Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, and American Revolution Vocabulary

Flashcards covering key vocabulary terms, figures, and events from the Scientific Revolution, the Age of Enlightenment, and the early United States.

Scientific Revolution

The historical period beginning in Europe in 1543 that marked the start of modern science.

Revolution

A huge change or movement.

Scientific method

A process for gathering and analyzing data using experiments and reason, introduced by Nathaniel Bacon / Sir Francis Bacon.

Heliocentric

The astronomical model in which planets revolved around the sun.

Geocentric

The astronomical model in which planets and the sun revolved around the earth.

Galileo

Scientist who improved the telescope to study the sky and confirmed that planets revolve around the sun.

Isaac Newton

English scientist born in 1643 who wrote about gravity and the three laws of motion in 1687.

Age of Enlightenment

A movement introducing a new way of thinking about society, politics, and human nature using reason and individual rights instead of tradition and absolute power.

Natural Rights

The basic rights all people are born with.

Social contract

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

Declaration of Independence

Document written by Thomas Jefferson (with revisions by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin) that included Enlightenment ideas, promised life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, and listed grievances against King George III.

Popular sovereignty

An idea included in the Declaration of Independence stating that the power of the government comes from the governed.

Battle of Trenton

Revolutionary War battle where Washington used a militia to retake New York from numerically superior Hessians the day after Christmas.

Battle of Saratoga

Revolutionary War battle where the Continental army, led by Benedict Arnold, pursued British forces to Bemis Heights, causing the British to lose position and numbers.

Battle of Germantown

Revolutionary War battle where Nathaniel Greene's sneak attack failed due to heavy fog that confused Continental forces.

Battle of Yorktown

Revolutionary War battle in Yorktown, Virginia, where American and French forces trapped the British stronghold, causing General Lord Cornwallis to surrender.

Articles of Confederation

Document drafted by the Second Continental Congress to govern independent states with the expressed intent of keeping each state's sovereignty.

Constitutional Convention

Meeting held in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787, to address the weaknesses of the American government under the Articles of Confederation.

Northwest Ordinances

Acts establishing a structured method for governing western territories and admitting new, equal states to the United States.

Separation of Powers

The division of government responsibilities into three distinct branches to prevent any single group or person from gaining total control.

Legislative Branch

Government branch that includes the House of Representatives and Senate, responsible for drafting laws.

Executive Branch

Government branch that includes the President, who holds the power to veto bills issued by the Legislative Branch.

Judicial Branch

Government branch consisting of justices appointed by the President that acts as the highest court of the land.

John Locke

English philosopher who believed in Natural Rights, including Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of happiness.

Rousseau

French philosopher who believed people are born good but made evil by society, power should come from the people, and government should reflect the General Will.

Mary Wollstonecraft

English philosopher who supported women's rights.

Voltaire

French writer and philosopher who criticized absolute monarchy and the church while advocating the use of reason to fight ignorance and injustice.

Thomas Hobbes

English philosopher who believed people are naturally selfish and violent.

Baron De Montesquieu

French thinker who believed power should be divided among different parts of government.

Nichalus Copernicus

Scientist who published a book stating that planets revolved around the sun.

Johannes Kepler

Scientist who used mathematics to prove Copernicus right by showing that planets orbit in ellipses rather than complete circles.