Unit 5: Revolutions C. 1750 - 1900

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from Unit 5, focusing on the Enlightenment, Nationalism, Industrial Revolution, and their impacts.

The Enlightenment

An intellectual and ideological context in which revolutions swept the Atlantic world from 1750 to 1900, emphasizing reason and individual rights.

Enlightenment Philosophies

Applied new ways of understanding and empiricist approaches to both the natural world and human relationships.

Social Contract

New political ideas developed by philosophers about the individual, natural rights, and the relationship between citizens and their government.

Nationalism

A major force shaping the historical development of states and empires, based on a sense of commonality.

Reform Movements

Movements influenced by Enlightenment ideas and religious ideals that contributed to the expansion of rights, such as expanded suffrage, abolition of slavery, and the end of serfdom.

Women's Suffrage

Demands for women’s suffrage and an emergent feminism challenged political and gender hierarchies.

Nationalism

A sense of commonality based on language, religion, social customs, and territory, sometimes harnessed by governments to foster a sense of unity.

American Revolution

A revolution that led to the successful establishment of a republic, the United States of America, which was a model and inspiration for a number of the revolutions that followed.

Declaration of Independence

An example of the ideas of Enlightenment philosophers as reflected in revolutionary documents.

Industrial Revolution

The growth of industrial production due to factors including proximity to waterways, access to resources, urbanization, improved agricultural productivity, and accumulation of capital.

Factory System

Concentrated production in a single location and led to an increasing degree of specialization of labor.

Steam-Powered Industrial Production

The rapid development in European countries and the U.S. contributed to the increase in these regions’ share of global manufacturing during the first Industrial Revolution.

Fossil Fuels Revolution

The greatly increased energy available to human societies due to the development of machines, including steam engines and the internal combustion engine.

Second Industrial Revolution

Led to new methods in the production of steel, chemicals, electricity, and precision machinery during the second half of the 19th century.

State-Sponsored Industrialization

The influence of the Industrial Revolution led a small number of states and governments to promote their own visions of industrialization.

Laissez-faire Capitalism

Western European countries began abandoning mercantilism and adopting free trade policies, partly in response to the growing acceptance of Adam Smith’s theories.

Transnational Businesses

The global nature of trade and production contributed to the proliferation of large-scale businesses that relied on new practices in banking and finance.

Industrial Capitalism

Led to increased standards of living for some, and to continued improvement in manufacturing methods that increased the availability, affordability, and variety of consumer goods.

Labor Unions

In industrialized states, many workers organized themselves to improve working conditions, limit hours, and gain higher wages.

Socialism and Communism

Ideologies that developed due to discontent with established power structures.

Middle Class

The new social class that developed during the Industrial Age.

Industrial Working Class

The new social class that developed during the Industrial Age.

Urbanization Challenges

The rapid urbanization that accompanied global capitalism at times led to a variety of challenges, including pollution, poverty, increased crime, public health crises, housing shortages, and insufficient infrastructure to accommodate urban growth.