French Revolution
1789-1815
Napoleonic Wars
1804-1815
Water frame and steam engine
1769
Factory Act
1833
US Civil War
1861-1865
Mexican movement for independence
1810-1823
Revolutions for independence in Spanish South America
1808-1809
Britain abolishes slavery
1807
East India Company rule of Bengal begins
1765
Sepoy Rebellion
1857-1858
First Indian National Congress
1885
Crimean War
1853-1856
Russian Emancipation of serfs
1861
Opium War
1839-1842
Taiping Rebellion
1851-1864
Unification of Italy
1860-1870
Unification of Germany
1871
Meiji Restoration begins
1868
Russo-Japanese War
1904-1905
Suez Canal opens
1869
Berlin Conference
1884-1885
Spanish American War
1898-1899
Joseph Brant
Mohawk leader who supported the British during the American Revolution
Benjamin Franklin
printer whose success as an author led him to take up politics. He drew up the Declaration and Constitution and negotiated with the French.
Declaration of Independence
signed in 1776, constituted by Thomas Jefferson, document that defies British rule for American independence.
Constitutional Convention
meeting in 1787 of the elected representatives of the 13 original states to write the Constitution of the United States
Jacobins
radical republicans during the French Revolution- they were led by Maximilien Robespierre from 1793-1794.
Maximilien Robespierre
(1758-1794) Young provincial lawyer who led the most radical phases of the French Revolution; His execution ends the Reign of Terror.
gens de coleur
Free men and women of color in Haiti. They sought greater political rights and later supported the Haitian revolution.
James Madison
4th president of the United States and a strict constructionist, he leads the nation through the War of 1812, considered to be the Father of the Constitution
bourgeoisie
in early modern Europe, the class of well-off town dwellers whose wealth came from manufacturing, finance, commerce, and allied professions
Estates General
France's traditional national assembly with representatives of the 3 estates or classes in French society: the clergy, nobility, and commoners. The calling of them led to the French Revolution in 1789.
Declaration of the Rights of Man
1789; statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution
Committee for Public Safety
jacobins who were led by Robespierre; they sought to execute anyone in France who were being accused of treason during the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
the historic period during the French Revolution when thousands were executed through the use of revolutionary tension to solidify the home front
The Directory
In which the National Convention drafted a new constitution calling for a 2 house legislature, and an executive body of 5 men
Congress of Vienna
1814-1515; the meeting of representatives of European monarchs called to reestablish the old order after the defeat of Napoleon I.
Revolutions of 1848
Democratic and nationalist revolutions that swept across Europe. The monarchy in France was overthrown. In Germany, Austria, Italy, and Hungary the revolutions failed.
Klemens von Metternich
Austria's foreign minister who wanted a balance of power in an international equilibrium of political and military forces that would discourage aggression.
mass production
the manufacture of many identical products by the division of labor into many small repetitive tasks. Method introduced into the manufacturing of pottery by Josiah Wedgwood and into the spinning of cotton thread by Richard Arkwright.
