

Antiseptic medicine

A medical advancement developed in $1867$ that improved public health.

Transcontinental railroad

A massive infrastructure project completed in $1869$ that spanned a continent.

United States Constitution

A document written in $1787$ that established the framework for the American government.

French National Assembly

A representative institution created in $1789$ during the French Revolution.

Ottoman Turkish Regulations for Public Education

Educational reforms established in $1869$ to promote learning within the Ottoman Empire.

Atlantic Revolutions

A series of political changes in the United States, Haiti, France, and Venezuela aimed at changing the government.

Communication Revolution

The era of rapid information and travel growth involving steamboats, newspapers, railroads, and the transatlantic cable.

Battle of Omdurman

A $1898$ conflict in Sudan where European technology led to $10,000$ Sudanese deaths versus only $48$ British deaths.

Imperialism

A policy where strong nations dominate other countries politically, economically, or socially.

Colonialism

The practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country and occupying it with settlers.

Estates

The three rigid social classes in pre-revolutionary France: Clergy ($1$st), Nobility ($2$nd), and Commoners ($3$rd).

First Estate

The class consisting of the clergy in pre-revolutionary France who held power and paid almost no taxes.

Second Estate

The social class made up of the nobility in France who enjoyed privileges and minimal taxation.

Third Estate

The social class representing $98\%$ of the French population who paid all taxes but had no say in government.

Louis XVI

The King of France whose weak leadership and calling of the Estates-General triggered the Revolution.

Marie Antoinette

The Queen of France criticized for her lavish spending and Austrian heritage during the financial crisis.

National Assembly

A new legislature set up by the Third Estate to make reforms for the people of France.

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge made by delegates to stay until they had written a new constitution for France.

Storming the Bastille

An event where a Parisian mob attacked a prison to seize gunpowder, marking a key moment in the revolution.

Legislative Assembly

A body that deposed the King and dissolved itself under pressure from the Parisian mob.

National Convention

The governing body that took office in September, forming the French republic.

Treason

The crime for which Louis XVI was found guilty and subsequently beheaded.

Guillotine

A machine designed during the Revolution to behead people, intended to be a humane and equal method of death.

Maximilien Robespierre

A Jacobin leader who ruled France as a dictator for a year during the Reign of Terror.

Committee of Public Safety

The radical group led by Robespierre that oversaw the execution of "enemies" of the Republic.

Reign of Terror

The period of Robespierre's rule characterized by the execution of thousands of political opponents and allies.

Directory

A five-man executive body that restored order in France following the End of the Terror.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A military leader made commander of the French armies by the new government after the Terror.

Jacobins

A radical political group that sought to overthrow the monarchy and establish a French republic.

Insurgents

Rebels or revolutionaries who rise up in active opposition to an established government.

Toussaint L'Ouverture

A former slave and hero who became the lead general of the Haitian Revolution and abolished slavery.

Gens de couleur

Free people of color in Haiti who sought equal legal rights and social status with white colonists.

Simon Bolivar

A Venezuelan leader known as "The Liberator" who led South American nations to independence from Spain.

Juntas

Local military or political groups that took control in Latin American colonies after the Spanish King was deposed.

Gran Colombia

Bolivar's short-lived dream of a single, unified country consisting of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama.

Peninsulares

Spanish-born officials who held the highest government and church positions in the American colonies.

Creoles

Locally-born people of Spanish descent in the colonies who often resented the elite peninsulares.

War to the Death

A policy used by Simon Bolivar against the Spanish to rally support for the revolution.

James Watt

The inventor who significantly improved the steam engine for use in factories and mines.

Division of labor

The process of breaking down a large job into small, simple tasks performed by different workers to increase speed.

Luddites

English textile workers who smashed machinery, believing technology was destroying their livelihoods.

Cottage Industry

A system where goods like cloth were produced by hand in people's homes before the rise of factories.

Factors of production

The essential resources needed for industrialization: land, labor, and capital.

