History Exam Study Guide: Renaissance, Absolutism, Enlightenment, Revolutions, and Imperialism

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the major topics of the history study guide: Renaissance, Absolutism, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and Imperialism.

Renaissance

A time of revival, which means rebirth.

Humanism

A thought system that places prime importance on the individual instead of a divine being, stresses the goodness of human beings, and encourages people to seek rational ways to understand and solve problems.

95 Theses

Martin Luther's 95 problems with the church, nailed to the door of Wittenberg Castle church, which started the Protestant Reformation.

Sale of Indulgences

A church practice where people were charged money to forgive their sins, requiring higher payments for more serious sins.

Absolute Monarchy

A system of government where a king or queen holds absolute power.

Divine Right

The idea that God created the monarchy and the monarch acted as God’s representative on earth, answering only to God and not to their subjects.

Michelangelo

Inspiring Renaissance artist who created David and painted the Sistine Chapel.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer who painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

Martin Luther

A monk who opposed the sale of indulgences and translated the Bible into German so people would not have to rely solely on church officials.

Johannes GutenBurg

The inventor of the moveable type, who printed the Gutenberg Bible as the first major Bible using moveable type to enable mass-production and spread Christianity.

Philip II

Son of Charles V and devout king who focused on expanding Spanish influences and strengthening the Catholic Church.

King Louis XIV

French absolute monarch crowned at 9, known as the 'Sun King', who gave the 'I am the State' speech, built the Versailles Palace, fought costly wars, and mistreated the Huguenots.

Fredrick The Great

Prussian ruler who seized Silesia from Austria and gained fame for his strategic mind and victories in the Seven Years' War.

Peter the Great

Tsar of Russia who wanted to be educated and forced serfdom.

Cathrine the Great

German princess and successor to Peter the Great who was very effective, gave power to nobles, and provided schools for children.

Scientific Revolution

A movement representing a huge change where modern science began.

Scientific Method

A process for gathering and analyzing data using experiments and reason.

Heliocentric Theory

The astronomical model stating that planets revolve around the sun.

Geocentric Theory

The astronomical model stating that the planets and sun go around the earth.

Natural Rights

The basic rights all people are born with, identified by John Locke as life, liberty, and property.

Social Contract (Hobbes)

An agreement where people give up some freedom in exchange for protection by the government.

Declaration of Independence

Document written by Thomas Jefferson that included Enlightenment ideas, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Separation of Powers

A constitutional system of checks and balances dividing authority among judicial, legislative, and executive branches.

John Locke

English philosopher who lived through the Glorious Revolution, believed people are reasonable and moral, advocated for limited government, and argued people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property.

Rousseau

French philosopher who wrote The Social Contract, believed people are born good but made evil by society, and argued that government should reflect the general will because power comes from the people.

Mary Wollstonecraft

English writer and early voice for gender equality who wrote 'Vindication of the Rights of Woman' and argued that women deserve education and political rights.

Voltaire

French writer and philosopher who used wit and satire to criticize absolute monarchy, fighting ignorance and injustice through reason.

Thomas Hobbes

English philosopher who argued that people are naturally selfish and violent, and that life in a natural state without a strong government is nasty, brutish, and poor.

Baron de Montesques

French thinker who wrote 'Spirit of the Laws' and created the concept of separation of powers to prevent tyranny and protect liberty.

Nicholas Copernicus

Scientist whose heliocentric book marked the beginning of the Scientific Revolution, though the Church rejected his theory because it contradicted ancient Greeks.

Johannes Kepler

Mathematician who proved Copernicus was correct and discovered that planets orbit in ellipses rather than complete circles.

Galileo

Scientist who improved the telescope to confirm Copernicus's heliocentric theory, was barred by the Catholic Church from publishing his findings, and was imprisoned for heresy.

Sir Francis Bacon

Scientist who changed the approach to science by creating the scientific method.

Sir Isaac Newton

Renowned scientist who wrote about gravity and formulated the three laws of motion.

First Estate

The clergy in pre-revolutionary France, consisting of about 130,000 people who owned 10 percent of the land.

Second Estate

The nobility in pre-revolutionary France, consisting of about 350,000 people who owned 25 to 30 percent of the land.

Third Estate

The bourgeoisie and commoners, making up 98 percent of the French population and owning 30 to 35 percent of the land.

Storming of the Bastille

The start of the French Revolution, during which a group marched to the Bastille to demand guns and powder.

The Great Fear

A period during the French Revolution when peasant rebellions broke out all over France.

Napoleon's Codes

Legal codes establishing equality of all citizens before the law, individual freedom to choose a profession, religious toleration, and abolition of serfdom, while causing setbacks for women and children.

Congress in Vienna

A conference where European rulers sought to restore the old order and achieve peace in Europe.

Agricultural Revolution

The period before the Industrial Revolution involving a shift from countryside living to city life, marked by selective breeding, the seed drill, the cotton gin, cottage systems, and the enclosure movement.

Urbanization

The process where small towns were taken over by coal or iron mines and grew into factory cities where families lived on or near factory premises.

Factory Towns

Towns that sprang up as factory jobs replaced the cottage system, where everyone working for a company lived in the neighborhood of their workplace.

Zollverein

An agreement that removed tariffs among German states, leading to economic unity in Germany.

Iron Law of Wages

David Ricardo's economic principle stating that a larger supply of workers leads to lower salaries.

Capitalism

An economic system described in the notes where the government's only role in business is protecting buyers and enforcing laws.

Socialism

An economic system where the people as a whole, rather than private individuals, own and operate the means of production.

Communism

A government system where property is publicly owned and there are no social classes, leaving everyone equal without rich or poor.

Methodist

A religious group founded by John Wesley during the Industrial Revolution that preached forgiveness and living a moral life to draw closer to God.

Luddites

Laborers who resisted industrial change by sabotaging and destroying machinery.

Adam Smith

Economic thinker who introduced the idea of capitalism to replace mercantilism.

Richard Arkwright

Textile factory tycoon who invented the water frame and originated the concept of factories.

Charles 'Turnip' Townsend

Agricultural innovator who discovered that planting legumes replenishes soil.

The Three (ISM)

The three global policies identified in the study guide: Isolationism, Expansionism, and Imperialism.

Uprising of 1857

An Indian protest against British rule involving Hindus and Muslims, marked by violent clashes between sepoys and the British.

British Raj

The unequal system of indirect rule used by the English to govern India, under which Indian leaders had to obey British orders.

Treaty of Nanjing

The peace treaty ending the Opium Wars that opened 5 trading ports, subjected accused British citizens to British courts, and required China to pay $12 million for war expenses.

Taiping Rebellion

A major rebellion led by Hong Xiuguan that sought to overthrow the Qing dynasty and replace it with the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace, resulting in over 20 million deaths.

Treaty of Kanagawa

An agreement that allowed American ships to stop at two Japanese ports.

Meiji Restoration

The 1868 return of Emperor Mutshito to power, adopting the name 'Emperor Meiji' (enlightened rule) to modernize and reform Japan to build its national strength.

Social Darwinism

The imperialist ideology asserting that certain nations or races are naturally more fit than others.

Quinine

A medicinal drug discovered by Europeans that protected them from malaria during imperialist expansion in Africa.

British East India Trade Company

An English trading corporation that controlled three-fifths of India through trade.

Sepoy

Indian soldiers serving in the British army.