Humanities LEQ Study Guide Terms (Philosophical and Political Revolutions)

Use the Unit 4 Review posted on LSN to study for Land Based Empires

Adam Smith

A Scottish economist and philosopher, known as the father of modern capitalism, who was the author of The Wealth of Nations (1776) and advocated for laissez-faire economics.

Voltaire

A French Enlightenment writer and philosopher famous for his advocacy of freedom of speech, religion, and tolerance.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A French Enlightenment philosopher who emphasized popular sovereignty and the social contract.

Mary Wollstonecraft

An English writer and early feminist thinker, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, where she argued that women are not naturally inferior to men, but appear so because they lack education and equal opportunities, and also advocated for gender equality in society and politics.

Montesquieu

A French Enlightenment philosopher who proposed the idea of separation of powers (although not as the current three branches that we have today).

John Locke

An English Enlightenment philosopher who developed the idea of natural rights: life, liberty, and property, who also argued that governments exist to protect these rights, and if they fail, people have the right to rebel.

Deists

People (often Enlightenment thinkers), who believed in a rational creator (a god) who made the universe but does not intervene in human affairs.

Thomas Hobbes

A Proto-Enlightenment English political philosopher best known for his book Leviathan, who argued that humans are naturally selfish and chaotic, so they need a strong central authority (absolute monarchy) to maintain order. He also believed people enter into a social contract where they give up some freedoms in exchange for security and stability.

Popular sovereignty

The political idea that the authority of a government comes from the people. (consent of the governed)

De-Christianization

A movement during the French Revolution (especially under the radical phase, 1793–1794) that aimed to eliminate the influence of the Catholic Church in France. Church lands were seized, and the Catholic Church gradually lost power.

Toussaint L’Ouverture

A formerly enslaved man who became the leader of the Haitian Revolution.

Great Jamaica Revolt

A large and significant slave uprising that took place in 1831–1832 in Jamaica, led by Samuel Sharpe, involving tens of thousands of enslaved people and helped accelerate the British movement toward ending slavery in the Caribbean.

Zionism

A political and nationalist movement that began in the late 19th century, advocating for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, as a response to widespread antisemitism in Europe.

American Revolution

A war of independence fought by the thirteen American colonies against Great Britain due to issues such as unfair taxation.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

A foundational document (1789) of the French Revolution, inspired by Enlightenment ideas, essentially the French version of the Declaration of Independence.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines

A general during the Haitian Revolution and the first leader of independent Haiti. After L’Ouverture’s capture, Dessalines continued the fight and declared Haiti’s independence in 1804.

Abolitionist movement

A movement aimed at ending the practice of slavery and the slave trade. It gained momentum in the 18th and 19th centuries in countries like Britain and the United States, and was supported by activists, former slaves, and religious groups.

Indian National Congress

A political party that played a central role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule. It initially sought greater autonomy but later led the push for full independence as a result of the increased sentiment of nationalism.

Declaration of Independence

A document written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, adopted on July 4, 1776, declaring the American colonies’ independence from Britain, inspired by Enlightenment ideas such as natural rights.

“Independence debt”

An unfairly large sum of money that Haiti was forced to pay to France after gaining independence as compensation for the losses of French slaveowners.

William Wilberforce

A British politician and leader in the abolitionist movement in the UK. He dedicated much of his life to ending the transatlantic slave trade, which was officially abolished in the British Empire in 1807, largely due to him.

Vindication of the Rights of Women

A piece of feminist literature written by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792, arguing that women are not naturally inferior to men but appear so due to lack of education, calling for equal rights, especially in education and political life.

Olympe de Gouges

A French playwright and political activist who advocated for women’s rights and abolition of slavery, writing the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen.

Miguel Hidalgo

A Mexican Catholic priest who launched the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. He rallied various peoples to rise up against Spanish colonial rule but was captured and executed in 1811.

Nationalism

An ideology that emphasizes loyalty and devotion to one’s nation.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, added to protect individual freedoms, also partially inspired by Enlightenment ideas, like freedom of speech.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A military general and emperor of France in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, going on many military conquests, spreading revolutionary ideas.

Jose Morelos

Another Catholic priest and revolutionary leader who continued the fight for Mexican independence after Hidalgo's death.

Unification of Italy

The 19th-century political and social process that united different independent Italian states into one nation, known as Italy, by 1871.

Seneca Falls Convention

The first women’s rights convention in the United States (New York, 1848). Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, it produced the Declaration of Sentiments, demanding equal rights for women, including the right to vote.

Louis XVI

The King of France during the French Revolution. His extravagant spending and poor leadership deepened France’s financial crisis, causing the people to revolt against him, executing him by guillotine.

Bonaparte’s Civil Code

A comprehensive set of laws established by Napoleon Bonaparte, standardizing French law by promoting equality before the law, religious tolerance, and protection of property rights. (although it restricted women’s rights)

Tupac Amaru

The leader of an Indigenous uprising against Spanish rule in Peru in 1780, descended from the last Inca emperor.

Unification of Germany

The process of bringing together various German-speaking states into a single nation-state, officially completed also in 1871. It was led by the Kingdom of Prussia and driven largely by Otto von Bismarck’s leadership and military strategy.

Feminism

A social and political movement/ideology advocating for the rights of women on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.

Third Estate

One of the three social classes (or “estates”) in pre-revolutionary France, which was made up of the commoners and the majority of the population, yet only held one vote in political matters.

Haitian Revolution

A slave revolt in contemporary Haiti that became the first and only successful slave rebellion in history, led by Toussaint L’Ouverture.

Simon Bolivar

A South American military and political leader who played a central role in the independence movements of several South American countries, including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, freeing them from Spanish colonial rule.

Otto von Bismark

The Prime Minister of Prussia and later the first Chancellor of the German Empire. He used diplomacy and wars to unify Germany under Prussian leadership.

Maternal feminism

A movement stating that women have value in society not because of equality but because women, as mothers, held value as they would raise future generations.

Maximilien Robespierre

A prominent figure in the French Revolution, a leader of the Committee of Public Safety, and a key architect of the Reign of Terror. He advocated for radical democratic reforms before his overthrow and execution in 1794.

Gens de couleur libres

“Free people of color”; a term used in French colonial society, particularly in the Caribbean, to describe free individuals of mixed European and African descent. Despite being free, they often were considered inferior to white men and had less rights.

Bolivar’s Jamaica Letter

A document written by Simon Bolivar in 1815, explaining his views on the independence movement in South America, detailing the revolutionary struggle against Spanish rule, and proposing a vision for a united, independent Spanish America.

anti-Semitism

Hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews.