World History Units 1-4

Enlightened Despots

A monarch who retains absolute control of their country while also enacting reform based on Enlightenment ideas.

Marie-Therese Geoffrin

held salons where writers, artists, and philosophes exchanged ideas on arts, science, government, and religion

Salons

location where writers, artists, and philosophes exchanged ideas on arts, science, government, and religion during the Enlightenment

Thomas Hobbes

believed that people are born selfish and greedy leading to a need for a strong absolute monarch

John Locke

English philosopher who argued that people should have natural rights such as life, liberty, and property

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

argued the good of the community outweighed the good of the individual in the Social Contract

Baron de Montesquieu

developed the idea that the government should be split into separate powers and 3 branches in the Spirit of the Laws

Voltaire

French philosopher and writer whose works epitomize the Age of Enlightenment, often attacking injustice, intolerance, and inequality

Mary Wollstonecraft

British feminist who advocated for education & women's rights in Vindication of the Rights of Women

Olympe de Gouges

French journalist who was a political activist for both women's rights and the abolition of slavery

Adam Smith

Scottish economist who wrote the Wealth of Nations (1776) developing the idea on free trade and free markets with little to no government involvement

Frederick the Great

Prussian monarch that built up a massive military and centralized government, but also introduced freedom of religion, freedom of press and literature

Catherine the Great

ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796, added new lands to Russia, encouraged science, art, lierature, Russia became one of Europe's most powerful nations

Joseph II

The son of Maria Teresa and a enlightened despot who ruled over the Austrian Empire granting religious equality, freedom of the press, and abolished serfdom

Florence

an Italian city-state and leading cultural center during the Renaissance

Oligarchy

A government ruled by a few powerful people

Individualism

A belief during the Renaissance that the fame and glory of the individual should be celebrated and displayed

Humanism

A belief during the Renaissance that emphasized a focus on Ancient Greek and Roman times in art & literature

Secularism

A belief during the Renaissance that rejected religion and religious considerations in art and literature

Niccolo Machiavelli

founder of modern political science by emphasizing ideas on how to seize & maintain power in The Prince

Martin Luther

a German monk who became one of the most famous critics of the Roman Catholic Chruch. In 1517, he wrote 95 theses, or statements of belief attacking the church practices.

Nintey-five Theses

Martin Luther's statement of principles regarding penance and the abuse of indulgences

Indulgences

in the Roman Catholic Church, payed pardon for sins committed during a person's lifetime

John Calvin

religious reformer who believed in predestination and a strict sense of morality for society; popular in Switzerland

King Henry VIII

(1491-1547) King of England, he split with the Catholic Church and declared himself head of the Church of England through the Act of Supremacy

Act of Supremacy

Declared the king (Henry VIII) the supreme head of the Church of England in 1534.

Counter/Catholic Reformation

Religious reform movement within the Catholic Church that started in response to the Luther's ideas. It clarified Catholic theology and reformed clerical training and discipline.

Diet of Worms (1521)

Assembly of the estates of the empire, called by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1521. Luther was ordered to recant but he refused. Charles V declared Luther an outlaw.

Council of Trent

formed by high officials of the Catholic Church as an assembly to discuss and examine the basic church doctrines and goals from 1545-1563

Peace of Augsburg

1555 agreement declaring that the religion of each German state would be decided by its ruler

Edict of Nantes

document that granted religious freedom to the French Huguenots in 1598

Absolutism

A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition)

Divine Right

Belief that the authority of absolute rulers comes directly from God.

Louis XIV

French absolute monarch known as the "Sun King" who was the longest ruling French monarch and led France into unprecented debt due to wars and exspensive palaces

Versailles

Palace built by Louis XIV to keep nobles closer, seen as a symbol of Divine Right

Elizabeth I

Queen of England between 1558 and 1603 known for her defeat of the Spanish Armada and leading Great Britain into becoming a dominant power into the 17th century

Charles I

King of England (1625-1649) that had power struggles with Parliament resulting in the English Civil War and his eventual beheading in 1649

English Civil War

a conflict, lasting from 1642 to 1649, in which Puritan supporters of Parliament defeated supporters of England's monarchy

Oliver Crommwell

sets up a military dictatorship as "Lord Protector" after executing Charles I for treason in 1649 following his victory in the English Civil War

Interregnum

interval between monarchial reigns in England from 1649-1660 when Oliver Cromwell served as military dictator

Glorious Revolution

A reference to the political events of 1688-1689, when James II abdicated his throne and was replaced by his daughter Mary and her husband, Prince William of Orange and creating the modern constitutional monarchy

English Bill of Rights

document that gave England a constitutional monarchy based on a system of laws and a freely elected parliament that held increased power compared to the monarch

Constitutionalism

theory that royal power should be subject to legal and legislative checks that developed in early modern England and Holland

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.

