Traditions & Encounters Volume 2 (7th Ed.): Chapter 28-30

Philosophes

The Enlightenment thinkers who shared their works with the educated public, rather than scholars. They composed many creative literary works and created pamphlets on religious, moral, and political issues

Voltaire

Arguably the most famous and influential philosophe. He championed ideas pertaining to individual freedom, guided by his humanitarian and Deist values, while criticizing the Catholic church and French monarchy

Deism

Believing in the idea of a god, who created the universe and its rules, not taking personal interest in its development, while denying Christian teachings

Estates General

Created by the French monarchy, this organization aimed to represent the entire French population, through three estates, and sort out crises related to debt and government. The first estate represented the Clergy (the Catholic church), the second represented the Nobility (those in French monarchial society who were classed right below the monarchy), and the third with the rest of the French population. However, the first two estates represented about 1% of the population

National Assembly

The third estate, seceding from the Estates General. They met and drafted a constitution, created through the ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity, aiming to establish it through revolution

The Convention

The single legislative body that ruled France, created by French revolutionaries, aimed to combat counterrevolution. They instituted one of the first military drafts to fight against invading powers from Europe, resulting from the French Revolution, and made heavy use of the guillotine to root out enemies at home, including Louis XVI

Jacobins

The political party created by Robespierre that dominated the Convention. Through Robespierre’s control over the Committee of Public Safety. they pushed their reforms pertaining to rights and religion by any means necessary, often violence

Toussaint Louverture

The general who led the Haitian slave revolt. He issued a constitution establishing equal rights and citizenship for Saint-Domingue, but didn’t declare independence from France, fearing Napoleon. He was later arrested by France and died due to maltreatment

Peninsulares

Colonial officials from Iberia (Spain & Portugal)

Simon Bolivar

Heavily inspired by Enlightenment thought and George Washington, He led an independence movement in South America that aimed to create a confederation like the United States. This led to the formation of Gran Colombia, which was ultimately a failure due to clashing social groups

Congress of Vienna

A group of representatives from the “great European powers” that defeated Napoleon, aiming to dismantle Napoleon’s empire and restore power to Europe’s royal families. The efforts of this group, however, had limited success, as it was impossible to suppress the ideas of popular sovereignty

Otto Von Bismarck

Led the unification of Germany, as the prime minister of Prussia, by going to war with countries that had large German populations. He created a strong sense of German pride and declared himself emperor of the Second Reich

Demographic Transition

The shifting patterns of fertility and mortality, caused by the popularization of contraception during industrialization. This led to declining birth rates, lower population growth, and relative demographic stability

Utopian Socialists

Social critics who aimed to establish ideal communities that would result in equitable society. They pushed workplace reform and sent young children to school. However, these communities typically failed due to economic and political difficulties. Although, Socialist ideas never died out and were sought to be applied to large scale organizations of working people

Communist Manifesto

This document sought to expose the exploitation of the proletariat (the working class) by the bourgeoisie (those who own means of production) and explain the finite lifespan of capitalistic society. Authors Marx and Engles believed that socialist revolution would occur, resulting in the abolishment of private property and destroying capitalist order

Caudillos

Regional military leaders who came to power through the division and discord within the newly independent Latin American States. They often took populist stances and exploited the discontent of the masses

Juan Manuel de Rosas

The Argentinian Caudillo who called for regional autonomy to appease clashing social groups. He also subdued other caudillos and quelled rebellions through violent means

Benito Juarez

The Mexican president who pushed La Reforma and established a constitution granting civil liberties to disenfranchised indigenous peoples. However, these reforms didn’t have the intended effect and gave way to wealthy land owners

La Reforma

The limiting of military and Catholic inflience over the Mexican government

Gauchos

The Cowboys of South America, prominent in the Argentinian pampas. They were almost all of mixed race, differentiated themselves through clothing, and lived semi-nomadic lifestyles. Their independence was heavily challenged by Caudillos, however, and were pushed out of the pampas, giving up their ways of life