AP World History Unit 5

The Enlightenment

An intellectual movement in 18th-century Europe that emphasized reason, individualism, and skepticism of traditional authority. It provided the ideological "spark" for the American, French, and Latin American revolutions.

The Social Contract

The theoretical agreement between the ruled and their rulers, defining the rights and duties of each. Enlightenment thinkers argued that if a government violates this contract (fails to protect rights), the people have a right to rebel.

A Vindication of the Rights of Women

Written by Mary Wollstonecraft, this 1792 work argued that women are not naturally inferior to men but appear so only because they lack education. It is a foundational text for modern feminism.

Seneca Falls Convention

(1848) The first women's rights convention in the U.S. It produced the Declaration of Sentiments, which used the language of the Declaration of Independence to argue for women's equality and suffrage.

Suffrage

The right to vote in political elections. The 19th century saw a massive global push for "Universal White Male Suffrage" and later "Women’s Suffrage" as democratic ideals spread.

Thomas Hobbes

An English philosopher who argued that humans are naturally "nasty and brutish." He believed a strong, absolute ruler (Leviathan) was necessary to maintain order through a social contract.

John Locke

An Enlightenment thinker who argued that all people are born with Natural Rights (Life, Liberty, and Property). He believed the government's only job was to protect these rights.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

He expanded on the Social Contract, arguing for Popular Sovereignty—the idea that the government should be based on the "General Will" of the people.

Voltaire

A French philosopher famous for his wit and advocacy for civil liberties, specifically freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the separation of church and state.

Montesquieu

An Enlightenment thinker who proposed the Separation of Powers into three branches (Legislative, Executive, Judicial) and a system of checks and balances to prevent tyranny.

Thomas Jefferson

The primary author of the American Declaration of Independence. He utilized Locke’s ideas of natural rights to justify the American colonies' break from Britain.

Declaration of Independence

(1776) A document asserting the independence of the 13 colonies from Great Britain. It is a key example of applying Enlightenment thought to state-building.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

(1789) A fundamental document of the French Revolution that granted civil rights to "all" men (though excluding women and enslaved people). It emphasized liberty, property, and resistance to oppression.

Reign of Terror

A period of the French Revolution (1793–94) characterized by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution" by guillotine, led by the Jacobins.

Jacobins

A radical political group during the French Revolution that sought to abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. They were responsible for the most violent phase of the revolution.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A French general who seized power in a coup, ending the French Revolution. He built a massive European empire and spread the Napoleonic Code, which modernized laws but restricted certain liberties.

Toussaint L’Ouverture

A formerly enslaved man who led the Haitian Revolution, the only successful slave revolt in history. He defeated the French, Spanish, and British to create an independent Haiti.

Jean- Jacques Dessalines

L'Ouverture's successor who led the final phase of the Haitian Revolution. He declared Haiti's independence in 1804 and became its first head of state.

Simon Bolivar

The "Liberator" of South America. A Creole revolutionary who led independence movements against Spain in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, dreaming of a unified "Gran Colombia."

Bolivia‘s Jamaica Letter

A document written by Bolívar in 1815 where he argued for the necessity of Latin American independence and outlined his vision for republican governments in the region.

Nationalism

An intense loyalty to others who share one’s language and culture. This was the most powerful political force of the 19th century, leading to both the unification of states and the breakup of empires.

German/ Italian Unification

The process in the mid-1800s where small, culturally similar states joined together into single nations (led by Bismarckin Germany and Cavour/Garibaldi in Italy), shifting the European balance of power.

Ottomanism

An attempt by the Ottoman government to create a unified national identity for its diverse subjects (regardless of religion) to counter the rise of separatist nationalism.

Young Turks

A reformist group in the early 20th century that favored a pro-Western constitution and Turkish nationalism, eventually contributing to the end of the Ottoman Empire.

Young Ottomans

A mid-19th-century secret society that advocated for "Islamic Modernism" and a constitutional government to save the empire from Western encroachment.

Tanzimat Reforms

(1839–1876) A series of modernizing reforms in the Ottoman Empire that sought to secularize law, improve the military, and provide equal rights to non-Muslims.

Balkan Nationalism

A movement among the diverse ethnic groups in the Balkans (Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians) to break away from Ottoman rule, which eventually sparked WWI.

Urbanization

The mass movement of people from rural areas to cities in search of factory work. It led to overcrowded, unsanitary conditions and transformed the social fabric of industrial nations.

Steam Engine

Patented by James Watt, this invention allowed factories to move away from rivers (using coal power) and revolutionized transportation via steamships and locomotives.

Muhammad Ali

An Ottoman governor who established an independent Egypt. He led state-sponsored industrialization (especially textiles and arms) to compete with European powers.

Adam Smith

The "Father of Capitalism" who wrote The Wealth of Nations. He argued for Laissez-faire (let it be) economics, where the "Invisible Hand" of the market regulates trade without government interference.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and the creation of goods/services for profit in a free market.

Marquis de Lafayette

A French noble who fought in the American Revolution and later led the National Guard during the French Revolution. He represents the ideological link between the American and French Revolutions.

Louis XVI

The last King of France before the fall of the monarchy. His failure to solve France’s financial crisis and his resistance to the Third Estate led to the French Revolution and his eventual execution.

Marie Antoinette

The Queen of France (wife of Louis XVI). Her perceived extravagance and foreign (Austrian) origin made her a primary target of popular hatred during the Revolution.

Estates- General

The French representative assembly called in 1789 to solve the debt crisis. It was divided into three "Estates" (Clergy, Nobility, Commoners); the unfair voting system sparked the Revolution.