Nicholas Copernicus

Wrote "On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres" which stated his belif in a heliocentric, or sun-centered, conception of the universe where planets revolved around the sun

Johannes Kepler

German astronomer who first stated laws of planetary motion (1571-1630)

Galileo Galilei

This scientist proved Copernicus' theory that the sun was the center of the solar system through the use of a telescope & develops ideas on the laws of gravity

William Harvey

English physician and scientist who studied the circulation of blood coming from the hear rather than the liver

Issac Newton

British scientist who defined the laws of motion, discovered gravity, experimented with optics, invented differential calculus and wrote "Principia"

Leonardo da Vinci

Italian Renaissance artist and architect who advanced portrayals of the human body in pieces such as the Mona Lisa & Vitruvian Man

Michelangelo

(1475-1564) An Italian sculptor, painter, poet, engineer, and architect. Famous works include the mural on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and the sculpture of the biblical character David.

Raphael

Italian Renaissance painter; he painted frescos, his most famous being The School of Athens.

Donatello

15th century Florentine sculptor famous for his lifelike sculptures and bronze statues such as David

Printing Press

15th century invention which revolutionized the ability to print information which in turn affected the speed of the spread of information itself especially during the Reformation

Enlightenment

A movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas in politics and religion

Philosophes

Writers during the Enlightenment and who popularized the new ideas of the time.

Laissez-faire

Policy that government should interfere as little as possible in the nation's economy

Diderot

leader of Enlightenment in France through publishing the Encyclopedie (1788) which compiled scientific and social knowledge as well as philosophy, math, and psychology

Akbar the Great

(1542-1605) Emperor of the Mughal Empire in India responsible for the expansion of the empire, the increasing of trade and changes in Muslim culture

sati

The Indian custom of a widow voluntarily throwing herself on the funeral pyre of her husband.

missionaries

a person sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country. Popular by Spanish & Portuguese explorers

Asian Sea Trade Network

West/Arab Zone→ glass, carpets, textiles

Central/India→ cotton

East/China→ paper, porcelain, and silk

Francis Xavier

Spanish Jesuit missionary; worked in India in 1540s among the outcaste and lower caste groups; made little headway among elites

Emperor Kangxi

The 4th emperor of the Qing dynasty known for improving waterways & infrastructure of China while also increasing isolation and removal of Christianity

bushido code

code of conduct for Samurai during the feudal period in Japan

Seppuku

ritual suicide to die with honor if Samurai broke Bushido or lost and failed to die in battle

Japanese Feudal System

political, social, and economic system based on land, loyalty, and military service with a Shogun holding real power

Tokugawa Ieyasu

founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate which lasted from 1603 to 1867. Known for abolishing Christianity and increasing isolation of Japan

Opium

increased trade of this drug led China to become economically controlled by Britain throughout the 18th & 19th centuries

The Boers

The Dutch settlers who took over most the land and waged competition and war with the local Africans

The Great Trek

A migration of Dutch colonists out of British-controlled territory in South Africa during the 1830s.

Ahmed Baba

Religious writer and scholar in western Sudan & Morocco who advocated for the elimination of the slave trade

Asante Empire

The African group in present-day Ghana who set up a slave and gold trade with Europeans

Triangular Trade

slaves to the Americas, sugar/tobacco to Europe, European manufactured products to African coast

sugar

Roughly 40-50% of all slaves were sent to Brazil to increase production of this cash crop

factories

forts & trading posts set up by the Portuguese along the coasts of West Africa & Asia

haciendas

rural estates controlled by local aristocrats that produced agricultural products for consumers in the Americas; plantation colonies

Latin American Caste System

social system in the New World based on race & ethnicity placing pure-blood Europeans at the top and Natives & Africans at the bottom

Francisco Pizarro

conquest of Peru and the Incan capital of Cuzco in 1542

viceroys

representatives of the Spanish monarch in Spain's colonial empire

New Spain

Central America, the Caribbean, the Philippines, and southwest United States

Hernan Cortes

took over the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan/Mexico City due to disease, starvation, and help from Aztec

Encomienda System

early form of coerced labor in Spanish colonies (serfdom)

Bartolome de Las Casas

priest who argued against using native populations for slave labor and advocated for Indian rights

mercantilism

stressed exports over imports to create a favorable balance of trade

core nations

Western European nations that began the age of Exploration and will rise to power (Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, France, Holland, and France)

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement between Portugal and Spain, declaring that newly discovered lands to the west of an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean would belong to Spain and newly discovered lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal.

Ferdinand Magellan

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

trading posts

An area along coastal towns where traders exchange goods for local products.

Cape of Good Hope

Southern tip of Africa; first circumnavigated in 1488 by Portuguese in search of direct route to India.

joint-stock company

A company made up of a group of shareholders. Each shareholder contributes some money to the company and receives some share of the company's profits and debts.

Vasco de Gama

Portuguse exploroer who sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and found a sea route to India

Henry the Navigator

This Portuguese prince who lead an extensive effort to promote exploration of West Africa in the 15th century, leading Portugal to discover a route around Africa, ultimately to India.

Christopher Columbus

He mistakenly discovered the Americas/Hispaniola in 1492 while searching for a faster route to India.

Silver

following the discovery of the New World, European nations extracted this metal and initiated trade with China & India in exchange for manfactured goods

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

Iberian Peninsula

Peninsula in southwestern Europe occupied by Spain and Portugal

Ferdinand and Isabella

During the late 15th century, they became King and Queen of a united Spain and made Spain a strong Christian nation and also provided funding to overseas exploration, notably Christopher Columbus.