Enlightenment
This English philosopher argued that all human beings are born with natural rights, specifically life, liberty, and property.
Who is John Locke?
Written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, this foundational text heavily relied on John Locke’s theory of natural rights to justify severing ties with Great Britain.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
Facing national bankruptcy in May 1789, Louis XVI summoned this representative body for the first time in 175 years, setting the revolution in motion.
What is the Estates-General?
Wealthy Creoles in Latin America drew courage to challenge colonial rule after witnessing the successful outcomes of these two 18th-century Atlantic revolutions.
What are the American and French Revolutions?
Known as "The Liberator," this military general led independence forces across present-day Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
Who is Simón Bolívar?
Enlightenment thinkers rejected this centuries-old political theory, which claimed monarchs answered only to God rather than to the people they ruled.
What is the divine right of kings?
American colonists protested acts of Parliament under the slogan "No taxation without representation," asserting that British rule violated this core Enlightenment requirement for government authority.
What is the consent of the governed?
Making up roughly 97% of the French population, this social class carried the heavy burden of national taxes while holding virtually no political authority.
Following a bloody thirteen-year struggle against French imperial forces, this nation declared independence in 1804, becoming the world's first free Black republic.
What is Haiti?
This commander-in-chief of the Continental Army unified military forces during the American Revolutionary War and established key precedents as his nation's first executive head.
Who is George Washington?
This French philosopher used sharp wit to criticize fanatical dogma and champion freedom of speech and religious tolerance against the power of religious authorities.
Who is Voltaire?
Drafted in 1787, this framework established a constitutional republic featuring a system of checks and balances inspired by Montesquieu's political writings.
What is the United States Constitution?
The storming of the Bastille and the execution of King Louis XVI marked the collapse of this long-standing form of government in France.
What is the absolute monarchy?
Positioned at the top of Spanish colonial society, these European-born officials held all major administrative offices, sparking deep resentment among American-born Creoles.
Who are Peninsulares?
A former enslaved person turned self-taught military strategist, he organized Haitian resistance against French forces until his arrest in 1802.
Who is Toussaint Louverture?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau expanded on this political concept, asserting that a legitimate government derives its authority from an implicit agreement with the governed to uphold the general will.
What is a social contract?
Added to the U.S. Constitution in 1791, these first ten amendments protected individual liberties such as freedom of speech, assembly, and religious practice from federal overreach.
What is the Bill of Rights?
After being locked out of their official meeting room in 1789, representatives of the Third Estate gathered on a nearby court and swore this pledge to draft a new French constitution.
What is the Tennis Court Oath?
In the Spanish colonial social hierarchy, this term specifically identified individuals born of mixed European and Indigenous American lineage.
Who are Mestizos?
This radical Jacobin leader directed the Committee of Public Safety during France's Reign of Terror, attempting to purge all internal enemies of the new republic.
Who is Maximilien Robespierre?
In On Crimes and Punishments, this Italian reformer argued against torture and capital punishment, calling for fair legal procedures that limited government overreach.
Who is Cesare Beccaria?
The successful implementation of an Enlightenment-based republic in America provided inspiration and a practical model for revolutionaries in this European nation in 1789.
What is France?
In October 1789, thousands of Parisian women marched to this royal palace demanding bread and forcing King Louis XVI and his family to relocate to Paris.
What is Versailles?
In Spanish and Portuguese colonies, this term designated individuals of mixed European and African descent.
Who are Mulattos?
This Argentine general and military strategist teamed up with Simón Bolívar, liberating Argentina, Chile, and Peru from Spanish imperial forces.
Who is José de San Martín?