AP World 5.1

John Locke

Believed in social contract theory, but argued that it gave people the right/responsibility to revolt against unjust government

social contract

giving up some rights to a strong central government in exchange for law and order.

tabula rasa

an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals, a clean slate, like a child at birth.

philosophes

a new group of thinkers and writers who explored social, political, and economic theories in new ways.

Baron Monesquieu

a writer who supported the separation of powers within government

Voltaire

A famous writer who proposed the idea of religious liberty

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

A writer who presented the idea of “General Will” and the obligation of a sovereign government to carry out that “General Will”

Enlightenment

The ideals of this movement, such as individualism, freedom, and self-determination, challenged the roles of monarchs and church leaders and planted the seeds of revolution in the United States, France, and around the world.

deism

The belief that a divinity simply set natural laws in motion and that the natural world is better understood through scientific inquiry rather than the study of the Bible. Believers still attend church, though.

liberalism

a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, right to private property, and equality before the law.

conservatism

a belief in traditional institutions, favoring reliance on practical experience over ideological theories, such as that of human perfectability.

empiricism

the belief that knowledge comes from sensed experience, from what you observe through your experience, including through experiments

nationalism

a feeling of intense loyalty to others who share one’s language and culture

classical liberalism

a belief in natural rights, constitutional government, laissez-faire economics, and reduced spending on armies and established churches.

feminism

the movement for women’s rights and equality based on Enlightenment ideas.

abolitionism

the movement to end the Atlantic slave trade and free all enslaved people

Zionism

the desire of Jews to reestablish an independent homeland where their ancestors had lived in the Middle East.

anti-Semitism

hostility towards jews

Theodor Herzl

an Austro-Hungarian Jew at the forefront of Zionism.

Dreyfus Affair

a scandal in France where a Jewish Military officer was convicted of treason against the French government using forged documents. Showed the extent of anti-Semitism in Europe.

Adam Smith

Writer of The Wealth of Nations, he called for free trade and the idea of laissez-faire

The Wealth of Nations

a book written by Adam Smith which responded to mercantilism by calling for freer trade.

laissez-faire

a French phrase for “leave alone”. This approach meant that governments should reduce their intervention in economic decisions.

capitalism

an economic system in which the means of production, such as factories and natural resources, are privately owned and are operated for profit.

socialism

refers to a system of public or direct worker ownership of the means of production such as the mills to make cloth or the machinery and land needed to mine coal

utopian socialists

those who felt that society could be channeled in positive directions by setting up ideal communities

Henri de Saint-Simon

believed that scientists and engineers, working together with businesses, could operate clean, efficient, beautiful places to work that produced things useful to society.

Charles Fourier

identified some 810 passions that, when encouraged, would make work more enjoyable and workers less tired. Believed utopia was achieved through harmonious living in communities, rather than class struggle.

Robert Owen

established intentional communities, small societies governed by the principles of utopian socialism. He believed in education for children who worked, and communal ownership of property.

Fabian Society

a socialist group that favored reforming society by parliamentary means.