Definition: A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.
Baron Montesquieu
Enlightenment Thinker
Supported the idea of separation of powers among different governmental branches.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
French Philosopher
Believed that human beings are naturally good and free and can rely on their instincts.
Argued that government should exist to protect the common good and should be democratically established.
Enlightenment
Movement: 18th century trend advocating the use of reason in reappraising accepted ideas and social institutions.
Liberalism
Belief: Government can and should achieve justice and equality of opportunity.
Conservativism
Political or Theological Orientation: Advocates for the preservation of the best in society and opposes radical changes.
Empiricism
Viewpoint: Knowledge originates in experience; science should rely on observation and experimentation.
Nationalism
Definition: A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country.
Feminism
Movement: Advocates for gender equality, focusing on the rights and status of women.
Abolitionism
Movement: Aims to end slavery.
Anti-Semitism
Definition: Prejudice against Jews.
Adam Smith
Scottish Economist
Author of "The Wealth of Nations", precusor to modern Capitalism.
Laissez-Faire
Economic Philosophy: The idea that government should play as minimal a role as possible in economic affairs.
Capitalism
Economic System: Based on private ownership of capital.
Socialism
System: Society, usually in the form of the government, owns and controls the means of production.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen
Document: Statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution.
Reign of Terror
Period (1793-94): During the French Revolution characterized by thousands executed for alleged "disloyalty".
Haitian Revolution
Historical Significance: The only fully successful slave rebellion in world history.
The uprising in the French Caribbean colony of Saint Domingue led to the establishment of an independent state after a long, bloody war (1791-1804).
Toussaint L’Ouverture
Role: Instrumental leader throughout the Haitian Revolution who led blacks to victory against whites and freed the slaves.
Simon Bolivar
Venezuelan Statesman (1783-1830): Leader of revolts against Spanish rule in South America.
Jose de San Martin
Role: Leader of the independence movement in Rio de la Plata; helped achieve independence by 1816 and later led movements in Chile and Peru.
Realpolitik
Concept: Realistic politics based on the needs of the state.
Otto von Bismarck
Chancellor of Prussia (1862-1871), then Chancellor of Germany.
A conservative nationalist who led Prussia to victory against Austria (1866) and France (1870).
Responsible for the creation of the German Empire.
Mestizo
Definition: A person of mixed Native American and European ancestry.
Peninsulares
Definition: Spanish-born individuals who came to Latin America; they were the highest social class there.
Mulattoes
Definition: People of African and European descent.
Bastille
Historical Site: Medieval fortress transformed into a prison that was stormed by peasants for ammunition during the early stages of the French Revolution.
Spinning Jenny
Invention: A machine capable of spinning several threads at once.
Water Frame
Invention: Developed in the 1780s by Richard Arkwright, powered by water; turned out yarn much faster than cottage spinning wheels, leading to the development of mechanized looms.
Factory System
Definition: A method of production that brought many workers and machines together into one building.
Crop Rotation
Agricultural Practice: Involves rotating the use of different fields from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil.
Industrial Revolution
Definition: A series of improvements in industrial technology that transformed the process of manufacturing goods.
Cottage Industry
Definition: Manufacturing based in homes rather than in a factory, commonly practiced before the Industrial Revolution.
Eli Whitney
Inventor: Known for inventing the cotton gin.
Interchangeable Parts
Definition: Identical components that can be used in place of one another in manufacturing.
Specialization of Labor
Concept: Focusing work effort on a product or a single task.
Enclosure Movement
Definition: The process of consolidating small landholdings into a smaller number of larger farms in England during the eighteenth century.
Capital
Definition: Refers to manufactured goods used to make other goods and services.
Raw Materials
Definition: The basic materials from which products are made.
Trans-Siberian Railroad
Construction: Built in the 1870s to connect European Russia with the Pacific; completed by the late 1880s; facilitated Russia's active role in Asia.
Steam Engine
Definition: A machine that transforms the energy released by burning fuel into motion.
