Big Ideas
This was a social, political, and intellectual movement that was extremely influential to the revolutions in France, Haiti, and Latin America. Its most important thinkers included John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Baron de Montesquieu.
What is the Enlightenment?
He was the King of France before the Revolution, a bad ruler whose hesitation and indecisiveness led to the end of the monarchy and the execution of him and his wife.
Who is King Louis XVI?
This machine was used to execute tens of thousands of people during the Revolution, including the King and Queen. It was seen as an instrument of equality, because everyone died the same way.
What is the guillotine?
This empire colonized Haiti, and called it Saint-Domingue, until the island declared independence in 1804.
What is France?
This empire colonized South and Central America, as well as Mexico, until wars brought independence in the 1810s, 20s, and 30s.
What is Spain?
John Locke came up with this idea, that governments should protect things like people's life, liberty, and property.
What is natural rights?
Under the Ancien Régime, there was a rigid system of social classes. The three "estates" were the clergy, the nobility, and this group.
Who is everyone else?
This was the bloodiest period of the French Revolution, spanning September 1793 to July 1794.
What is the Reign of Terror?
He was a major leader during the Haitian Revolution and helped lead the country to independence. He was captured in 1801 and died in a French prison.
Who is Toussaint Louverture?
He was a major leader during the Latin American Wars of Independence, although his dreams of unifying all of South America ultimately failed.
Who is Simón Bolívar?
John Locke came up with this idea, that the power of the government comes from the people, and that the people have the right to overthrow a government that abuses its power.
What is consent of the governed?
DAILY DOUBLE: When bread prices soared and the King sent soldiers to keep order, the people of Paris panicked and stormed this prison and fortress, a symbol of royal tyranny. It was the first violent act of the Revolution.
What is the Bastille?
He was the radical leader of France, ruling as almost a dictator, until his execution in 1794.
Who is Maximilien Robespierre?
This set of laws allowed brutal and extreme punishments against enslaved people in Haiti, and enforced a rigid racial hierarchy.
What is the Code Noir?
The Latin American Wars of Independence were kicked off when this leader of France invaded Spain and deposed their king.
Who is Napoleon Bonaparte?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau came up with this idea, that people agree to give up some of their rights in exchange for protection from a government.
What is the social contract?
When violence broke out in Paris, the members of the National Assembly felt pressured to write this major document, redefining the relationship between the government and its citizens.
What is the Declaration of the Rights of Man?
In order to defend France from its enemies, foreign and domestic, the National Convention created this new group of 12 people. It was soon taken over by radical revolutionaries, who took extreme measures to defend the republic.
What is the Committee of Public Safety?
These large farms grew sugar and coffee, used enslaved labor, and were mostly owned by the wealthy French whites.
What is a plantation?
The casta system was a loose social and racial hierarchy in the Latin American colonies that caused inequality. The peninsulares were at the top, followed by this group (people of European descent born in the Americas), who later became the leaders of the wars of independence.
Who are the creoles?
Baron de Montesquieu came up with this idea, that governments should be split into multiple bodies so that no one part of the government can become too powerful.
What is the separation of powers?
When the members of the third estate declared themselves the true representatives of the French people, they created a new governing body that they named this. When this news reached Paris, it set off a democratic passion that soon led to violence.
What is the National Assembly?
This was the short-lived united country of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. Some people wanted it to expand to cover all of South America, but it collapsed in 1831.
What is Gran Colombia?