AP Euro - Chapters 16/17/18 Key Terms

Unit 4

Natural Philosophy

Natural Philosophy

An early modern term for the study of the nature of the universe—its purpose and function, encompassing modern science. Mostly based on the ideas of Aristotle (GRC philosopher of 4 c. BCE). In medieval times, often combined Aristotelian ideas with Christian doctrines to form ideas like geocentrism or the crystal spheres.

Copernican Hypothesis

The idea that the sun was the center of the universe, rather than the earth (heliocentrism). Created by Nicolaus Copernicus in On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, worked on 1506-1530, but published 1543. Raised many questions—put stars at rest, questioned crystal spheres, universe size, where were heavenly spheres?

Law of Inertia

Made by Galileo Galilei, states that rest is not the natural state—an object stays in motion unless made to stop by an external force. This disproved many principles of Aristotelian physics. Sparked by a curiosity in math that led to an extensive study of motion with a ball rolling on a table as a study.

Law of Universal Gravitation

Formulated by Issac Newton, the idea that all objects are attracted to each other, and the attraction force is proportional to the objects’ mass, but inversely proportional to the square of their distance. Published in 1687 Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (Principia) . Unified the universe into one system and prevailed until the 20th century, complex and took hundreds of years to fully understand.

Empiricism

Theory of inductive reasoning (specific-broad); evidence through observation/experimentation, not deductive reason and speculation. Created by Francis Bacon by formalizing the empirical method (used by Brahe/Galileo prior) into the theory. Led to adoption of “experimental philosophy” in ENG after death, creations like the Royal Society.

Cartesian Dualism

Renè Descartes’ view that all of reality could be ultimately reduced to mind and matter. Highly influential in FRA/NL, less in ENG where experimental philosophy won. Created by his mindset that rational speculation could provide insight to truth of creation—doubted sensory impressions, used deductive reasoning from self-evident truths to ascertain scientific laws.

Enlightenment

Intellectual/Cultural movement of L.17/18c. that introduced a new worldview based on use of reason/scientific method/progress. People started to question religion, societal justice, and politics, and because of SR (sci. rev.) felt questions could be answered with observation/reason. Led to things like women’s rights, fall of absolutism, and the start of the abolitionist movement.

Rationalism

Secular, critical way of thinking that stated nothing could be accepted on faith, submitted to reason. One of the three central concepts of Enlightenment thinking. Contrasts with the sensory-based empiricism, influenced math/science/ethics.

Sensationalism

The idea that all humans and thoughts are produced as a result of sensory impressions. Largely contributed to by John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690). Essentially, the mind at birth is like a blank tablet that is filled out with time with experience—the mind is influenced by external forces, not innate characteristics.

Philosophes

FRA intellectuals proclaiming to be bringing the light of knowledge to others in Age of Enlightenment. French for “philosopher”, 18c. used FRA as a hub for thought, as French was the language of educated, FRA rich, pol. discontent, large audience. Philosophes like Montesquieu wrote works (plays, dictionaries, etc.) with satire/double meanings to get messages around censorship.

Deism

Belief in a distant, noninterventionist deity; common among Enlightenment thinkers. Many deists believed in God, but saw him like a clockmaker—built a system, then left to run. Famous deists include Voltaire, Thomas Paine, and Benjamin Franklin.

Salon

Regular social gathering held by Parisans in their homes, philosophes/followers met to discuss literature/science/philosophy. Allowed women to participate in the Enlightenment by being hostesses, or salonnières. Invitations were highly coveted, offered connections to successful to jumpstart career, and more.

Rococo

Popular EU style 18c. Soft pastels, ornate interiors, sentimental portraits, starry-eyed lovers protected by cupids. Influenced by elite women and largely associated by Louis XIV’s mistress, Madame de Pompadour, who commissioned a lot. Used in luxury objects and furniture.

Public Sphere

Idealized intellectual space emerged in EU Enlightenment, public congregated to discuss soc./econ./pol. issues. Salons, newspapers, and Masonic lodges all played roles in the creation of the public sphere. Celebrated critical debate informed by critical reason.

Enlightened Absolutism

Rule of 18c. monarchs who without renouncing their own authority adopted Enlightenment ideals of rationalism, progress, and tolerance. Famous people include Catherine the Great of Russia, Frederick II of Prussia, and Joseph II of Austria. Occurred in both Catholic and Protestant lands, and served to modernize states through reforms and the establishment of bureaucratic systems.

