apwh unit 5 vocab

Enlightenment

an 18th-century European intellectual movement emphasizing reason, individualism, and natural rights, challenging traditional authority like monarchy and church, and promoting ideas of liberty, progress, and constitutional government, directly inspiring revolutions (American, French, Haitian) and new ideologies (liberalism, feminism, capitalism).

Social Contract

Key Enlightenment idea where people implicitly agree to give up some freedoms to a government in exchange for protection, order, and rights, establishing that government legitimacy comes from the consent of the governed, not divine right, influencing revolutions and modern democracy

Natural Rights

Fundamental, inalienable rights (like life, liberty, property/pursuit of happiness) that all humans possess simply by existing, not granted by governments

Deism

The belief that a creator God set the universe in motion according to natural laws, but does not interfere in human affairs or cause miracles

Liberalism

A political and economic philosophy that advocates for individual freedoms, limited government, and equality before the law.

Empiricism

The belief that all knowledge comes primarily from sensory experiences, observation, and experimentation, rather than religious doctrine, intuition, or tradition.

Nationalism

Powerful idea that people sharing common traits (language, culture, history) form a nation and deserve their own independent state often leads to intense loyalty and self-determination movements

Feminism

a movement and ideology advocating for women's rights and equality between genders in political, social, and economic spheres.

Mary Wollstonecraft

English writer and philosopher known as the "mother of feminism" for arguing in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) that women deserve equal education and rights, applying Enlightenment ideals of reason and liberty to advocate for female empowerment and societal reform.

Suffrage

The right to vote in political elections

Declaration of Independence

Documents that formally announced the thirteen American colonies' separation from Britain and articulated core Enlightenment principles that inspired subsequent global revolutions and nationalist movements

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

Foundational document of the French Revolution that defined individual and collective rights as universal

Jamaica Letter

A document written by Simón Bolívar in 1815 that outlined his philosophical and political ideals for Latin American independence from Spain and his vision for the future of the region

Reign of Terror

Period of extreme violence and political repression during the French Revolution (September 1793 - July 1794), where the revolutionary government, led by the radical Jacobin faction, executed thousands of perceived "enemies of the revolution."

Simon Bolivar

Known as "El Libertador", was a Venezuelan military and political leader who was the most important figure in the Latin American independence movement against Spain in the early 19th century.

Toussaint L'Ouverture

self-educated, formerly enslaved man who became the brilliant military and political leader of the Haitian Revolution

Realpolitik

Leaders making decisions based on realistic assessments of power dynamics and national interests to achieve tangible goals, such as state strength or unification.

Otto von Bismarck

A conservative Prussian statesman known as the "Iron Chancellor" who was the primary architect of German unification in the late 19th century.

Peninsulares

individuals born in Spain or Portugal who resided in the Latin American colonies. They held the top social, political, and economic positions in the rigid colonial caste system, creating significant tension with other groups like the Creoles, which ultimately contributed to the independence movements of the 19th century.

Creoles

People of full European (primarily Spanish) descent born in the Americas.

Industrial Revolution

A major shift, starting in Britain around the 1760s, from hand production/agrarian life to machine-based manufacturing using new energy sources (like steam), leading to the factory system, mass production, urbanization, new social classes (bourgeoisie, proletariat), and increased global trade, fundamentally changing how people worked and lived.

Cottage industry

A small-scale manufacturing business run out of a person's home, typically by family members using their own simple equipment

Factory system

A new way of making goods during the Industrial Revolution, bringing many workers and machines into one building to produce items in large quantities (mass production)

Seed drill

An agricultural machine that plants seeds efficiently in well-spaced rows at specific depths and then covers them with soil

Spinning jenny

A simple, inexpensive, hand-powered spinning machine invented by James Hargreaves in the 1760s, which allowed one worker to spin multiple threads at once

Crop rotation

agricultural practice that involves planting different types of crops in the same field in a planned sequence over successive seasons or years

Enclosure Movement

The process in England (primarily 18th-19th centuries) of transforming communal lands into private, individually owned property, typically enclosed by fences or hedges.

