Philosophers/Scientific Revolution
The scientist who formulated the laws of gravity and motion
Issac Newton
A rapid change in political power or government typically aimed at significantly changing its society
revolution
Americans who wanted independence from the British empire
Patriots
The leader of France before the French Revolution
King Louis XVI
A French military officer who seized power and became emperor of the French Empire
Napoleon
The philosopher who argued that everyone was born with basic liberties, such as the right to life, liberty, and property
John Locke
socio-political system in Europe before the Enlightenment
feudalism
The document that explained the reasons for separation between the United States and Great Britain
Declaration of Independence
Pre-revolutionary French governmental system with a hierarchy of clergy, nobility, and commoners
Estates General
The religious institution that was attacked by the French revolutionaries, especially the radical Jacobins
Catholic Church
heliocentrism
An agreement between people in a society to give up freedoms in exchange for protection or safety
social contract
the killing of five Americans in 1770 that enraged the public and increased Patriot support for protests against Great Britain
Boston Massacre
The machine of execution during the French Revolution
guillotine
Type of political system where a king rules over government, but is restricted by a constitution
constitutional monarchy
The philosopher who believed in absolute monarchy and the need for people to give up freedoms in exchange for safety
Thomas Hobbes
A description of how humans behave without government or law
state of nature
The cause of extreme debt for the British Empire and the reason why Great Britain began taxing the American colonies
Seven Years War
The fortress that served as a symbol for royal tyranny that was stormed during the beginning of the French Revolution
Bastille
The period that ended the Reign of Terror, where power shifted from the radical Jacobins to a more conservative government
Thermidorian Reaction
The philosopher who developed the concept of separation of powers in government
Montesquieu
Universal freedoms that ought to be guaranteed to everyone from birth
natural rights
slogan that Patriots used to demonstrate how their natural rights were being violated
no taxation without representation
A period of extreme violence and repression led by Maximilien Robespierre to eliminate political enemies of the Revolution, such as nobles and royalists
Reign of Terror
Congress of Vienna