Cameralism

View that monarchy was the best form of government, all elements of society should serve monarch, in turn state should use resources and authority to increase public good. GER science of public administration that rose in the decades following the Thirty Years’ War. Emphasis on utilitarianism, progress, and rationality, often drawn upon by needs of war, used by Frederick II of Prussia.

Haskalah

Jewish Enlightenment of the second half of the 18c, led by Prussian philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Christian and Jewish Enlightenment philosophers advocated for freedom/civil rights for EU Jews. Accompanied period of controversial oc. change in Jewish communities, looser rabbinic controls, more Christian interaction.

Enclosure

The movement to fence fields for more effective farming. Hurt poor peasants who relied on common fields for farm/pasture, as they were often bought out. Fueled by a desire for farmers to be able to experiment with things like crop rotation on their lands, which with shared land would need to be agreed upon by all.

Proletarianization

The transformation of many small peasant farmers into landless rural wage workers. England experienced this MUCH more than any other EU state, and the cost of change did not settle well with the village poor. A result of the unemployment caused by enclosure, as a few wealthy men held all the land and leased it to mid-class farmers who relied on these workers for hard, competitive labor.

Cottage Industry

Stage of industrial development in which rural workers used hand tools in their homes to manufacture goods on a large scale for sale in a market. Grew in 18c, staple of EU economy, rose due to a growing population that needed to supplement agricultural labor with other types of work. Urban capitalists employed them at lower wages than urban workers had.

Putting-out System

18c. system of rural industry in which a merchant loaned raw materials to a cottage worker, who processed them and then returned a finished product. This system was how the large Cottage Industry operated, with many variations to the relationship between the merchant and worker. Work was often broke down into stages, and less regulations in the countryside allowed for experimentation in how merchants ordered their work.

Industrious Revolution

Shift occurring due to NW EU families focusing on earning wages rather than producing goods for household consumption. This reduced their econ. self-sufficiency but allowed them to buy more consumer goods. Happened in the L.17 - 18c., and manifested in the Cottage Industry in the countryside, and female employment in the city to allow purchases even amongst falling/still wages.

Guild System

The organization of artisanal production into trade-based associations (guilds), with each one having a monopoly over its trade and the right to train/hire apprentices/workers. The growth of rural industry threatened the system, providing competition in rural areas, people like Adam Smith in 2nd ½ 18c. attacked them for obstructing innovation. To ensure there is enough work, membership was often restricted to Christians with experience who paid fees—people got special access or denied based on connections or faith.

Economic Liberalism

A belief in comfort and free trade and competition based on Adam Smith’s argument that the invisible hand of free competition would benefit all individuals, rich and poor. He felt that for “system of natural liberty”, gov. needed to be limited to 3 duties (defend vs foreign invasion, maintain civil order in courts/police, and sponsor vital public works/institutions). This was NOT a push for unbridled capitalism, the rise in real wages of British workers in 18c. was supported, whereas capitalism would keep them down in favor of business OWNERS.

Navigation Acts

A series of ENG laws that controlled the import of goods to Britain and British colonies. Mercantile system, first laws established by Oliver Cromwell, monarchy of Charles II extended them later. The acts stated that goods imported from EU to ENG/SCO needed to be carried on British-owned ships with British crews, or on the ships of the producer country, which gave British merchants/shipowners a monopoly on trade with British colonies.

Treaty of Paris

The treaty that ended the Seven Years’ War in Europe and the colonies in 1763, and ratified British victory on all colonial fronts, gaining them land. Britain won due to their naval power, which was built on the growth of the shipping industry after the Navigation Acts, giving Britain a monopolizing trade/colonial empire. The Seven Years’ War started after the War of the Austrian Succession, and was a dispute between FRA and Britain over North American land.

Debt Peonage

A form of serfdom that allowed a planter or rancher to keep his workers or slaves in perpetual debt bondage by periodically advancing food, shelter, and a little money. Developed by wealthy Spanish landowners to keep their indigenous workers on their estates, as silver mining allowed food production for mining camps. It was able to force laborers to work indefinitely because they were forced to incur debt to get basic necessities.

Atlantic Slave Trade

The forced migration of AFs across the Atlantic for slave labor on plantations and other industries. Trade reached its peak in the 18th century and involved over 12m AFs. Conditions were brutal and unjust, 15% died in transit, and demand came from a rise in plantation agriculture in areas like Portuguese Brazil, with this demand benefitting some AF merchants or rulers who sold these slaves off and could use their wealth to buy colonial and EU goods.

