WHAP Modern Vocabulary

labor unions

An organization formed by workers to strive for better wages and working conditions

Abolitionism

Movement to end slavery

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who wrote the Wealth of Nations a precursor to modern Capitalism.

Afrikaners

South Africans descended from Dutch and French settlers of the seventeenth century. Their Great Trek founded new settler colonies in the nineteenth century. Though a minority among South Africans, they held political power after 1910.

Anti-Semitism

Prejudice against Jews

Apartheid

Laws in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas.

Asante Empire

African kingdom on the Gold Coast that expanded rapidly after 1680. Asante participated in the Atlantic economy, trading gold, slaves, and ivory. It resisted British imperial ambitions for a quarter century before being absorbed into Britain.

Banana Republics

Small Central American countries under the economic power of foreign-based corporations. Politically unstable states with an economy dependent upon the exportation of a limited-resource product.

Baron Montesquieu

Enlightenment thinker who supported the idea of separation of powers

Bastille

Medieval fortress that was converted to a prison stormed by peasants for ammunition during the early stages of the French Revolution.

Berlin Conference

A meeting from 1884-1885 at which representatives of European nations agreed on rules colonization of Africa

Bessemer Process

A way to manufacture steel quickly and cheaply by blasting hot air through melted iron to quickly remove impurities.

Boer War

Lasting from 1899 to 1902, Dutch colonists and the British competed for control of territory in South Africa.

Bourgeoise

The middle class, including merchants, industrialists and professional people

Boxer Rebellion

1899 rebellion in Beijing, China started by a secret society of Chinese who opposed the "foreign devils". The rebellion was ended by British troops

British/Dutch East India Company

Private trading companies chartered by the governments of England and the Netherlands around 1600; they were given monopolies on Indian Ocean trade, including the right to make war and to rule conquered peoples.

Bushido

The Feudal Japanese code of honor among the warrior class.

Capital

refers to manufactured goods used to make other goods and services

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership of capital

Cecil Rhodes

Born in 1853, played a major political and economic role in colonial South Africa. He was a financier, statesman, and empire builder with a philosophy of mystical imperialism.

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law that barred Chinese laborers from entering the United States

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.

Communist Manifesto

A socialist manifesto written by Marx and Engels (1848) describing the history of the working-class movement according to their views.

Conservativism

A political or theological orientation advocating the preservation of the best in society and opposing radical changes.

Consumerism

a movement advocating greater protection of the interests of consumers

Corporations

businesses that are owned by many investors who buy shares of stock

Corvee labor

unpaid forced labor usually by lower classes, forced upon them by the government

Cottage Industry

Manufacturing based in homes rather than in a factory, commonly found before the Industrial Revolution.

Crop rotation

The practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil.

De Beers Mining Company

Owned by British Cecil Rhodes, this company controlled up to 90% of the world's diamond production.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

Statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution.

Economic Imperialism

A situation in which foreign business interests have great economic power or influence

Eli Whitney

Invented the cotton gin

Empiricism

the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

Empress Cixi

Conservative dowager empress who encouraged and promoted the Boxer rebellion

Enclosure Movement

The process of consolidating small landholdings into a smaller number of larger farms in England during the eighteenth century.

Enlightenment

A movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions.

Factory system

A method of production that brought many workers and machines together into one building

Feminism

A female movement for gender equality.

Guano

Bat and seabird droppings used as fertilizer; a major trade item of Peru in the late nineteenth century

Haitian Revolution

The only fully successful slave rebellion in world history; the uprising in the French Caribbean colony of Saint Domingue (later named Haiti) was sparked by the French Revolution and led to the establishment of an independent state after a long and bloody war (1791-1804)

Imperialism

A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically.

Industrial Revolution

A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.

Interchangeable parts

Identical components that can be used in place of one another in manufacturing

James Watt

Scottish engineer and inventor whose improvements in the steam engine led to its wide use in industry (1736-1819).

Jean-Jacque Rousseau

A French man who believed that Human beings are naturally good & free & can rely on their instincts. Government should exist to protect common good, and be a democracy

John Locke

17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty, and property.

Jose de San Martin

Leader of independence movement in Rio de la Plata; led to independence of the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata by 1816; later led independence movement in Chile and Peru as well.

Kangani System

Replaced indentured servitude. Entire families were recruited to work. Their lives were less restricted than indentured servants.

Karl Marx

1818-1883. 19th century philosopher, political economist, sociologist, humanist, political theorist, and revolutionary. Often recognized as the father of communism. Analysis of history led to his belief that communism would replace capitalism as it replaced feudalism. Believed in a classless society.

King Leopold II

King of Belgium (r. 1865-1909). He was active in encouraging the exploration of Central Africa and became the infamous ruler of the Congo Free State (to 1908).

Laissez-Faire

Idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs.

Liberalism

A belief that government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.

Mahmud II

Ottoman sultan; built a private, professional army; fomented revolution of Janissaries and crushed them with private army; destroyed power of Janissaries and their religious allies; initiated reform of Ottoman Empire on Western precedents

Manifest Destiny

A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.

Matthew Perry

A navy commander who, on July 8, 1853, became the first foreigner to break through the barriers that had kept Japan isolated from the rest of the world for 250 years.

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.

Mestizo

A person of mixed Native American and European ancestry

Millets

Areas of town where individual religious groups could live and practice their religions.

Mohanda Ghandi

A philosopher from India, this man was a spiritual and moral leader favoring India's independence from Great Britain. He practiced passive resistance, civil disobedience and boycotts to generate social and political change.

Monocultures

lack of agricultural diversity

Monopoly

A market in which there are many buyers but only one seller.

Monroe Doctrine

an American foreign policy opposing interference in the Western hemisphere from outside powers

Muhamad 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.

Muhammad Ahmad

Head of Sudanic Sufi brotherhood; claimed descent from prophet Muhammad; proclaimed both Egyptians and British infidels; launched revolt to purge Islam of impurities; took Khartoum in 1883.

Mulattoes

People of African and European descent

Nationalism

A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country

Opium Wars

1839-1842. Chinese attempted to prohibit the opium trade, British declared war and won against Chinese.

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

Pan-Africanism

the unity of all black Africans, regardless of national boundaries

Penal Colony

a colony to which convicts are sent as an alternative to prison

Peninsulares

Spanish-born, came to Latin America; ruled, highest social class.

Porfirio Diaz

Mexican President who promoted immigration as well as development, especially in the northern are bordering the United States

Raj

British rule after India came under the British crown during the reign of Queen Victoria

Raw Materials

the basic material from which a product is made.

Realpolitik

realistic politics based on the needs of the state

Reign of Terror

(1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed for "disloyalty"

Scramble for Africa

Sudden wave of conquests in Africa by European powers in the 1880s and 1890s. Britain obtained most of eastern Africa, France most of northwestern Africa. Other countries (Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Spain) acquired lesser amounts.

Self-Strengthening Movement

late 19th century movement in China to counter the challenge from the West; led by provincial leaders

Sepoys

Indian troops who served in the British army

Settler colony

Settler colonialism is a form of colonialism which seeks to replace the original population of the colonized territory with a new society of settlers. As with all forms of colonialism, it is based on exogenous domination, typically organized or supported by an imperial authority.

Seven Years' War

(1756-1763 CE) Known also as the French and Indian war. It was the war between the French and their Indian allies and the English that proved the English to be the more dominant force of what was to be the United States both commercially and in terms of controlled regions.

Simon Bolivar

1783-1830, Venezuelan statesman: leader of revolt of South American colonies against Spanish rule.

Sino-Japanese War

(1894-1895) Japan's imperialistic war against China to gain control of natural resources and markets for their goods. It ended with the Treaty of Portsmouth which granted Japan Chinese port city trading rights, control of Manchuria, the annexation of the island of Sakhalin, and Korea became its protectorate.

Social Contract

A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.

Social Darwinism

The application of ideas about evolution and "survival of the fittest" to human societies - particularly as a justification for their imperialist expansion.

Socialism

A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production.

Spanish-American War

In 1898, a conflict between the United States and Spain, in which the U.S. supported the Cubans' fight for independence

Specialization of Labor

Focusing work effort on a product or a single task

Spheres of Influence

An area in which an outside power claims exclusive investment or trading privileges

Spinning Jenny

A machine that could spin several threads at once

Steam engine

A machine that turns the energy released by burning fuel into motion. Thomas Newcomen built the first crude but workable one in 1712. James Watt vastly improved his device in the 1760s and 1770s. It was then applied to machinery.

Stock Market

A system for buying and selling shares of companies

Stockholders

people or entities that own stock in a corporation and therefore are its owners

Suez Canal

A human-made waterway, which was opened in 1869, connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea

Taiping Rebellion

(1850-1864) A revolt by the people of China against the ruling Manchu Dynasty because of their failure to deal effectively with the opium problem and the interference of foreigners.

Tanzimat

'Restructuring' reforms by the nineteenth-century Ottoman rulers, intended to move civil law away from the control of religious elites and make the military and the bureaucracy more efficient.

Toussaint L'Overture

Instrumental leader throughout the Haitian Revolution. He led the blacks to a victory over the whites, freeing the slaves.

Trans-Siberian Railroad

Constructed in 1870s to connect European Russia with the Pacific; completed by the end of the 1880s; brought Russia into a more active Asian role.

Treaty of Nanking

Treaty that concluded the Opium War. It awarded Britain a large indemnity from the Qing Empire, denied the Qing government tariff control over some of its own borders, opened additional ports of residence to Britons, and ceded Hong Kong to Britain.