Steam engine

A heat engine that converts heat from burning fuel (like coal) into mechanical work, using steam to power pistons

Second Industrial Revolution

A period of rapid technological advancement and industrial growth, focusing on new technologies like electricity, steel (Bessemer process), chemicals, and precision machinery, expanding on the first revolution's steam power

Telegraph

Revolutionary communication technology that allowed messages to be transmitted over long distances almost instantaneously using electrical signals through wires.

Muhammad Ali (not boxer)

Ottoman-appointed governor of Egypt (1805-1848) who became the de facto ruler, initiating massive state-led reforms to modernize Egypt's economy (textiles, agriculture), military, and education, earning him the title "founder of modern Egypt" and representing 19th-century efforts to industrialize and centralize power against European influence

Meiji Restoration

Japan's rapid transition from a feudal society under the Tokugawa Shogunate to a modern, industrialized nation-state, restoring power to Emperor Meiji and implementing sweeping political, social, and economic reforms inspired by Western models to prevent colonization and build national strength

Adam Smith

The "father of modern economics" was

an 18th-century Scottish economist who argued for laissez-faire capitalism (minimal government intervention) and free markets, believing individuals pursuing self-interest, guided by an "invisible hand," would benefit society

Wealth of Nations

a foundational book written by Adam Smith in 1776 that provides the blueprint for modern capitalism and the idea of a free-market economy

Laissez-faire economics

An economic philosophy advocating for minimal government intervention in the market

Transnational business

Also called a transnational corporation, or TNC, is a large company that operates in multiple countries, managing production and selling products in various regions, not just its country of origin.

Industrial working class

the large group of wage laborers who emerged during the Industrial Revolution, performing manual work in factories and mines for low pay, often under harsh, dangerous conditions (long hours, child labor) in overcrowded urban slums

Middle class

The social group that emerged during the Industrial Revolution, characterized by its non-manual labor professions, moderate wealth, and emphasis on education and property

Urbanization

The process by which an increasing percentage of a population comes to live in urban areas (cities and towns), resulting in their physical growth and expansion.

Karl Marx

19th-century philosopher and economist who argued that history is driven by class struggle (rich vs. poor) he predicted they would revolt to create a classless, communist society where the community owns everything

Communism

A political and economic system aiming for a classless society where the community or state owns all property and means of production, sharing wealth based on need, as a response to capitalist inequality, leading to revolutions and the Cold War divide.

Socialism

An economic and political idea where the community (often the government) owns or controls the means of production (factories, resources) to ensure wealth is distributed more equally and to provide social welfare

Tanzimat Reforms

A series of major modernization and reorganization efforts in the Ottoman Empire between 1839 and 1876, intended to strengthen the state, centralize power, and prevent decline

Young Turks

A reformist and nationalist political movement in the late Ottoman Empire who advocated for modernization, secularization, and a constitutional government

Self-strengthening movement

A late 19th-century effort by the Qing dynasty in China to modernize its military and economy by selectively adopting Western technology and methods while maintaining traditional Confucian values.

HSBC (Hong Kong and Singapore Banking Corporation)

A prominent British-owned bank founded in 1865 in colonial Hong Kong and Shanghai to finance the growing trade between Europe and Asia

Capitalism

An economic system where private individuals own the means of production (factories, resources), driven by profit motive and competition in a free market, with supply and demand setting prices, contrasting with state-controlled systems like mercantilism or communism, and fostering innovation but also inequality

Labor union

An organized group of workers, often in the same trade or industry, that collectively bargain with employers for better wages, safer working conditions, reasonable hours, and improved benefits

Proletariat

The industrial working class who own no means of production (factories, land) and must sell their labor for wages to survive, forming a large, exploited class under capitalism, contrasting with the bourgeoisie (owners) and leading to class struggle, unions, and revolutionary movements.

Bourgeoisie

The wealthy and influential middle class that emerged during and after the Industrial Revolution, characterized by their ownership of capital and the means of production