World History Midterm Spring 2024

Absolute Monarchy

• A government in which a constitution has authority to place clearly recognized limits on the powers of those who govern.
• Concept of government developed during the rise of nation-states in Western Europe during the 17th century that featured hereditary monarchs who passed laws without parliaments, appointed professionalized armies and bureaucracies, established state churches, and imposed state economic policies with no government interference.
• Reforming leader who tried to modernize Ethiopia, allowing it to avoid colonial takeover..
• A political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned, and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Divine Right

• The belief that a ruler's authority comes directly from God.
• The colonial territory characterized by exploitative practices including forced labor, resource extraction, and harsh repression, leaving a lasting legacy of economic, social, and political challenges for the region.
• A policy in which a strong nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically.
• Scottish economist whose most famous work, The Wealth of Nations, forms the basis of economics and whose ideas about free markets, division of labor, trade, and government are still important today.

Limited Monarchy

• A government in which a constitution or legislative body limits the monarch's powers.
• English philosopher who advocated absolute monarchy as the only kind of government that could resolve problems caused by the selfishness of human beings.
• Writers during the Enlightenment and who popularized the new ideas of the time.
• A person who organizes, manages, and takes on the risks of a business.

Constitutional Government

• Overthrew the French Directory and crowned himself emperor; made many revolutionary changes that still exist in Europe but eventually died in exile.
• A government in which a constitution has authority to place clearly recognized limits on the powers of those who govern.
• Policy that government should interfere as little as possible in the nation's economy.
• Term given for the rapid invasion of Africa by the various European powers.

Social Contract

• A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.
• The middle class: factory owners who put long hours and much of their profits into their businesses.
• Philosopher and economist, who is renowned for his influential critiques of capitalism and advocacy for a classless society, inspiring movements toward socialism and communism globally.
• A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country.

Natural Rights

• The restricting of access to ideas and information.
• French philosopher who 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.
• The idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property.
• The movement of people from rural areas to cities.

Philosophe

• Writers during the Enlightenment and who popularized the new ideas of the time.
• A government in which a constitution has authority to place clearly recognized limits on the powers of those who govern.
• Scottish economist whose most famous work, The Wealth of Nations, forms the basis of economics and whose ideas about free markets, division of labor, trade, and government are still important today.
• The period in France where Robespierre ruled and used revolutionary power to solidify control by trying rebels and executing them for "disloyalty".

Laissez Faire

• Policy that government should interfere as little as possible in the nation's economy.
• Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production.
• France's traditional national assembly with representatives of the three classes in French society: the clergy, nobility, and commoners.
• Inventor of the spinning jenny, a machine that could spin up to 16 yarns at a time.

Censorship

• Belgian king who opened up the African interior to European trade along the Congo River and by 1884 controlled the area known as the Congo Free State but was most infamous for the brutalities against the Congolese.
• A pledge made by the members of France's National Assembly in which they vowed to continue meeting until they had drawn up a new constitution..
• Money for investment; one of the advantages Britain had in the Industrial Revolution.
• The restricting of access to ideas and information.

Salons

• An organization of workers that tries to improve working conditions, wages, and benefits for its members.
• Inventor and entrepreneur who became the wealthiest and most successful textile manufacturer of the first Industrial Revolution by inventing the water frame, a machine that, with minimal human supervision, could spin several threads at once.
• The idea that the goal of society should be to bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
• Informal social gatherings at which writers, artists, philosophes, and others exchanged ideas.