Adam Smith
Scottish economist who wrote the Wealth of Nations, a precursor to modern Capitalism.
Anti-Semitism
Prejudice against Jews
Baron Montesquieu
French political philosopher who advocated the separation of executive, legislative and judicial powers
Capitalism
An economic system based on private ownership of capital
Classical liberalism
A political philosophy that advocates for free markets, civil liberties, and limited government.
conservatism
a political philosophy based on tradition and social stability, favoring obedience to political authority and organized religion
Declaration of Independence
Signed in 1776 by US revolutionaries; it declared the United States as a free state.
Deism
A popular Enlightenment era belief that there is a God, but that God isn't involved in people's lives or in revealing truths to prophets.
Empiricism
the belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation
Feminism
the belief that women should possess the same political and economic rights as men
Hobbes
English materialist and political philosopher who advocated absolute sovereignty as the only kind of government that could resolve problems caused by the selfishness of human beings (1588-1679)
Jamaica Letter
A was a document written in Jamaica by South American revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar where he famously expanded his views on thee independence movement in Venezuela and the way the government under the way they tried to operate.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
A French philosopher who believed that Human beings are naturally good & free & can rely on their instincts. believed that government should exist to protect common good, and be a democracy
John Locke
English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property.
laissez-faire
Idea that government should play as small a role as possible in economic affairs.
Liberalism
A political ideology that emphasizes the civil rights of citizens, representative government, and the protection of private property. This ideology, derived from the Enlightenment, was especially popular among the property-owning middle classes.
philosophes
Writers during the Enlightenment and who popularized the new ideas of the time.
Robert Owen
(1771-1858) British cotton manufacturer believed that humans would reveal their true natural goodness if they lived in a cooperative environment. Tested his theories at New Lanark, Scotland and New Harmony, Indiana.
Social Contract
A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.
Socialism
A system in which society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production.
Theodor Herzl and Zionism
Herzl was the Jewish founder of the Zoionist Movement (1897) to rebuild a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Utilitarianism
the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority.
Utopian Socialism
Philosophy introduced by the Frenchman Charles Fourier in the early nineteenth century. Utopian socialists hoped to create humane alternatives to industrial capitalism by building self-sustaining communities whose inhabitants would work cooperatively.
Wealth of Nations
This is the 18th century book written by Scottish economist Adam Smith in which he spells out the first modern account of free market economies.
Voltaire
(1694-1778) French philosopher. He believed that freedom of speech was the best weapon against bad government. He also spoke out against the corruption of the French government, and the intolerance of the Catholic Church.
abolitionism
Movement to end slavery
European Enlightenment
European intellectual movement of the eighteenth century that applied the lessons of the Scientific Revolution to human affairs and was noted for its commitment to open-mindedness and inquiry and the belief that knowledge could transform human society.
Galileo
(1564-1642) An Italian who provided more evidence for heliocentrism and questioned if the heavens really were perfect. He invented a new telescope, studied the sky, and published what he discovered. Because his work provided evidence that the Bible was wrong he was arrested and ended up on house arrest for the rest of his life.
Issac Newton
British scientist who defined the laws of motion, discovered gravity, experimented with optics, invented differential calculus and wrote "Principia"
Scientific Revolution
A major change in European thought, starting in the mid-1500s, in which the study of the natural world began to be characterized by careful observation and the questioning of accepted beliefs.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
A member of the women's right's movement in 1840. She shocked other feminists by advocating suffrage for women at the first Women's Right's Convention in Seneca, New York 1848. Stanton read a "Declaration of Sentiments" which declared "all men and women are created equal."
maternal feminism
Movement that claimed that women have value in society not because of an abstract notion of equality but because women have a distinctive and vital role as mothers; its exponents argued that women have the right to intervene in civil and political life because of their duty to watch over the future of their children.
Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Written by Mary Wollstonecraft; asserts the ''rights of humanity'' should not be ''confined to the male line.''
