Enlightenment, American Revolution, and French Revolution Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering key Enlightenment philosophers, the Seven Years War, colonial tax acts, the American Revolutionary War, and the estates of the French Revolution.

Galileo and Copernicus

Astronomers famous for promoting the heliocentric view of the solar system, asserting that the sun is the center rather than the earth.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker who wrote Second Treatise on Government, arguing that government exists to protect life, liberty, and property, heavily influencing Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence.

Montesquieu

Author of Spirit of the Law who argued that government should be structured around the separation of powers and checks and balances.

Adam Smith

Author of Wealth of Nations who introduced key economic concepts such as capitalism, the invisible hand, supply and demand, living wages, and division of labor.

Seven Years War

A global conflict from 1756 to 1763 between Britain and France that started in North America before moving to Europe and India.

Treaty of Paris 1763

Treaty that ended the Seven Years War and the French and Indian War, granting Britain control of most of North America.

Virtual Representation

The British concept asserting that Parliament acted in the best interest of American colonists, despite colonists having zero actual representation.

Navigation Acts

Mercantilist policies implemented by Britain over a century to control colonial trade and enforce tariffs on goods such as wool, iron, tea, and hats.

Proclamation of 1763

British rule prohibiting American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains to prevent further conflict with the French and Native Americans.

Stamp Act 1765

A British tax on paper products in the colonies that was unrelated to mercantilism or trade regulation, leading to colonial protests.

Quartering Act

British legislation requiring American colonists to provide housing and provisions for redcoats.

Declaratory Act

Act passed by Parliament declaring that Britain held full authority to tax the American colonists.

Boston Massacre

An incident on King Street where British redcoats fired into a snow-ball-throwing crowd, killing five people; popularized by Paul Revere as The Bloody Massacre.

Tea Act 1773

British legislation meant to regulate tea trade and stop smuggling, which directly prompted the Boston Tea Party.

Coercive Acts 1774

Also known as the Intolerable Acts, these laws closed the Port of Boston, asserted control over Massachusetts government, and appointed military officer General Thomas Gage as governor.

First Continental Congress

A gathering of American delegates in Philadelphia to discuss independence from Britain.

Second Continental Congress

Assembly held two years after the First Continental Congress where Thomas Jefferson was tasked with writing the Declaration of Independence.

Battle of Saratoga

Fall 1777 military victory for the Americans that successfully convinced France to provide official support to the United States.

Battle of Yorktown

Fall 1781 battle resulting in the capture of British forces, marking the largest victory for the American Continental Army led by George Washington.

Treaty of Paris 1783

Peace treaty that officially concluded the American Revolutionary War with an American victory.

10th Amendment

Amendment stating that any powers not granted to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved to the people or states.

1st Estate

In pre-revolutionary France, the clergy class of roughly 100,000 people who owned 10% of the land, paid no taxes, and collected tithes from the populace.

2nd Estate

In pre-revolutionary France, the nobility class of 400,000 members who owned 25% of the land, were tax-exempt, and held exclusive hunting, fishing, and business monopolies.

3rd Estate

The commoner social class comprising 98% of the population in pre-revolutionary France who lacked the legal privileges of the 1st and 2nd Estates.