Modern Era [Age of Revolutions]

Absolutism

A political system in which a ruler holds total power

Absolute Monarchy

A government in which the king or queen has absolute power.

Divine Right of Kings

the belief that the authority of kings comes directly from God

Scientific Revolution

A major change in European thought, people questioned the accepted beliefs of the Church.

Heliocentric

Sun-centered

Scientific Method

A logical, systematic approach to the solution of a scientific problem

Enlightenment

A philosophical movement that started in Europe in the 1700s and emphasized reason and the scientific method.

Age of Reason

The Enlightenment

Natural Rights

Life, Liberty, and Property

Separation of Powers

the division of power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government

Social Contract

An agreement between the people and their government signifying their consent to be governed

Consent of the Governed

People are the source of any and all governmental power

Church-State Separation

The State should not establish an official religion and force its citizens to support it.

Freedom of Religion

the right to practice whatever religion one chooses.

Declaration of Independence

Signed in 1776 by US revolutionaries; it declared the United States as a free state.

U.S. Constitution

The written plan of government for the U.S.

Bill of RIghts

First 10 amendments to the Constitution

First Estate

They consisted of the Roman Catholic Clergy

Second Estate

The second class of French society made up of the nobility

Third Estate

97% of the population (the rest of France)

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

Adopted August 26, 1789, created by the National Assembly to give rights to all (except women).

Storming of the Bastille

Destruction of the prison seen as the true start of the French Revolution.

Guillotine

A machine for beheading people, used as a means of execution during the French Revolution.

No taxation without representation

Colonists did not want to be taxed if they did not have a representative in Britain's Parliament.

Nationalism

Pride in one's country

Reign of Terror

(1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed for "disloyalty"

Haiti

Former French colony that earned independence in 1804.

Patriarchy

A form of social organization in which males dominate females

Transculturation

The expansion of cultural traits through diffusion, adoption, and other related processes.

Latin America

Spanish or Portuguese-speaking nations south of the U.S.