Community Controls

A pattern of cooperation and common action in a traditional village that sought to uphold the econ/soc/moral stability of the closely knit community. Helped to keep illegitimate birth rates low despite a lot of pregnant brides because an unwed mother was seen as threatening. Everybody put pressure on others to conform to the societal view of what was right and proper, keeping everybody in line and behaving.

Charivari

Degrading public rituals used by village communities to police personal behavior and maintain moral standards. People would take a victim (brutal abuser or adulterous couple) and sit them astride a donkey facing backward, holding up the tail. They would then be paraded around the town as their misdeeds were loudly announced to everyone, with other rituals including throwing rotten vegetables on doorsteps to obscene midnight serenades.

Illegitimacy Explosion

The sharp increase in out-of-wedlock births that occurred in Europe between 1750 and 1850, caused by low wages and the breakdown of community controls. Concentrated in FRA, GER, and Scandinavia, where illegitimate percents rose to about 25-36% of all births, while small towns and villages were less affected. The rise was due to increased sexual activity paired with the fact that men were not following up on their promises to marriage made before intercourse due to financial issues.

Wet-Nursing

18c. business in which women were paid to breast-feed other women’s babies. Wealthy women hired live-in wet-nurses, and working women in the cities also relied on the business so they could still work to earn a living. Rural wet-nursing was often conducted within the framework of the putting-out system, and though many babies were put into wet-nursing, infant mortality rose due to having to share milk and having a lack of supervision in the wet-nurses’ homes.

Blood Sports

Events such as bullbaiting and cockfighting that involved inflicting violence and bloodshed on animals and that were popular with the 18c. EU masses. Bullbaiting involved a bull staked on a chain in a courtyard being attacked by dogs, dying and then being slaughtered/sold, while cockfighting involved two roosters with steel spurs clawing at each other until one dies, with people enjoying the latter sport because they could place bets on the outcome. In the 19th century blood sports died down due to growing concern over animal cruelty and ethics.

Carnival

The few days of revelry in Catholic countries that preceded Lent and that included drinking, masquerading, dancing, and rowdy spectacles that upset the established order. Typically in February or March, where plays/processions/spectacles were enjoyed by people to get an escape from the boring, basic life. Dress was another big way that order was disrupted, with peasants dressing as nobles, men cross-dressing, and rich masters waiting on their servants at the table.

Just Price

The idea that prices should be fair, protecting both consumers and producers, and that they should be imposed by government decree if necessary. Paired with the idea of a “moral economy”, and largely spread by the 18c. dependence on grain. Ordinary people ate a great deal of bread, even peasants needed grain, and when the just price was not followed, bread riots often ensued to achieve a fair cost.

Consumer Revolution

The wide-ranging growth in consumption and new attitudes toward consumer goods that emerged in the cities of NW EU in the 2nd ½ of the 18c. Resulted in the birth of a new type of society where people derived self-identity from consuming practices in addition to work life. People could buy things to express themselves—girls could buy patterns or colors on jackets or parasols to stand out, for example.

Pietism

Protestant revival movement early 18c. GER/Scandinavia that emphasized warm/emotional religion, priesthood of all believers, and power of Christian rebirth in everyday affairs. Called for enthusiasm in worship, extended the Bible reading to all classes (boosted literacy), helping PRUS develop edu. reforms in early 18c. Also felt reborn Christians had to live moral lives, should come from all social classes, impacted John Wesley, who served as a catalyst for popular religious revival in ENG.

Methodists

Members of a Protestant revival movement started by John Wesley, so called because they were methodical in their devotion. Wesley mapped a “scheme of religion” at Oxford Uni., and organized a Holy Club for similar-minded people who would become known as Methodists, believed in lay preaching (all could share message of faith). Practiced strict religious discipline and accountability, emphasized personal salvation and social justice, with the movement playing a big role in the later Evangelical Revival.

Jansenism

A sect of Catholicism originating with Cornelius Jansen that emphasized the heavy weight of original sin and accepted the doctrine of predestination; it was outlawed as Calvinist heresy by the pope. Thought of as the illegitimate child of the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, tried to return to early Christianity of Saint Augustine. Impacted FRA, urban elite became known for their piety and devotion, led to opposition to FRA monarchy 2nd ½ 18c, urban poor had a different strain, meetings involved tongues and convulsions—PAR police raided and spied on these gatherings.