Josiah Wedgwood
(1730-1795) English industrialist whose pottery works were the first to produce fine-quality pottery by industrial methods
division of labor
manufacturing technique that breaks down a craft into many simple and repetitive tasks that can be performed by unskilled workers. Pioneered in the pottery works of Wedgwood and in other 18th century factories- greatly increased the productivity of labor
mechanization
the application of machinery to manufacturing and other activities. Among the 1st processes to be mechanized was the spinning of cotton thread and weaving of cloth in late 18th and early 19th century England
Richard Arkwright
(1732-1792) English inventor and entrepreneur who became the wealthiest and most successful textile manufacturer of early Industrial Revolution. Invented the water frame, a machine that, with minimal human supervision could spin many strong cotton threads
cotton
The plant that produces fibers from which textiles are woven. Native to India,spread throughout Asia and then to the New World. It has been a major cash crop in various places
Crystal Palace
building erected in Hyde Park, London, for the Great Exhibition of 1851. Made of iron and glass, like a gigantic greenhouse, it was a symbol of the industrial age
iron
metal that fueled the Iron Age, preceded steel as the primary metal
steam engine
machine that runs the energy released by burning fuel into motion. Thomas Newcomen built the first crude bu workable steam engine in 1712. James Watt vastly improved his device int he 1760's and 1770's. Steam power was later applied to moving machinery in
James Watt
(1736-1819) Scot who invented the condenser and other improvements that made the steam engine a practical source of power for industry and transportation. The watt, an electrical measurement is named after him
railroads
networks of iron (later steel) rails on which steam locomotives pulled long trains at high speeds. The 1st of these were built in England in the 1830's. Their success caused a boom throughout the world that lasted well into the 20th century
electric telegraph
a device for rapid, long-distance transmission of information over an electric wire. It was introduced in England and North America in the 1830's and 1840's and replaced telegraph systems that utilized visual signals such as semaphores.
business cycles
recurrent swings from economic hard times to recovery and growth, then back to hard times and a repetition of the sequence
interchangeable parts
identical components that can be used in place of one another in manufacturing
child labor
the process of children being used to work in factories, small businesses, farms, and mills
juntas
Creole political committees which claimed the right to govern different regions of Latin America; they rebelled against the peninsulares
personalist leaders
political leaders who rely on charisma and their ability to mobilize and direct the masses of citizens outside the authority of constitutions and laws. 19th century examples include Jose Paez and Andrew Jackson.
Tecumseh
(1768-1813) Shawnee leader who attempted to organize an Amerindian confederacy to prevent the loss of additional territory to American settlers. He became an ally of the British in the War of 1812 and died in battle.
Caste War
a rebellion of the Maya people against the government of Mexico in 1847. It nearly returned the Yucatan to Maya rule. Some Maya rebels retreated to unoccupied territories where they held out until 1907.
abolitionists
men and women who agitated for a complete end to slavery. Pressure ended the British transatlantic slave trade in 1808 and slavery in British colonies in 1834. In the US the activities of abolitionists were one factor leading to the Civil War.
acculturation
the adoption of the language, customs, values, and behaviors of host nations by immigrants.
Indian Removal Act
passed in 1830, paved the way for the forced immigration of tens of thousands of American Indians to the west
Frederick Douglas
famous black abolitionist that escaped from slavery who would later write a narrative of his own life.
Chinese Exclusion Act
Passed in 1882; banned Chinese immigration in US for a total of 40 years because the United States thought of them as a threat. Caused Chinese population in America to decrease.
Women's Rights Convention
an 1848 gathering of women angered by their exclusion from an international antislavery meeting. They met at Seneca Falls, New York, to discuss woman's rights.
modernization
the process of reforming political, military, economic, social, and cultural traditions in imitation of the early success of Western societies, often with regard for accommodation of local traditions in non-Western cities.
palm oil
oil pressed from the fruit of palm trees that is used for fuel and cooking
recaptives
Africans rescued by British Royal Navy from the illegal slave trade of the 19th century and restored to free status.
nawab
a Muslim prince allied to British India; technically a semi-autonomous deputy of the Mughal emperor
company men
European outpost staffers who protested trade and company property in British India.
sepoy
a soldier in South Asia, especially in the service of the British (who were often Sikhs or Jains)
Sepoy Rebellion
the revolt of Indian soldiers in 1857 against certain practices (animal-fat rifle cartridges) that violated religious customs also known as the Sepoy Mutiny
durbar
an elaborate display of political power and wealth in British India in the 19th century, ostensibly in imitation of the pageantry of the Mughal Empire
Indian National Congress
a movement and political party founded in 1805 to demand greater Indian participation in government. Its membership was middle class and its demands were modest until WW1. Appealed increasingly to the poor and it organized mass protests demanding self-gov
Cape Colony
a former province of southern South Africa that was settled by the Dutch in 1652 and ceded to Great Britain in 1814
clipper ship
large, fast, streamlined vessel often American built, of the mid to late 19th century rigged with vast canvas sails hung from tall masts
Captain James Cook
English navigator who claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain and discovered several Pacific islands (1728-1779)
janissaries
infantry, originally of slave origin, armed with firearms and constituting the elite of the Ottoman Army from the 15th century until the corps was abolished in 1826.
