Enlightenment & Causes
The intellectual movement whose ideas about rights and government helped spark political revolutions.
What is the Enlightenment?
He argued that people are born with rights such as life, liberty, and property.
Who is John Locke?
Conflict from 1775–1783 when colonists fought to end British rule and form a new nation.
What is the American Revolution?
The military leader who ended the French revolutionary government and later became emperor.
Who is Napoleon Bonaparte?
Leader known for leading independence movements across northern South America and influenced by U.S./French revolutions.
Who is Simón Bolívar?
One major cause of 18th–19th century revolutions: resentment over taxes and lack of representation in colonial governments.
What is taxation without representation?
Wrote about separation of powers to prevent abuse of government authority.
Who is Montesquieu?
1789 event where citizens overthrew an absolute monarch, beginning with the Estates General and National Assembly.
What is the French Revolution?
The set of legal reforms enacted under Napoleon that influenced law across Europe.
What is the Napoleonic Code?
The successful slave revolt (1791–1804) that created the first independent Black republic in the Americas.
What is the Haitian Revolution?
The Renaissance influence that emphasized human worth and led thinkers to question traditional authority.
What is humanism?
Argued for strong central authority in response to human selfishness (Leviathan).
Who is Thomas Hobbes?
The list of grievances and rights drafted in 1776 that helped justify the American Revolution.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
One major effect of the Napoleonic Wars on Europe: spread of revolutionary ideas and nationalism.
What is the spread of nationalism and legal/reformist principles?
One common goal of Latin American independence movements inspired by Enlightenment ideas.
What is establishing republican governments or asserting popular sovereignty?
The belief that rulers derive authority from the consent of the governed rather than divine right.
What is popular sovereignty?
Championed civil liberties and criticized religious intolerance and censorship.
Who is Voltaire?
This 1789 French document proclaimed citizens’ rights and reflected Enlightenment ideals.
What is the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen?
How did Napoleon’s actions weaken colonial control and indirectly affect Latin America?
Distracted/weakened Spain and Portugal, creating opportunities for independence movements.
How did leaders like Bolívar adapt Enlightenment ideas to local Latin American conditions?
Appealed to creole elites, emphasized independence and republicanism, sought regional unity while acknowledging local social structures.
The political theory that people agree to form governments for mutual benefit, used to justify revolution against unjust rulers.
What is the social contract theory?
Argued political authority should reflect the general will of the people.
Who is Jean‑Jacques Rousseau?
The radical phase of the French Revolution (circa 1793) characterized by mass executions and political purges.
What is the Reign of Terror?
Describe briefly how the Napoleonic era changed the political map of Europe.
Redrawn borders, collapse or weakening of old regimes, rise of nationalism and new state structures.
Explain: Why did the Napoleonic Wars accelerate independence movements in Latin America?
European powers weakened/disrupted, colonial administrations destabilized, creole leaders seized chance to declare independence, Enlightenment ideals provided ideological justification.