Enlightenment, Revolutions, and the Industrial Revolution Vocabulary

A complete set of vocabulary practice flashcards based on lecture notes covering the Enlightenment, political revolutions, ideologies, and the first and second Industrial Revolutions.

Enlightenment

Intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized reason, natural rights, individual liberty, and the questioning of traditional authority; influenced political revolutions and movements for constitutional government, democracy, and equality.

Social Contract

Enlightenment idea that government receives its authority from the consent of the governed and exists to protect the rights of the people; if a government fails to fulfill its responsibilities, the people may have the right to change or overthrow it.

Natural Rights

Enlightenment idea, associated especially with John Locke, that all people are born with fundamental rights, including life, liberty, and property, and that governments are created to protect these rights.

Liberalism

Political ideology influenced by the Enlightenment that emphasized individual rights, representative government, equality before the law, and economic freedom; 19th century liberals often supported constitutional government and limits on the power of monarchs.

Empiricism

The view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation.

Nationalism

Sense of commonality based on language, religion, social customs, and territory; sometimes harnessed by governments to foster a sense of unity.

Feminism

The belief that women should possess the same political and economic rights as men; became popular during the Enlightenment.

Mary Wollstonecraft

English writer and early feminist who denied male supremacy and advocated equal education for women; wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women, a famous feminist document in 1792.

Suffrage

The right to vote in political elections.

End of Serfdom

Most important reform of Russian Czar Alexander II; 1861-1865.

Declaration of Independence

1776 statement, issued by the Second Continental Congress, explaining why the colonies wanted independence from Britain.

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; adopted August 26, 1789.

Jamaica Letter

Document written in Jamaica by South American revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar, where he famously expanded his views on the independence movements in Venezuela, and the government under the way they tried to operate.

Reign of Terror

(1793-1794) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed for "disloyalty;" led by Robespierre who tried rebels and had them executed often by guillotine.

Simon Bolivar

Most important military leader in the struggle for independence in South America; born in Venezuela, he led military forces there and in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Toussaint L'Ouverture

Important leader of the Haitian Revolution and the first leader of a free Haiti; in a long struggle again the institution of slavery, he led the blacks to victory over the whites and free coloreds and secured native control over the colony in 1797, calling himself a dictator.

Realpolitik

Practical politics, ends justified the means, power more important than principles; utilized by Otto von Bismarck to unify Germany.

Otto von Bismarck

Prussian chancellor who led the unification of Germany in 1871 through diplomacy and a series of wars; practiced Realpolitik, emphasizing practical political goals and the use of military power rather than ideology, helping create a powerful unified German state.

Peninsulares

People born in Spain or Portugal who lived in their American colonies who occupied the highest positions in colonial government, the Church, and society, placing them above American-born Europeans (creoles) in the colonial social hierarchy.

Creoles

People of European descent who were born in the Americas; they ranked below peninsulares in the colonial social hierarchy and were frequently excluded from the highest government positions; many became leaders of Latin American independence movements in the early 1800s (ex: Simon Bolivar).

Industrial Revolution

Transition beginning in Britain in the late 1700s from hand production to machine-powered factory production, fueled by new technologies and energy sources such as coal and steam power; increased production, urbanization, and global trade while transforming labor, the economy, and society.

Cottage industry

Manufacturing based in homes rather than in a factory, commonly found before the Industrial Revolution; work was highly skilled and valued.

Factory system

Method of production that brought workers and machines together in centralized factories to mass-produce goods; replaced much household and artisan production and contributed to urbanization, wage labor, and increased industrial production during the Industrial Revolution.

Seed drill

Agricultural machine developed in the early 1700s that planted seeds in even rows at the proper depth, reducing waste and increasing crop yields; part of the Agricultural Revolution, which helped support population growth and the later Industrial Revolution.

Spinning Jenny

Textile machine invented in the 1760s that allowed one worker to spin multiple threads at the same time, greatly increasing the speed of yarn production and helping mechanize the British textile industry during the Industrial Revolution.

Crop rotation

Practice of rotating use of different fields from crop to crop each year, to avoid exhausting the soil; utilized during the c. 1750 time period and led to increased crop yields and growing population.

