Unit 5 Revolutions 1750-1900

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.

Social Contract

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

Enlightenment

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

Mary Wollstonecraft

English writer and early feminist who denied male supremacy and advocated equal education for women

conservatism

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

Classical Liberalism

A term given to the philosophy of John Locke and other 17th and 18th century advocates of the protection of individual rights and liberties by limiting government power.

Adam Smith

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

Laissez-faire

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

Capitalism

An economic system based on unregulated voluntary exchange between buyers and sellers that set the markets

Socialism

A system in which the people of a society collectively owns and distribute goods and services to citizens

American Revolution

This political revolution began with the Declaration of Independence in 1776 where American colonists sought to balance the power between government and the people and protect the rights of citizens in a democracy.

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.

Reign of Terror

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

Toussaint L'Ouverture

Was an important leader of the Haïtian Revolution and the first leader of a free Haiti; in a long struggle again the institution of slavery, he led the blacks to victory over the whites and free coloreds and secured native control over the colony in 1797, calling himself a dictator.

Simon Bolivar

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

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 (714)

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Italian patriot whose conquest of Sicily and Naples led to the formation of the Italian state (1807-1882).

Richard Arkwright

English inventor and entrepreneur who became the wealthiest and most successful textile manufacturer of the first Industrial Revolution. He invented the water frame, a machine that, with minimal human supervision, could spin several threads at once.

Agricultural Revolution

A time when new inventions such as the seed drill and the steel plow made farming easier and faster. The production of food rose dramatically.

cottage industry

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

Specialization of Labor

The division of labor that aids the development of skills in a particular type of work

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.

human capital

the skills and knowledge gained by a worker through education and experience

James Watt

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

Second Industrial Revolution

Steel, chemicals, electricity. This is the name for the new wave of more heavy industrialization starting around the 1860s.

Muhammad 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.

Mathew Perry

commodore of American navy who forced the Japanese to open their doors to US trade.

Zaibatsu

Large conglomerate corporations through which key elite families exerted a great deal of political and economic power in Imperial Japan. By WWII, four of them controlled most of the economy of Japan.

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.

HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation)

HSBC was established in 1865 to finance trade between Europe and Asia. Initially founded in the British colony of Hong Kong it benefited from the opening of China to trade, including the opium trade.

Unilever Corporation

a British and Dutch venture that focused on household goods-most famously, soap, early example of a multinational corporation

Bessemer Process

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

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.

Communism

an economic system in which all of the means of production are owned and distributed by the government

John Stuart Mill

English philosopher and economist remembered for his interpretations of utilitarianism, the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority.

Tanzimat Reforms

A set of reforms in the Ottoman Empire set to revise Ottoman law to help lift the capitulations put on the Ottomans by European powers.

Empress Dowager Cixi

Empress of China and mother of Emperor Guangxi. She put her son under house arrest, supported anti-foreign movements like the so-called Boxers, and resisted reforms of the Chinese government and armed forces.

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.