Henry Bessemer

The individual who created a cheap way to mass-produce steel.

Eli Whitney

The inventor of the cotton gin, which significantly impacted textile production.

Textile manufacturing

The first industry to industrialize, becoming the backbone of the British economy.

Seed drill

A mechanical device that allowed for more efficient planting in the agricultural revolution.

Crop rotation

An agricultural technique that improved soil fertility and increased food production.

Liberalism

A political philosophy favoring individual liberty, free markets, and limited government power.

John Stuart Mill

A philosopher who advocated for individual freedom, women's rights, and protection against the tyranny of the majority.

Karl Marx

Co-author of the Communist Manifesto who argued history is a struggle between social classes.

Friedrich Engels

A thinker who partnered with Karl Marx to develop the theories of modern communism.

Communist Manifesto

The book in which Marx and Engels argued that capitalism exploits workers and will be overthrown.

Communism

A system where private property is abolished and the community owns all means of production.

Proletariat

The working class who do not own the tools of production and must sell their labor for wages.

Socialism

An economic system where factors of production are owned by or operated for the people to ensure equality.

Utilitarianism

A philosophy by Jeremy Bentham stating things should be judged by their usefulness for the greatest good for the greatest number.

Jeremy Bentham

The founder of utilitarianism who believed government should promote the greatest good.

Social Darwinism

The misapplication of "survival of the fittest" to human societies to justify imperialism and racism.

Labor Unions

Associations formed by laborers to negotiate for better pay and working conditions with employers.

Strike

A work stoppage called by a union to pressure owners for higher wages or shorter hours.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

The leader of the "Red Shirts" who helped join the Italian Peninsula into a single constitutional monarchy.

Italian Unification

The process of joining various states on the Italian Peninsula into one nation between $1858$ and $1871$.

German Unification

The process of creating the German Empire from Prussia and other states between $1865$ and $1871$.

King Khama III

Leader of the Bamangwato people who traveled to London to request British protection for his land.

King Leopold II

The Belgian monarch who acquired land in the Congo for personal exploitation.

Henry Stanley

An explorer who helped King Leopold II of Belgium acquire land in the Congo.

Scramble for Africa

The all-out competition among European powers for control of African territory.

Berlin Conference

A $1884$-$85$ meeting where European powers divided Africa among themselves without African leaders present.

Maxim machine gun

A piece of European technology that gave colonial armies a decisive military advantage in Africa.

Empress Ci Xi

The powerful Qing dynasty ruler who resisted foreign influence but supported the Boxer Rebellion.

Boxer Rebellion

An anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising fueled by the belief that foreigners were destroying Chinese culture.

Taiping Rebellion

A massive peasant revolt in China led by Hong Xiuquan due to poverty and corruption.

Hong Xiuquan

The leader of the Taiping Rebellion who sought to overthrow the Qing dynasty.

Debt Peonage

A system in Latin America where laborers were forced to work to pay off a debt, creating permanent servitude.

Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

A Mexican general and president who dominated national politics for several decades.

La Reforma

A liberal movement in Mexico aimed at reducing the power of the Catholic Church and the military.

Benito Juarez

The leader of La Reforma who stripped the Catholic Church of its land and privileges in Mexico.

Boers

Dutch settlers in South Africa, also known as Afrikaners, who fought the British and Zulu for land.

Guerrilla Warfare

Hit-and-run tactics used by smaller forces like the Boers to fight the more powerful British army.

African National Congress

The political organization (ANC) formed to fight for the rights of Black South Africans against white rule.

Apartheid

A legal system of strict racial segregation and discrimination enforced in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela

The ANC leader who spent $27$ years in prison and became South Africa's first Black president.

Great Trek

The inland movement of Boers into Zulu territory to escape British control.

South African War

A conflict between the British and Boers, resulting in British victory and the Union of South Africa.

Union of South Africa

The unified colony created by the British where white minority rule was solidified.