Serbia
the Ottoman province in the Balkans that rose up against janissary control in the early 1800's. Expanded into by the Strogonovs and Cossacks
Greek independence
Won independence from Turks in 1830, was being helped by Russia, and Russia shared Slavic language and Christian Orthodoxy
Crimean War
(1853-1856) conflict between the Russian and Ottoman empires fought primarily in the Crimean peninsula. To prevent Russian expansion, Britain and France sent troops to support the Ottomans
breech-loading rifle
Gun into which the projectiles had to be individually inserted. Later guns had magazines, a compartment holding multiple projectiles that could be fed rapidly into the firing chamber.
extraterritoriality
the reign of foreign residents in a country to live under the laws of their native country, and disregard the laws of the host country. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Europeans living in China were granted this right.
Young Ottomans
movement of young intellectuals to institute liberal reforms and build a feeling of national identity in the Ottoman empire in the 2nd half of the 19th century
Slavophile
Russian intellectuals in the early 19th century who favored resisting western European influences taking pride in the traditional peasant values and institutions of the Slavic people
Pan-Slavism
movement among Russian intellectuals in the 2nd half of the 19th century to identify culturally and politically with the Slavic people of Eastern Europe
Decembrist Revolt
Abortive attempt by army officials to take control of the Russian government upon the death of Tsar Alexander I in 1825.
Opium War
(1839-1842) war between Britain and the Qing Empire that was, in British view, occasioned by the Qing government's refusal to permit the importation of opium into its territories. Victorious British imposed the one-sided Treaty of Nanking in China.
Bannermen
hereditary military servants in the Qing, in large parts descendants of people s of various origins who had fought for their founders
Treaty of Nanking
1842- treaty that concluded the Opium War, it awarded Britain a large indemnity from the Qing, denied the Qing government tariff control over some of its own borders, opened addtional ports of residence to Britain, and ceded the island of Hong Kong to the
treaty ports
cities opened to foreign residents as a result of the forced treaties between the Qing and foreign signatories- foreigners enjoyed extraterritoriality
most favored-nation status
a clause in a commercial treaty that awards to any later signatories all the privileges previously granted to the original signatories
Taiping Rebellion
(1851-1864) the most destructive civil war before the 20th century, a Christian inspired rural-rebellion that threatened to topple the Qing Empire
submarine telegraph cables
insulated copper cables laid along the bottom of a sea/ocean for telegraphic communication; the 1st short cable was laid across the English Channel in 1851; the 11st successful transatlantic cable was laid in 1866.
steel
a form of iron that is both durable and flexible. I t was first mass produced int he 1860's and quickly became the most widely used metal in construction, machinery, and railroad equipment.
electricity
a form of energy used in telegraphy from the 1840's on and for lighting, industrial motors, and railroads beginning in the 1880's.
Thomas Edison
(1847-1931) American inventor best known for inventing the electric light bulb, acoustic recording on wax cylinders, and motion pictures
labor unions
an organization of workers in a particular industry or trade, created to defend the interests of members through strikes or negotiations with employers
Karl Marx
(1818-1883) German journalist and philosopher founder of the Marxist branch of socialism. He is known for two books: the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital.
anarchist
revolutionaries who wanted to abolish all private property and governments, usually by violence and replace them with free associations of groups
separate spheres
19th century idea in Western societies that men and women, especially of the middle class, should have clearly differentiated roles in society; women as wives, mothers, homemakers, men as breadwinners and participants in business or politics
Giuseppe Garibaldi
(1807-1882) Italian nationalist and revolutionary who conquered Sicily and Naples and added them to a unified Italy in 1860.