Enclosure Movement

Process in Britain in which common agricultural lands were consolidated and enclosed into privately owned farms; increased agricultural efficiency but displaced many rural workers, contributing to urbanization and providing labor for factories during the Industrial Revolution.

Steam engine

Machine that used steam power to produce mechanical energy, greatly improved by James Watt in the 1700s; powered factories, mines, railroads, and steamships, increasing production and transportation during the Industrial Revolution.

Second Industrial Revolution

Period of rapid industrial growth in the late 1800s and early 1900s characterized by new industries and technologies involving steel, electricity, chemicals, petroleum, and mass production; industrialization expanded beyond Britain into countries such as Germany, the United States, and Japan.

Telegraph

Device for rapid, long-distance transmission of information over an electric wire; introduced in England and North America in the 1830s and 1840s.

Muhammad Ali

Governor of Egypt in the early 1800s who attempted to modernize and industrialize Egypt by reforming the military, expanding education, developing industries, and promoting cotton production; reforms strengthened Egypt but increased its connections to and dependence on European markets.

Meiji Restoration

Political transformation beginning in 1868 that ended the Tokugawa shogunate, restored authority to the Japanese emperor, and launched a period of rapid industrialization and modernization; adopted Western technology, military methods, education, and industry, helping it become a major industrial and imperial power.

Wealth of Nations

1776 book by Adam Smith that argued for free markets, private property, competition, and limited government interference in the economy; helped establish the ideas of laissez-faire economics and modern capitalism.

Laissez-faire economics

Economic idea that government should interfere as little as possible in the economy, allowing individuals and businesses to compete freely in the marketplace; associated with Adam Smith and became an important principle of industrial capitalism.

Transnational business

Business that operates in several different countries but in one specific country (headquarters), two companies include the United Fruits company and HSBC.

Industrial Working Class

Lower class wage laborers who worked in factories, mines, and other industrial jobs during the Industrial Revolution; often experienced long hours, low wages, and dangerous working conditions, contributing to the growth of labor unions, socialism, and demands for reform.

Middle class

Social class made up of skilled workers, professionals, business people, and wealthy farmers; rose to wealth and prominence during the Industrial Revolution.

Urbanization

Increase in the percentage and in the number of people living in cities as opposed to the countryside.

Karl Marx

19th-century German philosopher who criticized industrial capitalism and argued that history was shaped by class struggle; wrote The Communist Manifesto (1848) with Friedrich Engels and argued that workers (proletariat) would eventually overthrow the capitalist class (bourgeoisie) and establish a communist society.

Communism

Political and economic ideology associated that argued that class struggle between workers and owners would eventually lead to the overthrow of capitalism and the creation of a classless society in which property and the means of production were collectively owned; developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Socialism

Political and economic ideology that argued that society or the government should have greater control over property, production, and the distribution of wealth to promote greater economic equality; developed in response to the inequalities of industrial capitalism.

Tanzimat Reforms

Series of Ottoman reforms from 1839–1876 designed to modernize and strengthen the Ottoman Empire in response to European pressure; modernized the military, government, education, and legal system and attempted to grant greater legal equality to religious minorities.

Young Turks

Reform movement in the Ottoman Empire that sought to modernize the empire and restore constitutional government. In 1908, they led a revolution that forced the sultan to restore the Ottoman constitution and parliament. Their movement reflected growing nationalism and efforts to reform and strengthen declining empires.

Self-Strengthening Movement

Qing Dynasty reform movement (c. 1860–1895) that attempted to strengthen China by adopting Western military technology and industrial methods while preserving traditional Chinese culture and government; had limited success and failed to prevent continued foreign influence and imperialism in China.

HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation)

British bank founded in Hong Kong in 1865 to finance growing international trade between Europe and Asia, especially China; its development illustrates international banking and European investment expansions alongside industrialization and economic imperialism during the 19th century.

Capitalism

Economic system based on private ownership of businesses and property, in which individuals invest capital to produce goods and services for profit; prices and production are largely determined by competition and supply and demand in the marketplace.

Labor union

Organization of workers that tries to improve working conditions, wages, and benefits for its members; popularized after worker exploitation common after the Industrial Revolution.

Proletariat

Marx's term for the exploited working class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production.

Bourgeoisie

Marx's term for the middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professionals.

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who wrote the Wealth of Nations in 1776, a precursor to modern capitalism.