National Assembly

Formed by the Third Estate after they broke away from the Estates-General. This body claimed to be the true representative of the people and began drafting a new constitution.

Tennis Court Oath

A pledge by the National Assembly to not disband until they had written a constitution for France. It was the first formal act of defiance against the King.

Olympe de Gouges

A French playwright and feminist who wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen in response to being excluded from the Revolution's new rights.

Liberalism

A political ideology rooted in Enlightenment ideas of liberty and equality. In the 19th century, it advocated for limited government, individual rights, and free-market capitalism.

Robespierre

The radical leader of the Jacobins and the Committee of Public Safety. He was the chief architect of the Reign of Terror, executing thousands via guillotine.

Vincent Ogé

A free man of color who led a revolt in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) for civil rights. His execution by French authorities was a major catalyst for the Haitian Revolution.

Grand Blancs

The wealthy white plantation owners in colonial Haiti who wanted independence from France but wished to maintain the system of slavery.

Gens de Couleur

Free people of color in Haiti. Many were wealthy and educated, and their demand for equal rights sparked the initial tensions leading to the slave uprising.

August Uprising

(1791) The massive, coordinated slave revolt in Northern Saint-Domingue that marked the beginning of the Haitian Revolution.

Otto Von Bismarck

The Prussian leader who used "Blood and Iron" (war and industrialization) to achieve German Unification, creating a new powerhouse in Europe.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

A nationalist military leader who led the "Red Shirts" to conquer southern Italy, playing a key role in Italian Unification.

Bank of England

A central bank that provided the stable credit and capital necessary to fund Britain's early industrialization and global trade.

Seed Drill

Invented by Jethro Tull, this tool allowed for more efficient planting. It was a key component of the Agricultural Revolution, which increased food supply and led to urbanization.

Crimean War

(1853–1856) A conflict where Russia lost to an alliance of Britain/France. It exposed Russia’s industrial backwardness and forced the Tzar to begin modernizing (e.g., freeing the serfs).

Russo- Japanese War

(1904–1905) The first time an Asian power (Japan) defeated a European power (Russia). It proved the success of Japan's Meiji Restoration and sparked the 1905 Russian Revolution.

Sino- Japanese War

(1904–1905) The first time an Asian power (Japan) defeated a European power (Russia). It proved the success of Japan's Meiji Restoration and sparked the 1905 Russian Revolution.

Trans- Siberian Railroad

A massive rail line across Russia (funded by Sergei Witte) that connected Moscow to the Pacific, facilitating trade and the extraction of raw materials.

Trans- Continental Railroad

The U.S. railroad connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It accelerated westward expansion, the destruction of indigenous cultures, and the growth of a national market.

Commodore Matthew Perry

The U.S. naval officer who forced Japan to open its ports to trade in 1853, ending Japanese isolationism and triggering the Meiji Restoration.

Iwasaki Yataro

The founder of Mitsubishi. He was a key figure in Japan’s industrialization, creating a massive Zaibatsu that helped modernize Japan's economy.

Sultan Abdulhamid II

The last Ottoman Sultan to exercise absolute power. He initially accepted a constitution but later suspended it, attempting to maintain power while dealing with nationalist revolts.

HSBC

(Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) A transnational bank established to finance trade between Europe and Asia, particularly the opium trade.

Unilever

A British-Dutch transnational corporation that sourced palm oil from West Africa and the Congo to make soap, demonstrating the global reach of industrial demand.

Stock Market

A financial system that allowed people to buy and sell shares in companies. It provided the massive capital needed for industrial projects like railroads.

LLC (Limited Liability Company)

A legal innovation where investors are only liable for the amount they invested. This encouraged high-risk, high-reward industrial ventures by protecting personal wealth.

Dowager Empress Cixi

The conservative leader of the late Qing Dynasty who resisted Western-style reforms, even imprisoning the Emperor to stop the 100 Days of Reform.

100 Days of Reform

A brief attempt by the Guangxu Emperor to modernize China’s education and bureaucracy. It was crushed by Cixi, leading to China's continued weakness.

Leviathan

The book by Thomas Hobbes arguing for an absolute monarch to prevent the "war of all against all." It represents the counter-argument to Locke’s liberal ideas.

Second Treatise of Civil Government

John Locke’s work that defined Natural Rights and the right to overthrow a tyrannical government. It was the blueprint for the American Declaration of Independence.

Montagnards

The most radical wing of the Jacobins during the French Revolution, led by Robespierre. They sat on the highest benches in the assembly (the "Mountain").

Girondins

A moderate faction of the French Revolution that wanted a constitutional monarchy and war against foreign powers, but opposed the execution of the King.

Jean- Paul Marat

A radical journalist whose newspaper, The Friend of the People, helped incite the violence of the French Revolution. He was famously assassinated in his bathtub.

Klemens Von Metternich

The Austrian statesman who led the Congress of Vienna. He was a staunch conservative who wanted to restore the "Balance of Power" and suppress nationalism.

Congress of Vienna

(1815) A meeting of European powers after Napoleon's defeat to restore monarchies and redraw borders to ensure long-term peace and stability.

George Sorel

A French philosopher who advocated for "Revolutionary Syndicalism," the idea that workers should use direct action (strikes) and violence to overthrow capitalism.

Charles Fourier

A "Utopian Socialist" who imagined ideal communities called "Phalanxes" where people would work together for the common good.

Henry Cort

An English ironmaster who developed the puddling process, which allowed for the large-scale production of high-quality wrought iron for the Industrial Revolution.

Richard Arkwright

The inventor of the Water Frame, which used water power to drive spinning wheels. He is often called the "Father of the Factory System."