Final Exam Study Guide

Jefferson's Natural Rights

"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," where the natural right included by Thomas Jefferson into the Declaration of Independence.

Congress of Vienna

(1814-1815 CE) Meeting of representatives of European monarchs called to reestablish the old order after the defeat of Napoleon.

Crimean War

(1853-1856) Russian war against Ottomans for control of the Black Sea; intervention by Britain and France cause Russia to lose; Russians realize need to industrialize.

Sepoy Mutiny

(1857) Hindus and Muslim sepoys refused to open cartridges that came in paper waxed with animal fat for religious reasons; killed British officers, and proclaimed restoration of the Mughal authority; had different interests, and were crushed by the British.

Berlin Conference

(1884-1885) During European Imperialism, various European leaders met in Berlin, Germany to discuss plans for dividing Africa peacefully. These leaders had little regard for African independence, and had no representation for native Africans. This began the process of imperializing Africa.

Boer

(1899-1902) War between Great Britain and the Boers in South Africa over control of rich mining country. Great Britain won and created the Union of South Africa comprised of all the South African colonies.

Locke's Natural Rights

17th-century English philosopher John Locke discussed natural rights in his work, identifying them as being "life, liberty, and estate (property)", and argued that such fundamental rights could not be surrendered in the social contract.

Enlightenment

A European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition.

Legislative Assembly

A French congress with the power to create laws and approve declarations of war, established by the constitution of 1791.

Monotheistic

A belief in one god. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all monotheistic religions.

Natural Laws

A body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct.

Suez Canal

A canal linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It was a vital trade route in the British Empire during imperialism, and continues to link North Africa and Europe to Asia today.

Legitimacy

A characterization of elections by political scientists meaning that they are almost universally accepted as a fair and free method of selecting political leaders.

Estate

A class or order regarded as forming part of the body politic, in particular (in Britain), one of the three groups constituting Parliament.

Napoleonic Code

A comprehensive and uniform system of laws established for France by Napoleon

Peninsular War

A conflict, lasting from 1808 to 1813, in which Spanish Rebels, with the aid of British forces, fought to drive Napoleons French troops out of Spain.

Plebiscite

A direct vote in which a country's people have the opportunity to approve or reject a proposal.

Magna Carta

A document constituting a fundamental guarantee of rights and privileges.

Monarchy

A form of government with a monarch at the head.

Civil Disobedience

A form of political participation that reflects a conscious decision to break a law believed to be immoral and to suffer the consequences.

Holy Alliance

A league of European nations formed by the leaders of Russia, Austria, and Prussia after the Congress of Vienna.

Citizens

A legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either native or naturalized.

Guillotine

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

Protestants

A member or follower of any of the Western Christian churches that are separate from the Roman Catholic Church and follow the principles of the Reformation, including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches.

Scientific Method

A method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.

Prophets

A person regarded as an inspired teacher or pro-claimer of the will of God.

Imperialism

A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically.

Concert of Europe

A series of alliances among European nations in the 19th century, devised by Prince Klemens von Metternich to prevent the outbreak of revolutions.

Social Darwinism

A social theory which states that the level a person rises to in society and wealth is determined by their genetic background. "Survival of the fittest"

Republic

A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

Laws of Motion

A statement in dynamics: a body at rest remains at rest and a body in motion remains in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force.

Coup d' Etat

A sudden seizure of political power in a nation.

Blockade

A war measure that isolates some area of importance to the enemy.

Assimilation

According to Piaget, the process by which new ideas and experiences are absorbed and incorporated into existing mental structures and behaviors.

Concordat

Agreement between Pope and Napoleon: Napoleon recognized Catholocism as the religion of the majority of France, Pope does not ask for any land back seized during the Revolution

Triple Alliance

Alliance among Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy at the end of the 19th century; part of European alliance system and balance of power prior to World War I.

Battle of Trafalgar

An 1805 naval battle in which Napoleon's forces were defeated by a British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson.

Sepoy

An Indian soldier serving under British or other European orders.

Separation of Powers

An act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government in separate bodies.

Hobbes' Social Contract

An agreement, entered into by individuals, that results in the formation of the state or of organized society, the prime motive being the desire for protection, which entails the surrender of some or all personal liberties.

Machine Gun

An automatic gun that fires bullets in rapid succession for as long as the trigger is pressed.

Representative Government

An electoral system where citizens vote to elect people in an assembly to represent their interests and concerns.

Salon

An establishment where a hairdresser, beautician, or couturier conducts business.

Social Contract

An implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection.

Barometer

An instrument measuring atmospheric pressure, used especially in forecasting the weather and determining altitude.

Microscope

An optical instrument used for viewing very small objects, such as mineral samples or animal or plant cells, typically magnified several hundred times.

Racism

Belief that one racial group is superior to another.

Jewel in the Crown

British colony of India - so called because of its importance in the British Empire, both as supplier of raw materials and as a market for British trade goods - most valuable of all of Britain's colonies.

Raj

British sovereignty in India.

Constitutional Monarchy

Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a king or queen acts as Head of State.

Checks and Balances

Counterbalancing influences by which an organization or system is regulated, typically those ensuring that political power is not concentrated in the hands of individuals or groups.