Yamagata Aritomo
one of the leaders of the Meiji Restoration, a period of enlightenment and modernization in Japan.
Suez Canal
ship canal dug across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt, designed by Ferdinand de Lesseps. It opened to shipping in 1869, shortened the sea voyage between Europe and Asia. Its strategic importance led to the British conquest of Egypt in 1882.
Battle of Omdurman
British victory over the Mahdi in the Sudan in 1898. General Kitchener led a mixed force of British and Egyptian troops armed with rapid-firing rifles and machine guns.
Scramble for Africa
sudden wave of conquests in Africa by European powers in the 1880's and 1890's. Britain obtained most of eastern Africa, France most of northwestern Africa, and other Countries (Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Italy,and Spain) acquired lesser amounts
Henry Morton Stanley
(1841-1904) British American explorer of Africa, famous for his expeditions in search of Dr. David Livingstone. Stanley helped King Leopold II establish the Congo Free State.
Savorgnan de Brazza
(1852-1905) Franco-Italian explorer sent by the French government to claim part of equatorial Africa for France. Founded Brazzaville, capital of the French Congo in 1880.
Berlin Conference
(1884-1885) conference that German chancellor Otto van Bismarck called to set rules for the partition of Africa. It led to the creation of the Congo Free State under King Leopold II of Belgium.
Afrikaners
South Africans descended from Dutch and French settlers of the 17th century. Their Great Trek founded new settler colonies in the 19th century. Though a minority among South Africans, they held political power after 1910, imposing a system of racial segre
Cecil Rhodes
(1853-1902) British entrepreneur and politician involved int he expansion of the British Empire from South Africa into Central Africa. The colonies of Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia were named after him.
Emilio Aguinaldo
(1869-1964) leader of the Filipino independence movement against Spain. He proclaimed the independence of the Philippines in 1899, but his movement was crushed and he was captured by the US army in 1901.
Panama Canal
ship canal cut across the isthmus of Panama by US army engineers- opened in 1914. It greatly shortened the sea voyage between the east and west coasts of North America. US turned canal over to Panama on January 1, 2000.
Enlightenment
a philosophical movement in eighteenth-century Europe that fostered belief that one could reform society by discovering rational laws that governed social behavior and that were just as scientific as the laws of physics; civ. Europe
Industrial Revolution
the transformation of the economy, the environment, and living conditions, occurring first in England in the 18th century, that resulted from the use of steam engines, the mechanization of manufacturing in factories, and innovations in transportation and
Agricultural Revolution
the transformation of farming that resulted in the 18th century from the spread of new crops, improvements in cultivation techniques and livestock breeding, and the consolidation of small holdings into large farms from which tenants and sharecroppers were
laissez faire
the idea that government should refrain from interfering in economic affairs. The classic exposition of these principles is Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations"; civ. England
positivism
a philosophy developed by the French count of Saint-Simon. Believed that social and economic problems could be solved by the application of the scientific method, leading to continuous progress. Their ideals became popular in France and Latin America in t
utopian socialism
a philosophy introduced by the Frenchman Charles Fourier in the early 19th century. Hoped to create humane alternatives to industrial capitalism by building self-sustaining communities whose inhabitants would work cooperatively; civ. France
development
in the 19th and 20th centuries, the economic process that led to industrialization, urbanization, the rise of a large and prosperous middle class, and heavy investment in education; civ. Europe
underdevelopment
the condition experienced by economies that depend on colonial forms of production such as the export of raw materials and plantation crops with low wages and low investment in education; civ. Europe
legitimate trade
exports from Africa in the 19th century that did not include the newly outlawed slave trade; civ. Europe & Africa
Indian Civil Service
the elite professional class of officials who administered the government of British India. Originally composed exclusively o well-educated British men, it gradually added qualified Indians; civ. British Raj
Indentured Servitude
