AP World History – Enlightenment to Imperialism Vocabulary

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering major people, events, and concepts from the Scientific Revolution through the Scramble for Africa, designed to aid AP World History review.

Scientific Revolution

16th–17th-century movement in Europe that applied observation and experimentation to understand the natural world, overturning classical authorities.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polish astronomer who proposed the heliocentric model with the Sun at the center of the universe (1543).

Galileo Galilei

Italian scientist who used the telescope to confirm heliocentrism; tried by the Inquisition for heresy.

Johannes Kepler

German astronomer who formulated the three laws of planetary motion including elliptical orbits.

Tycho Brahe

Danish astronomer whose precise observations of planetary positions laid groundwork for Kepler’s laws.

René Descartes

French philosopher-mathematician who emphasized deductive reasoning; famous for “I think, therefore I am.”

Francis Bacon

English thinker who developed the inductive scientific method based on systematic experimentation.

Isaac Newton

English physicist who formulated the laws of motion and universal gravitation (Principia, 1687).

Age of Enlightenment

18th-century intellectual movement stressing reason, secularism, and individual natural rights.

John Locke

English philosopher who argued for natural rights to life, liberty, and property and a social contract.

Baron Charles de Montesquieu

French Enlightenment thinker who championed separation of powers in government.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

French-Swiss philosopher who promoted popular sovereignty and the “general will.”

François Voltaire

French writer and satirist who advocated civil liberties, especially freedom of speech and religion.

Simón Bolívar

Venezuelan “Liberator” who led independence movements in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Gran Colombia

Short-lived state (1819–1831) uniting modern Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama under Bolívar.

José de San Martín

Argentine general who secured independence for Argentina, Chile, and Peru.

Miguel Hidalgo

Mexican priest whose 1810 “Grito de Dolores” launched Mexico’s war for independence.

José Morelos

Mexican priest-general who continued Hidalgo’s rebellion and called for social reforms.

Treaty of Córdoba

1821 agreement granting Mexico independence from Spain.

Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo

1848 treaty ending the Mexican–American War; Mexico ceded large territories to the U.S.

Porfirio Díaz

Mexican dictator (1876–1911) whose long rule sparked the Mexican Revolution.

Francisco Madero

Reformer who overthrew Díaz in 1911 and briefly served as Mexico’s president.

José María Pino Suárez

Vice-president under Madero, assassinated during the 1913 coup.

Constitutionalist Party

Faction in the Mexican Revolution that drafted the progressive 1917 Mexican Constitution.

Emiliano Zapata

Peasant revolutionary who demanded land reform in southern Mexico (Plan de Ayala).

Pedro I of Brazil

First emperor of independent Brazil (1822–1831).

Pedro II of Brazil

Second emperor who ruled Brazil 1831–1889 and oversaw modernization and abolition of slavery.

Princess Isabel

Brazilian regent who signed the 1888 “Golden Law” abolishing slavery.

Industrialization

Transition to machine production, factory work, and mass goods beginning in 18th-century Britain.

Cottage industry

Pre-industrial, home-based textile production system.

Seed drill

Jethro Tull’s farming device that planted seeds in neat rows, improving crop yields.

Reaper

Cyrus McCormick’s machine that mechanically harvested grain.

Flying shuttle

John Kay’s loom component that sped up weaving.

Spinning Jenny

James Hargreaves’ multi-spindle spinning frame boosting yarn output.

Steam engine

Machine converting steam into mechanical power; improved by James Watt, driving industry & transport.

Cotton gin

Eli Whitney’s device (1793) that quickly separated cotton fiber from seed.

Raw materials

Basic natural resources such as cotton, coal, and iron used in manufacturing.

Labor unions

Worker organizations formed to negotiate better wages, hours, and conditions.

Knights of Labor

U.S. national labor union (founded 1869) open to skilled and unskilled workers.

American Federation of Labor (AFL)

U.S. federation of skilled trade unions founded by Samuel Gompers in 1886.

Tenements

Crowded, sub-standard apartment buildings housing urban industrial workers.

Shintoism

Indigenous Japanese religion honoring kami (spirits) and nature.

Tokugawa Shogunate

Military government that ruled Japan 1603–1868 under the shōgun.

National Seclusion Policy (Sakoku)

Tokugawa edicts severely limiting foreign trade and travel (1630s–1850s).

Commodore Matthew Perry

U.S. naval officer who forced Japan to open its ports in 1853–1854.

Treaty of Kanagawa

1854 agreement opening two Japanese ports to the United States, ending isolation.

Meiji Restoration

1868 revolution restoring imperial rule and launching rapid modernization in Japan.

