Unit 5 key terms

Estates-General

France's traditional national assembly with representatives of the three estates: clergy, nobility, and commoners.

National Assembly

The assembly comprised of the third estate that declared themselves as the legitimate governing body of France.

Declaration of the Rights of Man

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

Jacobin

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

Enclosure

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

Urbanization

The significant growth of cities due to innovations in agriculture requiring fewer farmers.

Domestic system

An economic system where merchant-employers send materials to rural producers working in their homes.

Flying shuttle

A machine that industrialized the weaving process and sped up hand-weaving.

Spinning jenny

A machine that made spinning cloth easier and increased supplies for weavers.

Cotton gin

A machine that quickly separates cotton fibers from seeds and speeds up textile production.

Steam engine

An engine that uses steam power to propel objects and revolutionizes transportation of goods.

Interchangeable parts

Uniformly produced machines and parts that can be easily replaced when broken.

Assembly line

A production system where each worker adds one part to a finished product.

Free-market system (capitalism)

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

Laissez-faire capitalism

A system where the government completely withdraws from regulating the economy.

Socialism

An economic system where production is mainly controlled by the government based on need.

Communism

An ideology aiming for a society with common ownership and no social classes or governments.

Labor unions

Organizations representing workers in dealings with employers to improve working conditions.

Social mobility

The ability of a person to move up from one social class to another.

Communist Manifesto

A book by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels outlining the foundation of modern communism.

Proletariat

The wage-earning class in capitalism that controls their labor and is exploited by the bourgeoisie.

Bourgeoisie

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

Natural rights

Rights viewed as inalienable; championed by Locke as life, liberty, and property.

Suffrage

The right to vote in public elections, often referring to women's struggle for this right.

Abolition

The movement to eliminate slavery and the slave trade.

Social Contract Theory

A model where people cede authority to a government for protection of their rights.

Declaration of Independence

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

French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War)

A global war mainly between France and England due to land conflict in North America.

Thomas Paine

An American colonist who advocated for independence and wrote 'Common Sense'.

Maximilien Robespierre

A leader during the French Revolution known for his radical and violent reign.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A French military leader who conquered Europe and led France's revolutionary government.

Reign of Terror

The period during the French Revolution marked by violence and numerous executions.

Congress of Vienna

An assembly that reorganized Europe after Napoleon to prevent future upheavals.

Toussaint L’Ouverture

Leader of the Haitian slave rebellion against French control.

Simon Bolivar

Venezuelan statesman who led revolts against Spanish rule in South America.

Miguel Hidalgo

Mexican priest who started a revolt against Spain, becoming a national hero.

Eli Whitney

Inventor known for the cotton gin and interchangeable parts.

Adam Smith

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

Karl Marx

Philosopher who established the basis for Marxism and predicted a working-class revolt.

Luddites

Workers who protested poor working conditions by destroying factory equipment.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker advocating for representative government protecting natural rights.

Voltaire

Philosopher advocating for civil liberties and separation of Church and State.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Enlightenment thinker who formulated the social contract theory of government.