History: First built by Thomas Newcomen in 1712; significantly improved by James Watt in the 1760s-1770s, later applied to machinery.
James Watt
Scottish Engineer and Inventor (1736-1819): His enhancements of the steam engine led to its widespread use in industry.
Muhammad Ali
Leader of Egyptian Modernization: Ruler as an Ottoman governor with imperial ambitions; descendants ruled until overthrown in 1952.
Matthew Perry
U.S. Navy Commander: On July 8, 1853, broke through Japan's isolationist barriers maintained for 250 years.
Zaibatsu
Definition: Large conglomerate corporations through which elite families exerted considerable political and economic power in Imperial Japan.
By World War II, four of these corporations controlled most of Japan's economy.
Meiji Restoration
Political Program Post-1868: Followed the destruction of the Tokugawa Shogunate, assigned aims of centralization, industrialization, and imperialism in Japan under young leaders.
Corporations
Definition: Businesses owned by many investors who buy shares of stock.
Stockholders
Definition: Individuals or entities that own stock in a corporation, hence are its owners.
Stock Market
System: A marketplace for buying and selling shares of companies.
Monopoly
Market Structure: Characterized by many buyers but only one seller.
Cecil Rhodes
Biography: Born in 1853; major political and economic figure in colonial South Africa; financier, statesman, and empire builder, known for his philosophy of mystical imperialism.
Consumerism
Movement: Advocates for greater protection of consumer interests.
Urbanization
Definition: An increase in the percentage and the number of people living in urban settlements.
Bessemer Process
Definition: Method for manufacturing steel quickly and cheaply by blasting hot air through melted iron to remove impurities efficiently.
Karl Marx
Philosopher and Economist (1818-1883): Recognized as the father of communism.
Proposed that communism would succeed capitalism, which had replaced feudalism.
Advocated for a classless society.
Communist Manifesto
Pamphlet: Written by Marx and Engels (1848), outlining the history of the working-class movement from their perspective.
Communism
System: Social organization based on communal ownership of property, where actual ownership belongs to the community or state.
Utilitarianism
Philosophical Idea: Society's goal should be to achieve the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
Labor Unions
Definition: Organizations formed by workers aiming for improved wages and working conditions.
Bourgeoisie
Definition: The middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional individuals.
Bushido
Concept: The feudal Japanese code of honor among the warrior class.
Mahmud II
Ottoman Sultan: Built a private, professional army; crushed the Janissaries' power while initiating reforms based on Western precedents.
Tanzimat
Reform Movement: 19th-century Ottoman reforms aimed to modernize the empire by relocating civil law from religious elites' control and enhancing military and bureaucratic efficiency.
Millets
Definition: Designated areas in towns where individual religious groups could freely live and practice their beliefs.
Self-Strengthening Movement
Late 19th Century Initiative: Movement in China led by provincial leaders to counter Western challenges.
Empress Cixi
Role: Conservative dowager empress who supported and promoted the Boxer Rebellion.
Imperialism
Definition: A policy where stronger nations seek to dominate weaker countries politically, socially, and economically.
Sino-Japanese War
Conflict (1894-1895): Japan's war against China to control resources and market access, concluded with the Treaty of Portsmouth granting Japan trading rights in China, control of Manchuria, the annexation of Sakhalin, and Korea as its protectorate.
Social Darwinism
Concept: The application of evolutionary ideas and 'survival of the fittest' justifying imperialist expansions in human societies.
British/Dutch East India Company
Historical Entities: Private trading companies chartered in the early 1600s, monopolizing Indian Ocean trade and granted the rights to wage war and govern conquered peoples.
King Leopold II
Belgian Monarch (r. 1865-1909): Promoted Central African exploration, infamously ruled the Congo Free State until 1908.
Berlin Conference
Event (1884-1885): Gathering for European nations to establish rules for colonizing Africa.
