AP WH 5.1 and 5.2

Enlightenment

A philosophical movement which started in Europe in the 1700's and spread to the colonies. It emphasized reason and the scientific method. Writers of the Enlightenment tended to focus on government, ethics, and science, rather than on imagination, emotions, or religion. Many members of the Enlightenment rejected traditional religious beliefs in favor of Deism, which holds that the world is run by natural laws without the direct intervention of God.

Social Contract

An Enlightenment concept; an agreement between the people and their government signifying their consent to be governed; popular in the 16th-18th centuries among theorists such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as a means of explaining the origin of government and the obligations of subjects.

Natural Rights

rights granted to all people by nature or God that cannot be denied or restricted by any government or individual; are often said to be granted to people by "natural law." Often discussed by Enlightenment thinker John Locke

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.

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.

Empiricism

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

Nationalism

A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country; it further aims to build and maintain a single national identity—based on shared social characteristics such as culture, language, religion, politics, and belief in a shared singular history—and to promote national unity or solidarity.

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

Adopted August 26, 1789, statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution.

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.

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

The 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

Was an 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

Mestizos

A person of mixed Native American and European ancestry

Peninsulares

Spanish-born, came to Latin America; ruled, highest social class in Latin America since they were the least likely to have "tainted bloodlines"

Creoles

Descendents of Spanish-born but born in Latin America; resented inferior social, political, economic status.

Socialism

a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Otto von Bismarck

Chancellor of Prussia from 1862 until 1871, when he became chancellor of Germany. A conservative nationalist, he led Prussia to victory against Austria (1866) and France (1870) in order to create a sense of national unity; assisted German unification in 1871.