U.S. and the World I Midterm Honors

empire

A complex political organization where a dominant central state controls weaker peripheral (outer) states.

central state

A group of people or region that has control over peripheral states within an empire.

peripheral states

Groups of peoples or regions within an empire that have less power than the central state.

feudalism

A social system in Europe developed due to fear of attacks from invaders. Under it, people were given land and protection by people of higher rank, and worked and fought for them in return. People could not change their ranking/position under this system.

emperor

the ruler of an empire who may have gained his/her power through hereditary rule

hereditary rule

The practice of passing leadership down through a family

Silk Road

a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe.

culture

the customs, arts, social institutions, of a particular group of people.

Mongol Empire

led by their first emperor, Genghis Khan, this society gained control of territory from China to Eastern Europe. This was the largest contiguous (touching) land empire in history.

Genghis Khan

Founder of the Mongol Empire.

Pax Mongolica

Also known as the mongol peace. A time when global trade expanded due to the political stability provided by mongol rulers.

Indian Ocean Trade Network

Sea based trade routes that connected Africa, the Middle East, and Asia

merchants

people who buy and sell goods; traders

Trans-Saharan Trade Routes

gold-salt trade; linked North and West Africa; across Sahara Desert; spread Islam; land trade

Sahara Desert

the world's largest desert (3,500,000 square miles) in northern Africa

Black Death

a global pandemic (when a disease spreads over a whole nation or world) in the 1300s when the Bubonic Plague (a disease) killed between 75 and 200 million people!

mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by selling more goods than they bought and obtaining large amounts of gold and silver.

Christopher Columbus

An Italian explorer who was paid by Spain to discover a faster sea route to Asia. In 1492 he inadvertently "discovered" the New World.

Columbian Exchange

the exchange of diseases, ideas, food, crops, and populations between the New World and the Old World that occurred after 1492.

Great Dying

the devastation of Native American populations by diseases brought over from Europe through the Columbian Exchange.

colony

A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent.

planatation

A large farm where cash crops were grown. These were often worked by farms.

Atlantic Slave Trade System

The system used to trade African slaves across the Atlantic oceans to the Americas

New World

North and South America

Old World

Europe, Asia, Africa

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese navigator who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-1522 that was the first to sail around the world.

Ibn Battuta

Moroccan Muslim scholar, the most widely traveled individual of his time. He wrote a detailed account of his visits across Africa, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia

cash crops

crops, such as tobacco, sugar, and cotton, raised in large quantities in order to be sold for profit

Middle Passage

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies; part of the Triangular Trade Network

Revolution

A sudden and dramatic change to something significant within a society. In the fields of history and political science, it is a radical change in the established order, usually the established government and social institutions.

Enlightenment

A a period of time between the 17th and 18th centuries when people began to emphasize reasoning. People questioned why everything was the way it was. For example, what basic rights do people have, what style of government is best, why do we have a king? etc...

Reasoning

is a statement or fact that explains why something is the way it is, why someone does, thinks, or says something, or why someone behaves a certain way.

Salons

meetings of people who discussed new ideas emerging from the Enlightenment.

natural rights

the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, property, and the freedom to find happiness.

social contract

An agreement between the people and their government signifying their consent to be governed. Citizens agree to obey a set of rules, and the government agrees to protect citizens' rights.

consent of the governed

Enlightenment belief that governments only exist when people agree to create them. Within this context, if a government does not protect the citizens rights as per the social contract, society is justified in overthrowing the government.

republicanism

the idea that a country's leader should be chosen by the citizens in a general election

Seven Years War

War that involved the empires of Great Britain and France. Won by Great Britain. Both empires fell into tremendous debt as a result which later led to the American and French Revolutions.

American Revolution

the revolution of the thirteen American colonies against Great Britain in response to taxation without representation in government.

French Revolution

The revolution that began in response to the unfair class system (1st/2nd/3rd estates) under the French monarchy. It was partially inspired by the American Revolution.

Haitian Revolution

Revolution that began in the former French colony of Saint Domingue when slaves revolted after the newly created French government had outlawed slavery). It was led by Toussaint Louverture. This revolution set up the first black government in the Western Hemisphere and the world's second democratic republic (after the US).

Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid growth in the use of machines in manufacturing and production that began in the mid-1700s in England.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker who believed that people were born with natural rights, that the purpose of government was to protect the natural rights of the people, and that if the government failed to protect the rights of the people, the people were justified in overthrowing the government

Baron de Montesquieu

Enlightenment thinker who called for the separation of powers in a government into an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch

Voltaire

Enlightenment thinker who called for people to have freedom of speech and for the separation of church and state

Sugar Act

British tax on goods imported into the colonies; passed to try to raise money to pay off debt from Seven Years War

Boston Tea Party

A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as Native Americans dumped valuable tea into Boston Harbor.

Declaration of Independence

this document declared the colonies as independent and that all mankind had natural rights; adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776

United States of America

name of the independent democratic nation that gained its independence from Great Britain following victory in the American Revolution

first estate

under the Old Regime in France, the social class that was made up the clergy of the Catholic Church; had special rights and privileges and did not have to pay taxes

second estate

under the Old Regime in France, the social class that was made up of the nobles; had special rights and privileges and did not have to pay taxes

third estate

under the Old Regime in France, everyone else besides the clergy and the nobility, including peasants, merchants, farmers, shopowners, etc.; responsible to pay all the taxes

King Louis XVI

king of France at the start of the French Revolution who was put on trial for treason, found guilty, and executed

Estates-General

An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France; called into session in 1788 by Louis XVI for the first time in 175 years

Bastille

fortress in Paris used as a prison; French Revolution began when Parisians stormed it in 1789

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; declared that all citizens were equal before the law and had individual rights

Marie Antoinette

French queen at the start of the French Revolution who was executed during the Reign of Terror

Saint Domingue

Haiti half of island of Hispaniola; where the Toussaint L'Overture revolt occurred

Toussaint L'Ouverture

Was an important leader of the Haïtian Revolution and the first leader of a free Hait

Haiti

Name that revolutionaries gave to the former French colony of Saint Domingue; the 2nd democratic republic in the world

republic

a form of democracy where the citizens hold the power and elect representatives who make decisions on their behalf

Articles of Confederation

1st Constitution of the U.S. 1781-1788 (weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade)

Constitutional Convention

Meeting in 1787 of the elected representatives of the thirteen original states to write the Constitution of the United States.

U.S. Constitution

The document written in 1787 and ratified in 1788 that sets forth the institutional structure of the U.S. government and the tasks these institutions perform. It replaced the Articles of Confederation.

Legislative Branch

The part of the United States government that creates laws. It is made up of two houses - The Senate and The House of Representatives.

Executive Branch

The branch of the U.S. Government that enforces laws. It is madeup of the President, Vice President, Cabinet, and the executive departments.

Judicial Branch

Branch of the U.S. government that interprets laws. It is made up of the Supreme Court and the national courts.

Congress

the legislature of the United States government

separation of powers

Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.

Checks and Balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

Commander in Chief

term for the president as commander of the nation's armed forces

President

the leader of the executive branch of the United States government

Supreme Court

The highest federal court in the United States. It's main job is to determine whether or not laws/actions are constitutional or not.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution that protected citizens natural rights

Napoleon Bonaparte

a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and who overthrew the French Republic and became emperor in 1799

Coup d'etat

a sudden overthrow of the government

Napoleonic Code

A comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napoleon. It eliminated many injustices in France but also took away many rights from women and restored slavery in French colonies.

Battle of Waterloo

The final battle lost by Napoleon, ending his rule of French emperor.

Jean-Jacques Dessalines

Haiti's first president who declared himself emperor before being assassinated.

Thomas Hobbes

Enlightenment thinker who believed that people were born selfish and needed a strong central authority; he first created the idea of a social contract

Shay's Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

Continental System

Napoleon's policy of preventing trade between Great Britain and continental Europe, intended to destroy Great Britain's economy.

Peninsular War

A conflict, lasting from 1808 to 1813, in which Spanish Rebels, with the aid of British forces, fought to drive Napoleons French troops out of Spain.

Invasion of Russia

A conflict, in which Napoleon invaded Russia, but lost 310,000 troops to the cold and low supplies.

Scorched Earth Policy

the practice of burning crops and killing livestock during wartime so that the enemy cannot live off the land