Scramble for Africa
Historical Period: A rapid conquest of African territories by European powers during the 1880s and 1890s, resulting in Britain securing eastern Africa and France dominating northwestern Africa.
Monroe Doctrine
American Foreign Policy: Opposed external powers' interference in the Western Hemisphere.
Manifest Destiny
19th Century Belief: The conviction that the United States was destined to expand across North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Penal Colony
Definition: A colony established to house convicts as an alternative to imprisonment.
Boer War
Conflict Duration (1899-1902): Competition between Dutch colonists and British over territorial control in South Africa.
Seven Years’ War
Conflict (1756-1763 CE): Also known as the French and Indian War; the struggle between French and allied Indians versus the English, which resulted in English dominance in what became the U.S.
Taiping Rebellion
Uprising (1850-1864): Revolt by Chinese citizens against the Manchu Dynasty due to failures in managing the opium crisis and foreign interference.
Boxer Rebellion
Event (1899): A revolt in Beijing, China led by a secret society opposing foreign influence; suppressed by British troops.
Spanish-American War
Conflict: 1898 clash between the U.S. and Spain, wherein the U.S. supported Cuban independence efforts.
Corvee Labor
Definition: Unpaid forced labor imposed by the government on lower-class individuals.
Spheres of Influence
Concept: Areas where external powers lay claim to exclusive investment or trading privileges.
Afrikaners
Definition: South Africans descended from Dutch and French settlers in the 17th century; established new colonies through the Great Trek.
Settler Colony
Definition: Colonialism aiming to replace the indigenous population with a new society of settlers, often supported by an imperial authority.
Suez Canal
Infrastructure: Man-made waterway, opened in 1869, linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea.
Tupac Amaru II
Historical Figure: Inca aristocrat who rebelled against Spanish authority in Peru (1780-1781), captured and executed along with family.
Muhammad Ahmad
Leader of Sudanic Sufi Brotherhood: Claimed descent from Prophet Muhammad; led a revolt against perceived infidel influences in Egypt and Britain, capturing Khartoum in 1883.
Asante Empire
Kingdom: African empire on the Gold Coast, engaged in the Atlantic economy by trading gold, slaves, and ivory; resisted British expansion for a quarter-century before being absorbed.
Zulu
Monarchy: A powerful kingdom in Southern Africa, extending along the Indian Ocean coast.
Pan-Africanism
Concept: Promotes the unity of all black Africans irrespective of national boundaries.
Sepoys
Definition: Indian troops serving in the British army.
Raj
Historical Period: British governance in India following the establishment of British Crown rule under Queen Victoria.
Guano
Definition: Bat and seabird droppings used as fertilizer, significant trade item for Peru in the late 19th century.
De Beers Mining Company
Business: Controlled up to 90% of global diamond production, founded by British Cecil Rhodes.
Monocultures
Definition: Lack of agricultural diversity.
Apartheid
Laws: Segregation laws in South Africa that physically separated different races into distinct geographic areas.
Treaty of Nanking
Treaty: Concluded the Opium War; imposed reparations on the Qing Empire and ceded Hong Kong to Britain, among other stipulations.
Opium Wars
Conflicts (1839-1842): Wars initiated by British aggression to maintain the opium trade in China, resulting in victories over the Chinese.
Economic Imperialism
Definition: When foreign business interests hold substantial economic power or influence over a region or country.
Banana Republics
Definition: Small Central American nations under foreign corporate economic influence, typically unstable politically and reliant on limited resource exports.
Mohandas Gandhi
Philosopher: Prominent Indian leader advocating for independence from Great Britain through non-violent civil disobedience.
Porfirio Diaz
Mexican President: Encouraged immigration and development in northern areas of Mexico bordering the U.S.
Chinese Exclusion Act
1882 Law: Legislation that prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the United States.
White Australia Policy
Policy: Intentionally limited non-white immigration to Australia.
Kangani System
Labor System: Replaced indentured servitude; engaged entire families for labor, with less restrictive conditions than indentured servants.