First Sino-Japanese War

1894–1895 conflict in which Japan defeated China, gaining Korea and Taiwan.

Russo-Japanese War

1904–1905 war where Japan defeated Russia and gained control of Port Arthur & Korea.

General Hideki Tōjō

Japanese army officer and prime minister who led Japan into World War II (1941–1944).

Pearl Harbor

U.S. naval base in Hawaii bombed by Japan on 7 Dec 1941, prompting U.S. entry into WWII.

Hibakusha

Japanese term for survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Locomotive

Self-propelled engine that pulls railroad cars along tracks.

George Stephenson

English engineer who built the pioneering steam locomotive “Rocket” (1829).

Railways

Networks of iron or steel tracks enabling rapid land transport of goods and people.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

American tycoon who built a railroad and shipping empire in the 19th century.

Steamship

Vessel powered by steam engines, allowing reliable ocean navigation.

Ocean liner

Large passenger steamship providing regular long-distance transoceanic service.

Telegraph

Electrical system for sending coded messages over long distances via wires.

Morse Code

Dot-dash alphabet devised by Samuel Morse for telegraphic communication.

Alexander Graham Bell

Scottish-born inventor credited with the telephone (1876).

Mercantilism

Economic policy that sought to accumulate gold and silver through a favorable balance of trade.

Capitalism

Economic system based on private ownership of production and profit motivation.

Laissez-faire capitalism

Form of capitalism advocating minimal government intervention in the economy.

Social Darwinism

Misapplication of Darwin’s theories to justify social and racial hierarchies.

Utilitarianism

Philosophy that actions are right if they promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number.

Karl Marx

German philosopher who critiqued capitalism and co-wrote The Communist Manifesto (1848).

Factory Acts

Series of British laws (from 1833) that regulated child labor and working hours.

Hong Kong

Chinese island ceded to Britain after the First Opium War; became a major trade port.

Nationalism

Ideology emphasizing loyalty and devotion to a people with shared culture and history.

Victor Emmanuel II

King of Sardinia who became first king of a united Italy in 1861.

Count Camillo di Cavour

Prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia who engineered Italian unification through diplomacy and war.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Italian nationalist who led the Red Shirts to liberate southern Italy.

Peace of Westphalia

1648 treaties ending the Thirty Years’ War and recognizing state sovereignty in Europe.

Frederick the Great

Prussian king (1740–1786) who modernized the army and bureaucracy and expanded territory.

Otto von Bismarck

Prussian chancellor who unified Germany through “blood and iron” politics (1871).

Franco-Prussian War

1870–1871 conflict whose German victory completed German unification and toppled Napoleon III.

Prussian May Laws

1873 anti-Catholic laws enacted during Bismarck’s Kulturkampf.

Reform Act of 1832 (Britain)

British law that redistributed seats and expanded the electoral franchise.

British Chartists

1830s–1840s movement demanding universal male suffrage and parliamentary reforms.

Thirteenth Amendment (U.S.)

1865 amendment abolishing slavery in the United States.

Fifteenth Amendment (U.S.)

1870 amendment prohibiting voting discrimination based on race or previous servitude.

Suffragettes

Activists, especially in early 20th-century Britain, who fought for women’s right to vote.

Joint-stock company

Business organization where investors buy shares and share profits and risks.

British East India Company

English joint-stock company that dominated Indian trade and governance until 1858.

Imperialism

Policy of extending a nation’s authority via territorial acquisition or political and economic control.

Colony

Territory under the immediate political control of another state.

Company colony

Colony administered by a chartered company for profit (e.g., BEIC in India).

Settler colony

Colony populated by significant numbers of immigrants from the metropolitan country.

Missionary

Person sent to promote a religion in foreign territories.

Jan van Riebeeck

Dutch official who founded Cape Town in 1652 for the Dutch East India Company.

Cape Colony

Dutch, later British, colony at the southern tip of Africa established 1652.

Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War)

1756–1763 global conflict; in North America Britain defeated France and gained Canada.

Ottoman Empire

Islamic empire (c.1300–1922) that controlled parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Tanzimat

1839–1876 Ottoman reform era aiming to modernize and centralize the state.

Tourkokratia

Greek term for Ottoman rule over Greece (15th–19th centuries).

Asia Minor Catastrophe

1922 defeat of Greek forces and expulsion of Greeks from Anatolia.

Sepoy Mutiny (Indian Rebellion of 1857)

Indian uprising against British East India Company rule, leading to the British Raj.

Raj

Period of direct British government rule in India (1858–1947).

Burghers

Dutch/Afrikaner settler farmers of South Africa; also a term for urban middle class.