Scorched Earth Policy

Destroying crops and livestock so that one's enemy has nothing to use for food as they invade. Used by the Russians when Napoleon invaded in 1812.

Direct Democracy

Direct democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide policy initiatives directly.

Balance of Power

Distribution of military and economic power that prevents any one nation from becoming too strong.

Menelik II

Emperor of Ethiopia who played Italians, British, and French against each other while buying weapons from France and Russia. In the Battle of Adowa, Ethiopian forces successfully defeated the Italians and maintained their independence.

Enlightened Despot

Enlightened Despot is a form of absolute monarchy or despotism inspired by the Enlightenment. Enlightened monarchs especially embraced its emphasis upon rationality.

Committee of Public Safety

Established and led by Robespierre, fixed bread prices and nationalized some businesses, basically secret police. Also controlled the war effort. Instigated the Reign of Terror.

Due Process of Law

Fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a citizen's entitlement.

Lycee

French government-run public schools.

Torah

In Judaism, the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures (the Pentateuch).

Heliocentric Theory

In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus presented a full discussion of a heliocentric model of the universe in much the same way as Ptolemy's Almagest had presented his geocentric model in the 2nd century.

Gandhi

Indian nationalist and spiritual leader who developed the practice of nonviolent disobedience that forced Great Britain to grant independence to India (1947). He was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic.

Mustafa Kemal

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was a Turkish army officer, revolutionary, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey.

Continental System

Napoleon's policy of preventing trade between Great Britain and continental Europe, intended to destroy Great Britain's economy.

Federal System

Pertaining to or of the nature of a union of states under a central government distinct from the individual governments of the separate states.

Old Regime

Political and social system of France prior to the French Revolution. Under the regime, everyone was a subject of the king of France as well as a member of an estate and province.

Geo Politics

Politics, especially international relations, as influenced by geographical factors.

Pacific Rim

Region including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan; typified by rapid growth rates, expanding exports, and industrialization; either Chinese or strongly influenced by Confucian values; considerable reliance on government planning and direction, limitations on dissent and instability.

Representative Democracy

Representative democracy is a variety of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to direct democracy.

Natural Rights

Rights that people supposedly have under natural law. The Declaration of Independence of the United States lists life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as natural rights.

American Revolution

The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783 during which rebel colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain, and founded the United States of America.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, passed by France's National Constituent Assembly in August 1789, is a fundamental document of the French Revolution and in the history of human rights.

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution was the last genuine revolution in Britain.

Great Fear

The Great Fear was a general panic that occurred between 17 July and 3 August 1789 at the start of the French Revolution.

Hijrah

The Hijrah is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in June 622 CE.

Koran

The Islamic sacred book, believed to be the word of God as dictated to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel and written down in Arabic.

Petition of Right

The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing.

Senate (Roman)

The Roman Senate was a political institution in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city (traditionally founded in 753 BC).

Tennis Court Oath

The Tennis Court Oath was a pledge signed by 576 of the 577 members from the Third Estate who were locked out of a meeting of the Estates-General on 20 June 1789.

United Nations

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization established 24 October 1945 to promote international co-operation.

Annexation

The action of annexing something, especially territory.

Reformation

The action or process of reforming an institution or practice.

Roman Catholic Church

The branch of Christianity headed by the pope. The Roman Catholic Church is governed by a hierarchy with the pope at the top and, at the lower levels, bishops and priests.

Ten Commandments

The commandments engraved on stone tablets and given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. These commandments are the heart of the divine law in the Old Testament.

Divine Right

The doctrine that kings and queens have a God-given right to rule and that rebellion against them is a sin.

National Assembly

The elected legislature in France during the first part of the French Revolution, 1789-91.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, ratified in 1791 and guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship.

Declaration of Independence

The fundamental document establishing the United States as a nation, adopted on July 4, 1776. The declaration was ordered and approved by the Continental Congress and written largely by Thomas Jefferson.

Aristocracy

The highest class in certain societies, especially those holding hereditary titles or offices.

Parliament

The highest legislature, consisting of the sovereign, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons.

Law of the Pendulum

The law of the pendulum, discovered by Galileo Galilei, states that swinging objects follow the same path and have a period between swings that remains constant.

Estates-General

The legislative body in France until 1789, representing the three estates of the realm (i.e., the clergy, the nobility, and the commons).

Judaism

The monotheistic religion of the Jews.

Common Law

The part of English law that is derived from custom and judicial precedent rather than statutes. Often contrasted with statutory law.

Paternalism

The policy or practice of treating or governing people in the manner of a father dealing with his children.

Christianity

The religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices.

French Revolution

The revolution began in 1789, after King Louis xvi had convened the French parliament to deal with an enormous national debt.

Scientific Revolution

The scientific revolution was the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry transformed views of society and nature.

Socratic Method

The use of questions, as employed by Socrates, to develop a latent idea, as in the mind of a pupil, or to elicit admissions, as from an opponent, tending to establish a proposition.

Guerilla

Type of fighting in which soldiers use swift hit-and-run attacks against the enemy.