Enlightenment
a movement that emphasized science and reason as guides to help see the world more clearly
Social Contract
A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.
Natural Rights
the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property
Deism
A popular Enlightenment era belief that there is a God, but that God isn't involved in people's lives or in revealing truths to prophets.
Liberalism
A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.
Empiricism
the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation
Nationalism
A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country
Feminism
A female movement for gender equality.
Suffrage
the right to vote in political elections
End of Serfdom
Most important reform of Russian Czar Alexander II; 1861-1865
Declaration of Independence
Signed in 1776 by US revolutionaries; it declared the United States as a free state.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
French Revolution document that outlined what the National Assembly considered to be the natural rights of all people and the rights that they possessed as citizens
Jamaica Letter
A was a document written in Jamaica by South American revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar where he famously expanded his views on thee independence movement in Venezuela and the way the government under the way they tried to operate.
Reign of Terror
This was the period in France where Robespierre ruled and used revolutionary terror to solidify the home front. He tried rebels and they were all judged severely and most were executed.
Simon Bolivar
The most important military leader in the struggle for independence in South America. Born in Venezuela, he led military forces there and in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.
Toussaint L'Ouverture
Was an important leader of the HaĂŻtian Revolution and the first leader of a free Haiti; in a long struggle again the institution of slavery, he led the blacks to victory
Realpolitik
realistic politics based on the needs of the state
Otto von Bismarck
Chancellor of Prussia from 1862 until 1871, when he became chancellor of Germany. A conservative nationalist, he led Prussia to victory against Austria (1866) and France (1870) and was responsible for the creation of the German Empire (714)
Peninsulares
Spanish-born, came to Latin America; ruled, highest social class.
Creoles
Descendents of Spanish-born but born in Latin America; resented inferior social, political, economic status.
Industrial Revolution
A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.
cottage industry
Manufacturing based in homes rather than in a factory, commonly found before the Industrial Revolution.
factory system
Shift from homemade goods to factory made goods
crop rotation
The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil.
Enclosure Movement
The process of consolidating small landholdings into a smaller number of larger farms in England during the eighteenth century.
steam engine
an engine that uses the expansion or rapid condensation of steam to generate power.
Second Industrial Revolution
Steel, chemicals, electricity. This is the name for the new wave of more heavy industrialization starting around the 1860s.
telegraph
A device for rapid, long-distance transmission of information over an electric wire. It was introduced in England and North America in the 1830s and 1840s.
Muhammad Ali
Leader of Egyptian modernization in the early nineteenth century. He ruled Egypt as an Ottoman governor, but had imperial ambitions. His descendants ruled Egypt until overthrown in 1952.
Meiji Restoration
The political program that followed the destruction of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868, in which a collection of young leaders set Japan on the path of centralization, industrialization, and imperialism.
Adam Smith
Scottish economist who wrote the Wealth of Nations a precursor to modern Capitalism.
Wealth of Nations
This is the 18th century book written by Scottish economist Adam Smith in which he spells out the first modern account of free market economies.
Transnational business
a commercial enterprise that operates substantial facilities,and business in more than one country and does not consider any particular country its home.
Industrial Working Class
lower class, horrible working conditions, factory workers
middle class
A social class made up of skilled workers, professionals, business people, and wealthy farmers
Urbanization
An increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in urban settlements.
Karl Marx
founder of modern communism
Communism
A theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
Socialism
A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production.
Tanzimat Reforms
A set of reforms in the Ottoman Empire set to revise Ottoman law to help lift the capitulations put on the Ottomans by European powers.
Young Turks
Young rebellious people in the Ottoman Empire who forced the Sultan to reform
Self-Strengthening Movement
late 19th century movement in China to counter the challenge from the West; led by provincial leaders
Capitalism
an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.
labor union
An organization of workers that tries to improve working conditions, wages, and benefits for its members
Bourgeoisie
the middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional people