Nation states and Atlantic World - 8-29-25

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering key terms, people, events, and ideas from Enlightenment, the French and Haitian revolutions, and Atlantic world transformations.

Nation State

A political entity with sovereign authority over a defined territory and its people.

Enlightenment

A period emphasizing reason, natural rights, and critiques of absolutism that reshaped political thought.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker who argued natural rights and government by consent.

Montesquieu

Philosopher who proposed separation of powers to prevent tyranny.

Rousseau

Thinker who advocated the general will and popular sovereignty.

Printing press and salons

Mechanisms and venues that spread Enlightenment ideas quickly and connected intellect with politics.

Universal ideals

Enlightenment claim that certain rights apply universally, beyond local contexts.

Stamp Act (1765)

British tax on colonies that fueled resistance and calls for rights.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Document declaring American independence and rights under government by consent.

Yorktown (1781-1783)

Decisive American victory effectively ending the war for independence.

U.S. Constitution (1787)

Established a republican government, balanced federal and state power, with limited suffrage as noted.

Estates-General (1789)

The French assembly of the three estates (clergy, nobility, and commoners) was summoned by King Louis XVI to address the nation’s severe financial crisis; this led to revolutionary change.

National Assembly

French revolutionary body formed by the Third Estate seeking reform.

Storming of the Bastille (1789)

Symbolic event signaling the revolution and demand for liberty.

Reign of Terror (1793-1794)

Period of centralized power and executions led by Robespierre.

Robespierre

Leader of the Reign of Terror who dominated revolutionary politics.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Military leader who rose to power (1799-1815) and spread revolutionary reforms.

Napoleonic Code

Civil code codifying legal equality, property rights, and civil matters.

Haitian Revolution

1791-1804 slave revolt in Saint-Domingue leading to Haiti’s independence.

Toussaint Louverture

Leader of the enslaved rebellion in Saint-Domingue.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Leader who proclaimed Haiti’s independence and the first black republic.

First black republic

Haiti’s 1804 independence, the first state founded by former enslaved people.

Indemnity payments to France

Haiti paid France compensation after independence, imposing economic strain.

Abolitionist movements

Efforts across the Atlantic to end slavery and enslaved institutions.

Simón Bolívar

Leader who advanced independence movements in Spanish America for republics.

José de San Martín

Key liberator of the southern Andes and the Spanish American independence.

Atlantic Revolutions

A series of revolutions across the Atlantic that shifted power toward nation-states.

Popular sovereignty

Principle that authority derives from the people.

Citizenship

Status granting individuals rights and duties within a state.