Ming, Qing, and Tokugawa
Who were the warrior class who served daimyo and followed a strict code of honor in feudal Japan?
Samurai
What Enlightenment thinker wrote The Social Contract and believed people were born with natural rights to life, liberty, and property?
John Locke
What is absolutism?
A system where a ruler holds total power, often justified by the belief in divine right (that their authority comes directly from God).
What document, written in 1776, announced the American colonies’ break from Britain?
The Declaration of Independence
What was Napoleon’s set of civil laws that promoted equality under the law?
The Napoleonic Code
Which powerful Japanese landowners controlled local regions and commanded the loyalty of samurai?
Daimyo
What is the idea of a social contract according to Jean-Jacques Rousseau?
The belief that governments get their power from the consent of the governed, and people agree to follow laws in exchange for protection of their rights.
What magnificent palace did Louis XIV build as a symbol of his power and control over France?
Palace of Versailles
Who led enslaved Africans in Haiti in a successful revolution against France?
Toussaint L’Ouverture
What title did Napoleon take after overthrowing the French Directory in 1799?
First Consul (later crowned Emperor).
What Tokugawa policy required daimyo to spend every other year in Edo to ensure loyalty to the shogun?
Alternate Attendance Policy
What freedoms did Voltaire believe were essential to a free society?
Freedom of speech, religion, and thought.
How did Tsar Peter the Great attempt to modernize Russia?
He westernized Russia by modernizing the military, building a navy, adopting Western dress, and creating a new capital at St. Petersburg.
What French social class bore the most taxes and sparked the Revolution of 1789?
The Third Estate (commoners)
What Russian strategy factor played a major role in Napoleon’s defeat during his invasion of Russia?
Scorched earth.
How did Confucianism and the civil service exam shape Qing China’s society and government?
Confucianism emphasized hierarchy, duty, and education; the civil service exam ensured government jobs were based on merit and reinforced the power of the scholar-gentry.
How did Enlightenment ideas challenge the authority of absolute monarchs in Europe?
They questioned divine right, emphasized reason and equality, and encouraged people to demand limited government and individual rights.
Compare the leadership styles of Louis XIV and Peter the Great.
Both centralized power and limited the nobility. Louis XIV used wealth and pageantry to control nobles; Peter used reforms and force to modernize Russia.
What were the main goals of Simón Bolívar during the Latin American revolutions?
To gain independence from Spain and unite Latin American territories under self-rule and republican government.
What was the purpose of the Congress of Vienna after Napoleon’s defeat?
To restore monarchies, redraw European borders, and maintain a balance of power to prevent future wars.
How did isolationism under the Tokugawa Shogunate and Qing Dynasty eventually weaken them by the 19th century?
Their isolation from trade and technology caused them to fall behind Western powers, making them vulnerable to imperialism.
In what ways did Enlightenment ideals inspire revolutions in America, France, and Latin America?
Ideas of liberty, equality, and democracy inspired movements to replace monarchies with governments based on natural rights and popular sovereignty.
Why might absolutism have been both beneficial and harmful to European societies?
It brought stability and order, but limited individual freedoms and overburdened lower classes, leading to unrest and revolution.
How did the Reign of Terror both promote and betray the ideals of the French Revolution?
It defended equality and liberty by removing enemies, but used fear, violence, and mass executions, betraying the ideals of freedom and justice.
How did the Napoleonic Code and Napoleon’s empire spread Enlightenment ideas across Europe?
It spread secular law, legal equality, and merit-based advancement, influencing European constitutions long after his fall.