Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and Political Ideologies

Vocabulary practice flashcards defining key Enlightenment philosophers, socio-political theories, social classes, and pivotal historical developments of the French and Haitian Revolutions.

Voltaire

An 18th-century Enlightenment figure who made a living from his writing; he criticized Christianity and slavery, and fought for the separation of church and state as well as freedom of speech.

Locke

An Enlightenment figure and British political theorist during the 18th century who believed in free markets, the protection of property, the intrinsic goodness of people, and government based on a social contract.

Marxism

A theoretical framework created by Karl Marx that critiques capitalism and emphasizes inter-class power dynamics and imbalances of struggle under capitalism, advocating for collective ownership of the means of production and distinguishing private property from capitalist property.

Bourgeoisie

The capitalist-owning class during the Industrial Revolution that controlled the majority of societal wealth and experienced a gradual rise throughout the French Revolution, but lacked cultural capital.

Proletariat

The working class during the Industrial Revolution who owned no capital, worked for the bourgeoisie, had few rights concerning hours or working conditions, functioned as part of a factory in society, and frequently resided in factory towns.

Natural Rights

Inherent rights that individuals possess from birth, specifically liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression; upholding freedom of thought and the rule of law requires a legal system that treats everyone equally.

Popular Sovereignty

The political doctrine establishing that supreme power resides within the people rather than within a monarch.

Royal Sovereignty

The principle asserting that supreme governing power belongs solely and exclusively to the monarchy.

Dialectical Materialism

The philosophical foundation of Marxism inspired by Hegel's dialectics, conceptualizing societal progression through stages as $\text{Feudalism} \rightarrow \text{Capitalism} \rightarrow \text{Communism}$.

Revolution on Horseback

The mass mobilization of military forces during the French Revolution under the Jacobin Reign of Terror that caused fear among higher powers and counter-revolutionaries.

Aristocracy

The Second Estate during the French Revolution, characterized by possessing cultural capital without controlling the means of production; many aristocrats were classified as counter-revolutionaries and executed during the Terror.

Social Contract Theory of Government

A political theory associated with Locke holding that by entering citizenship within a state, an individual relinquishes certain personal freedoms in order to live in society.

Olympe de Gouges

An 18th-century female author focused on women's rights, slavery, and prejudice who wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman as a counterpart to the Declaration of the Rights of Man, advocating equal rights for women.

Maximilien Robespierre

A radical 18th-century Jacobin leader and central figure of the French Revolution driven by Enlightenment thought who viewed government as an active force for good and championed price controls on bread, the general will, and the overthrow of the monarchy.

Levée en Masse

The 1793 military conscription of men organized by the Jacobins to defend the French Revolution against external invasion and internal rebellion, driven by patriotic ideology.

Storming of the Bastille

The uprising that took place in Paris, France, on July 14, 1789; it initiated the French Revolution, birthed the French Republic, and functioned as a symbol of both violent action and liberation.

Enlightenment Thought

A secular philosophical movement grounded in natural rights, scientific inquiry, education, individual liberty, meritocracy, opposition to ecclesiastical power, and the belief in the inherent goodness of humanity.

Jacobinism

An 18th-century radical political ideology originating from the Jacobin Club, prioritizing secularism, centralized governance, the abolition of slavery, universal male suffrage, and intense patriotism.

Divine Right Kingship

A political and religious doctrine asserting that a monarch receives their authority to rule directly from God rather than the populace, meaning that opposition to the monarch equates to opposing the will of God.

Absolutism

A governance structure centered on an autocratic monarch supported by centralized administrative institutions, operating at its peak under King Louis XIV.

Classical Liberalism

A political and economic philosophy that expanded during the Industrial Revolution, advocating constitutional monarchy, individual liberties, security, property rights, belief in human goodness, free-market capitalism, free trade, secularism, and progress.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

An 18th-century Enlightenment philosophe who championed direct democracy, natural rights, and complete social equality while disagreeing with Locke on private property; he formulated the General Will of the collective, stating non-compliant individuals would be 'forced to be free.'

Abbé Sieyès

A mid-18th- to 19th-century political theorist who transformed the Estates-General into the National Assembly / National Convention, defined the Third Estate, and established the legal classification between active and passive citizens.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

A landmark charter adopted by the National Assembly in 1789 outlining natural rights such as liberty, property, security, resistance to oppression, national sovereignty, and habeas corpus, establishing that men are born and remain free and equal in rights, and shifting authority from de facto to de jure power.

The Terror

A violent phase from 1793 to 1794 in the French Revolution governed through civilian fear and suppression of counter-revolutionaries, led by Robespierre and the Jacobins through the National Convention with measures such as the Law of Suspects and the Law of 22 Prairial.

Lady Mary Montagu

A 17th- and early 18th-century English aristocrat of the Enlightenment who traveled extensively, critiqued European patriarchal social systems, promoted women's education, and championed the smallpox inoculation movement.

Toussaint Louverture

An 18th-century leader of the Haitian Revolution and former slave who coordinated slave uprisings, liberated all enslaved people on the island, assumed governance of the colony, and headed an all-Black republic.