unit 1: Political Revolutions

John Locke

17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty, and property.

Jean- Jacques Rousseau

A French man who believed that Human beings are naturally good & free & can rely on their instincts. Government should exist to protect common good, and be a democracy

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.

Haitian Revolution

A major influece of the Latin American revolutions because of its successfulness; the only successful slave revolt in history; it is led by Toussaint L'Ouverture.

Voltaire

(1694-1778) French philosopher. He believed that freedom of speech was the best weapon against bad government. He also spoke out against the corruption of the French government, and the intolerance of the Catholic Church.

Great Fear

A wave of senseless panic that spread through the French countryside after the storming of the Bastille in 1789

estates general

An assembly of representatives from all three of the estates, or social classes, in France.

Mary Wollstonecraft

English writer and early feminist who denied male supremacy and advocated equal education for women

National Assembly

French Revolutionary assembly (1789-1791). Called first as the Estates General, the three estates came together and demanded radical change. It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.

seizure of the Bastille

July 14, 1789 working class people led an uprising over the cost of bread stormed the prison instigating fighting all over the countryside (The Great Fear) peasants attacked nobles and destroyed their homes; date is viewed as independence day in France

Napoleon Bonaparte

Overthrew the French revolutionary government (The Directory) in 1799 and became emperor of France in 1804. Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile.

French Revolution

The revolution that began in 1789, overthrew the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons and the system of aristocratic privileges, and ended with Napoleon's overthrow of the Directory and seizure of power in 1799.

American Revolution

This political revolution began with the Declaration of Independence in 1776 where American colonists sought to balance the power between government and the people and protect the rights of citizens in a democracy.

Toussaint L'Ouverture

Was an important leader of the Haïtian 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.

Napoleanic code

a comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napolean