AP World Unit 5 People

Peter the Great

(1672-1725) Russian tsar. He enthusiastically introduced Western languages and technologies to the Russian elite, moving the capital from Moscow to the new city of St. Petersburg.

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.

Rousseau

(1712-1778) Believed that society threatened natural rights and freedoms. Wrote about society's corruption caused by the revival of sciences and art instead of it's improvement. He was sponsored by the wealthy and participated in salons but often felt uncomfortable and denounced them. Wrote "The Social Contract."

Napoleon Bonaparte

(1769-1821) Consul and later emperor of France (1799-1815), who established several of the reforms (Code Napoleon) of the French Revolution during his dictatorial rule; Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815 but was defeated and died in exile.

Robert Owen

(1771-1858) British cotton manufacturer believed that humans would reveal their true natural goodness if they lived in a cooperative environment. Tested his theories at New Lanark, Scotland and New Harmony, Indiana, but failed

Simon Bolivar

(1783-1830) Leader for independence who defeated Spanish forces in South America, liberating Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

John Stuart Mill

(1806-1873)-British philosopher who published On Liberty (1859), advocating individual rights against government intrusion, and The Subjection of Women (1869), on the cause of women's rights; utilitarianism

Bismarck

(1815-1898) Prussian chancellor who engineered the unification of Germany under his rule. Delivers "blood and iron" speech.

Karl Marx (Marxism)

(1818-1883)-German philosopher who created the theory that class conflict is the motor force driving historical change and development; wanted government run by the workers of industries, believed in a classless society; "father of communism"

V.I. Lenin

(1870-1924) The Bolshevik leader who made the Marxist revolution in November 1917 and modified orthodox Marxism in doing so; communist

Adam Smith

(Scottish economist) in The Wealth of Nations, he created the concept of laissez-faire ( government should leave economy alone & free trade) & applied natural law to means of production & exchange (supply & demand); saw mercantilism as government interference in economy or free trade; believed that enlightened self-interest would create the best production & exchange for market conditions; government should only have 3 roles: protect society from invasion (army); defend citizens from injustice (police); & keep up public works (roads, canals, bridges) that private individuals could not afford to provide but that society needed

Miguel Hidalgo

- Mexican priest and revolutionary. Although the revolt he initiated (1810) against Spanish rule failed, he is regarded as a national hero in Mexico's struggle for independence from Spain; led peasants in call for independence & improved conditions

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 and that it was the government's duty to protect life liberty and property

Porfirio Diaz

A Mexican dictator who ruled from 1876 to 1910; permitted foriegn companies to develop natural resources and had allowed landowners to buy much of the countries land from poor peasants; disposed by the Mexican Revolution

Olympe de Gouges

A proponent of democracy, she demanded the same rights for French women that French men were demanding for themselves. In her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen (1791), she challenged the practice of male authority and the notion of male-female inequality. She lost her life to the guillotine due to her revolutionary ideas.

Muhammad Ali

Albanian soldier in the service of Turkey who was made viceroy of Egypt and took control away from the Ottoman Empire and established Egypt as a modern state (1769-1849)

Catherine the Great

An enlightened despot who ruled over Russia. She is responsible for many positive changes in Russia, as well as securing the country a warm water port.

Touissant Louverture

Black leader who was a freed slave and won control of Saint Dominique revolution

Cecil Rhodes

Born in 1853, played a major political and economic role in colonial South Africa. He was a financier, statesman, and empire builder with a philosophy of mystical imperialism; made a fortune in gold and diamond mining; helped colonize the territory now known as Zimbabwe

George McCartney

British man sent to China to secure trade and diplomatic representation; did not kowtow to the emperor

Hong Xiuquan

Chinese religious leader who sparked the Taiping Uprising and won millions to his unique form of Christianity, according to which he himself was the younger brother of Jesus, sent to establish a "heavenly kingdom of great peace" on earth

Captain Cook

English explorer who claimed Australia for Britain & discovered several Pacific islands (Hawaii); killed by native Hawaiins.

Emilio Aguinaldo

Filipino General - helped US take Philipines during Spanish-American war - helped Philippines gain freedom from US; leader in the fight for Filipino Independence

Elizabeth Caty Stanton

Fought for women's rights. Organized the National Woman's Suffrage & Seneca Falls Convention

King Leopold II

King of Belgium (r. 1865-1909). He was active in encouraging the exploration of Central Africa and became the ruler of the Congo Free State (to 1908); chopped off slaves arms

Tsar Nicholas II

Last Tsar (king) of Russia and then end of the Romanov line. Was executed along with the rest of his family under the order of Lenin.

Shaka Zulu

Leader of Zulu people, Around 1816 used highly disciplined warriors and good military organization to create a large centralized state. The Zulu land became part of British-controlled land in 1887.

Swami Vivekananda

Leading religious figure of nineteenth-century India (1863-1902); advocate of a revived Hinduism and its mission to reach out to the spiritually impoverished West.

Tupac Amaru

Mestizo leader of Indian revolt in Peru; supported by many in the lower social classes; revolt failed because of creole fears of real social revolution.

Selim III

Ottoman sultan who attempted significant reforms of his empire, including the implementation of new military and administrative structures; toppled by janissaries in 1807

Edward Blyden

Prominent West African scholar and political leader (1832-1912) who argued that each civilization, including that of Africa, has its own unique contribution to make to the world.

Jose Morelos

Revolutionary who would pick up where Hidalgo left off, whose landowning class of people would turn against him, he himself being executed in 1815.

Maximillien Robespierre

Young provincial lawyer who led the most radical phases of the French Revolution. His execution ended the Reign of Terror.

Baron de Montesqieu

a french political thinker during the enlightenment who came up with the idea of checks and balances and the separation of powers so that no on branch would have more power than another

Queen Lili'uokalani

last queen of Hawaii; reigned 1891-1893; this queen was overthrown in 1893 by a group of planters and business people who invited US to annex Hawaii (Grover Cleveland opposed it; finally done by William McKinley in 1898)

Admiral Matthew Perry

went into Japan with 4 large ships with canons that astounded the Japanese, and brought a letter from president Fillmore asking to allow free trade with the U.S., gave this letter as if it was a threat

Mary Wollstone Craft

writer, philosopher and feminist, wrote something on womens rights and stated how women are not inferior to men, but rather they just lack an education