AP World Unit 5 Key Terms

Estates-General

France's traditional national assembly representing the clergy, nobility, and commoners, with the third estate being the most populous but least powerful.

National Assembly

The governing body declared by the third estate during the French Revolution.

Declaration of the Rights of Man

A statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the start of the French Revolution.

Jacobin

Radical advocates of a Republic during the French Revolution, led by Maximilien Robespierre.

Enclosure

The division of communal fields in Western Europe into individually managed farms.

Urbanization

The significant growth of cities due to innovations in agriculture reducing the need for farmers.

Domestic system

An economic process where merchant-employers send materials to rural producers to be made into goods at home.

Flying shuttle

A machine that industrialized the weaving process, increasing the speed of hand-weaving.

Spinning jenny

A machine that simplified spinning cloth and helped initiate the factory system of cotton manufacturing.

Cotton gin

A machine that quickly separates cotton fibers from seeds, accelerating textile production.

Steam engine

An engine powered by steam to propel objects, revolutionizing transportation of goods.

Interchangeable parts

Uniformly produced machine parts that can easily be replaced when broken.

Assembly line

A production system where workers add only one part to a finished product.

Free-market system (capitalism)

An economic system where production means are privately owned and prices are determined by demand.

Laissez-faire capitalism

A type of capitalism where the government does not regulate the economy.

Socialism

An economic system where production and distribution of goods are predominantly government-controlled.

Communism

An ideology aiming for a society with common ownership, without social classes, money, or governments.

Labor unions

Organizations of employees that collectively bargain for better wages and working conditions.

Social mobility

The ability of individuals to change their social class.

Communist Manifesto

A book by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels outlining modern communist movement principles.

Proletariat

The wage-earning class in capitalism, believed by Marx to revolt against the bourgeoisie.

Bourgeoisie

The ruling class in capitalism that controls production means and exploits the proletariat.

Natural rights

Inalienable rights championed by Locke, including life, liberty, and property.

Suffrage

The right to vote, particularly regarding women's voting rights.

Abolition

The movement to eliminate slavery and the slave trade.

Social Contract Theory

A model where individuals cede authority to a government for protection of liberties.

Declaration of Independence

The document declaring the American colonies' independence from British rule.

French and Indian War (Seven Years' War)

A global conflict mainly between France and England over North American territory.

Thomas Paine

An American colonist who wrote Common Sense, advocating for independence from Britain.

Maximilien Robespierre

A leader in the French Revolution known for his radical and violent approach.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A French military leader and emperor who expanded France's influence across Europe.

Reign of Terror

The period during the French Revolution marked by extreme violence under Robespierre's rule.

Congress of Vienna

An assembly aiming to reorganize Europe and restore monarchs after Napoleon's rule.

Toussaint L'Ouverture

Leader of the successful slave rebellion in Haiti against French rule.

Simon Bolivar

Venezuelan statesman who led South American colonies' revolt against Spanish rule.

Miguel Hidalgo

Mexican priest who initiated a failed revolt against Spanish rule, later celebrated as a hero.

Eli Whitney

Inventor of the cotton gin and interchangeable parts during the Industrial Revolution.

Adam Smith

Economist who laid the foundations of capitalism in The Wealth of Nations.

Karl Marx

Philosopher who established the basis of Marxism and predicted a worker revolt against capitalism.

Luddites

Workers who protested poor working conditions by destroying factory equipment.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker advocating for a representative government protecting natural rights.

Voltaire

Enlightenment philosopher known for his advocacy of civil liberties and separation of church and state.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Enlightenment thinker who proposed social contract theory, emphasizing people's power.