Bourgeoisie
the French middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional people. Financially well off but had no political power.
Garibaldi
Italian nationalist whose conquest of Sicily and Naples led to the formation of the Italian state (1807-1882).
Guiseppe Mazzini
Part of the Italian unification movement. In 1832 established a young nationalist group. He headed a republican government in Rome for a short time, and believed that nation-states were the best hope for social justice, democracy and peace in Europe.
Liberte, Equalite, Fraternite
This was the slogan of the French Revolution, and descibed the rights that all people had
Lola Rodriguez de Tio
Puerto Rican poet who supported Cuban and Puerto Rican independence.
Maroons
Runaway slaves who gathered in mountainous, forested, or swampy areas and formed their own self-governing communities.
Mestizos
A person of mixed Native American and European ancestory
Mulattoes
People of African and European descent
Otto Von Bismarck
German statesman under whose leadership Germany was united (1815-1898)
Ottomanism
An ideology developed by the Ottoman govt in order to strengthen their subjects' loyalty and solidarity. Basically Ottoman nationalism.
Peninsulares
Spanish-born, came to Latin America; ruled, highest social class.
Propaganda Movement in the Phillipines
A group of Filipinos (than residents of a Spanish colony) who called for political reform through books, leaflets, and newspaper articles.
Realpolitik
Political realism or practical politics, especially policy based on increasing power rather than on ideals. Generally led to militarily strong states with totalitarian governments.
Reign of Terror
(1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed for "disloyalty to the revolution"
Simon Bolivar
Venezuelan statesman who led the revolt of South American colonies against Spanish rule
Toussaint L'Ouverture
Leader of the Haitian Revolution. He freed the slaves and gained effective independence for Haiti despite military interventions by the British and French. Known for making strategic alliances with world powers in order to play them against each other, he was eventually betrayed and captured by the French under Napoleon. Haiti still gained and kept their independence.
French Revolution
The revolution that began in 1789, overthrew the absolute monarchy and the system of aristocratic privileges, and ended with Napoleon's overthrow of the Directory and seizure of power in 1799.
Haitian Revolution
Toussaint l'Ouverture led this uprising, which in 1790 resulted in the successful overthrow of French colonial rule on this Caribbean island. This revolution set up the first black government in the Western Hemisphere and the world's second democratic republic (after the US). It was also the first fully successful slave revolt in history.
Latin American revolutions
Series of risings in the Spanish colonies of Latin America (1810-1826) that established the independence of new states from Spanish rule but that for the most part retained the privileges of the elites despite efforts at more radical social rebellion by the lower classes.
nationalism
the belief that people should be loyal mainly to their nationâthat is, to the people with whom they share a culture and historyârather than to a king or empire.
Robespierre
A French political leader of the eighteenth century. He was one of the most radical leaders of the French Revolution. He was in charge of the government during the Reign of Terror, when thousands of persons were executed without trial. After a public reaction against his extreme policies, he was executed without trial.
American Revolution
the revolution of the American colonies against Great Britain
Hidalgo-Morelos rebellion
Socially radical peasant rebellion in Mexico (1810) led by the priests Miguel Hidalgo and JosĂŠ Morelos.
Napoleon Bonaparte
French general who became emperor of the French after their revolution. Known for his skill as a military leader and the fact that he was totally short no matter what anyone says.
Tupac Amaru
Mestizo leader of Indian revolt in Peru; supported by many in the lower social classes; revolt failed because lack of creole support
caudillos
Independent leaders who dominated local areas by force in defiance of national policies; sometimes seized national governments to impose their concept of rule; typical throughout newly independent countries of Latin America. Basically warlords.
Mexican Revolution
armed rebellion in which the Mexican people fought for political and social reform. Led to Mexico's constitution.
Russian Revolution of 1905
Spontaneous rebellion that erupted in Russia after the country's defeat at the hands of Japan in 1905; the revolution was suppressed, but it forced the government to make substantial reforms.