Chapter 17 - Revolution and Enlightenment

Isaac Newton

discoverer of the laws of gravitation; furthered the idea of a heliocentric universe

Catherine the Great

Russian Tsar who was intelligent and familiar with the works of the enlightenment philosophes; invited Diderot to come and help her make changes, but would never implement his "impractical" ideas.

George Frederick Handel

Baroque German composer who spent much of his life in England; best known for his Messiah, a masterpiece even in today's world

Franz Joseph Haydn

Classical Hungarian composer who performed public concerts rather than for private patrons

10 Amendments

Freedom of religion Freedom of speech Freedom of press Freedom of petition Freedom of assembly Protected against unreasonable searches Protected against unreasonable arrests Guaranteed a trial by jury Guaranteed the due process of law Guaranteed the protection of property

Montesquieu

French philosophe who tried to used the scientific method to find the natural laws that govern the social and political relationships of human beings

United Kingdom of Great Britain

The union of England and Scotland in 1707

Johann Sebastian Bach

a Baroque German composer with the reputation of being one of the greatest composers of all time

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

a Classical child prodigy; while he did not make an impact in the classical music world, three of his operas are considered to be the world's greatest operas

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

a French philosophe who championed the ideas of the social contract and the tie between emotions and education

philosophe

a French word meaning "philosopher"; these people would greatly influence European thought in the 18th and 19th centuries.

federal system

a governmental system in which power is shared between the national government and the state governments

Galileo Galilei

a mathematics teacher who contradicted the popular geocentric theory of the universe; was ordered by the Catholic Church to recant because of the "unChristian" nature of his claims

Cesare Baccaria

a philosophe who argued that punishments should not be exercises in brutality; also argued to abolish capital punishment

Denis Diderot

a philosophe whose 28-volume collection attempted to "change the general way of thinking" in Europe; his philosophies were greatly influential in many social, legal, and political realms.

laissez-faire

a philosopher developed by Adam Smith that wanted "to let (people) do )what they want)"; used in reference to the idea that the government should not interrupt the free play of natural economic forces by imposing government regulations on the economy.

enlightened absolutism

a political system in which rulers tried to govern by Enlightenment principles while maintaining their royal powers

geocentric system

a scientific theory which states that Earth is at the center of the universe; developed by Ptolemy

heliocentric

a scientific theory which states that the sun is in the center of the universe.

rationalism

a system of thought based on the belief that reason is the chief source of knowledge

scientific method

a systematic procedure for collecting and analyzing evidence.

Ptolemaic system

a theory that the universe is a series of concentric spheres with Earth fixed in the middle; the moon, sun, and stars are embedded in the crystal-like spheres.

Voltaire

a very influential critic of Christianity and preached religious toleration; championed the philosophy of deism

deism

an 18th century religious philosophy based on reason and natural law; built on the idea of the Newtonian world-machine in which God is like a great clock-maker who built the world, wound it, and now has simply let it run according to it's own machinery or natural laws.

John Wesley

an Anglican minster who appealed to lower classes by giving them a sense of belonging and community by encouraging good works.

Francis Bacon

an English philosopher who believed that instead of relying on the ideas of ancient authorities, scientists should use inductive reasoning to learn about nature.

John Locke

an English philosopher whose theory of knowledge stated that everyone was born with a tabula rasa, or "blank slate"; this theory moved forward the idea that if people could change an environment, people would change

Stamp Act

an act passed by Parliament that required that certain printed materials carry a stamp showing that a tax had been paid to Britain

rococo

an artistic style which emphasized grace, charm, and gentle action

separation of powers

an idea proposed by Montesquieu that the three branches of government were held in a system of checks and balances to prevent any one person or group from gaining too much power

Nicholas Copernicus

believed the geocentric system was too complicated and proposed a heliocentric theory of planetary motion

universal law of gravitation

every object in the universe is attracted to every other object by a force called gravity.

Maria Winkelmann

female German astronomer who discovered a comet; was not allowed to teach at a university because she did not hold an advanced degree

René Descartes

founder of rationalism; a philosopher who emphasized the importance of his own mind and asserted that he would accept only those things that his reason said were true; famously said, "I think, therefore I am."

Margaret Cavendish

influential woman scientist who proposed the belief that humans, through science, were the masters of nature.

mestizos

name for offspring of Europeans and Native Americans

Mulattoes

name of offspring of Africans and Europeans

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz

one of Latin America's best known literary figures who championed the rights of women in the New World

Robert Walpole

prime minister under Hanoverian rule who pursued a peaceful foreign policy; was eventually ousted because the middle class wanted an aggressive trade system with the colonies

Joseph II

successor to Maria Theresa; very open to enlightenment ideas but failed miserably when he lost control of his country on account of those ideas

Articles of Confederation

the American nation's first constitution

salon

the elegant drawing rooms of the wealthy upper class's great urban houses

Robert Boyle

the first scientist to use controlled experiments; pioneered work with gasses

Mary Wollstonecraft

the founder of the modern European an dAmerican movement for women's rights

social contract

the idea that an entire society agrees to be governed by its general will. Individuals who wish instead to follow their own self-interests must be forced to abide by the general will.

inductive reasoning

the method of thought which proceeds from the particular to the general.

Hanoverians

the new line of English kings following the Stuart dynasty; were German (Hanover region)

Maria Theresa

Austrian empress who worked to centralize the Austrian government; was not open at all to the enlightenment ideas

Ptolemy

Greek scientist who developed geocentric theories on the universe

Three Branches of the Government

Legislative Judicial Executive

Frederick the Great

Prussian king who was one of the best educated and most cultured monarchs in the 18th century; tried to make enlightened reforms, but only in a limited way