a migrant to British colonies in the Americas who paid for passage by agreeing to work for a set term ranging from four to seven years; civ. Britain/Americas
Tanzimat
restructuring" reforms by the 19th century Ottoman rulers, intended to move civil law away from the control of religious elites and make the military and the bureaucracy more efficient; civ. Ottoman
socialism
a political ideology that originated in Europe in the 1930's. Socialists advocated government protection of workers from exploitation by property owners and government ownership of industries. This ideology led to the founding of socialist or labor partie
nationalism
a political ideology that stresses people's membership in a nation- a community defined by common culture and history as well as by territory. In the late 19th and early 19th centuries, it was a force for unity in western Europe. In the late 19th centurie
Victorian Age
the reign of Queen Victoria of Britain (1837-1901). The term is also used to describe late 19th century society, with its rigid moral standards and sharply differentiated roles for men and women and for middle-class and working-class people; civ. 19th cen
New Imperialism
Historians' term for the late 19th and early 20th century wave of conquests by European powers, the US, and Japan, which were followed by the development and exploitation of the newly conquered territories for the benefit of the colonial powers
colonialism
policy by which a nation administers a foreign territory and develops its resources for the benefit of the colonial power
free trade imperialism
economic dominance of a weaker country by a more powerful one, while maintaining the legal independence of the weaker state. In the late 19th century, this characterized the relations between the Latin American republics, on the one hand, and Great Britai
George Washington
(1732-1799) military commander of the American Revolution. He was the first elected president of the United States
Napoleon Bonaparte
(1769-1821) overthrew French Directory in 1799 and became emperor of the French in 1804. Failed to defeat Great Britain and abdicated in 1814. Returned to power briefly in 1815, but was defeated and died in exile; civ. France
Toussaint L'Ouverture
a major benefactor of the Haitian Revolution in Saint Domingue, he leads the most successful slave rebellion in Haiti, causing Napoleon to lose interest in the Western Hemisphere, and thus do the Louisiana Purchase with the US; civ. Haiti
Simon Bolivar
(1783-1830) the most important military leader in the struggle for independence in South America; born in Venezuela, he led military forces there and in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia; founder of the Gran Colombia
Miguel Hidalgo
(1753-1811) Mexican priest who led the first stage of the Mexican Independence War in 1810. He was captured and executed in 1811.
Jose Morelos
(1765-1815) Mexican priest and former student of Miguel Hidalgo, he led the forces fighting for Mexican independence until he was captured and executed in 1815.
Andrew Jackson
(1767-1845) First president of the US to be born in humble circumstances. He was popular among frontier residents, urban workers, and small farmers. He had a successful political career as judge, general, congressman, senator, and president. After being d
Jose Paez
(1790-1873) Venezuelan soldier who led Simon Bolivar's cavalry force. He became a successful general in the war and built a powerful political base. He was unwilling to accept the constitutional authority of Bolivar's government in distant Bogota and decl
Benito Juarez
(1806-1872) President of Mexico. Born in poverty in Mexico, he was educated as a lawyer and rose to become chief justice of the Mexican supreme court, and then president. He led Mexico's resistance to a French invasion in 1863 and the installation of Maxi
Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865) 16th President of the United States saved the Union during the Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth
Muhammad Ali
Leader of Egyptian modernization in the early nineteenth century- had tried to modernize but decreasing price of cotton leads to debts from loans with British and French. He ruled Egypt as an Ottoman governor, but had imperial ambitions. His descendants r
Zeng Guofan
Was the general who defeated the Taipings, an exemplar of Confucianism, noted for his high sense of morality, and leader of the Self-Strengthening Movement
Hong Xiuqan
One of the leaders who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, conquering some parts of Southern China. He proclaimed he was the "brother of Jesus Christ
Otto Von Bismarck
(1815-1898) Chancellor of Prussia from 1862 to 1871, when he became a chancellor of Germany. A conservative nationalist, he led Prussia to victory against Austria and France and was responsible for the creation of the German Empire in 1871.
Empress Dowager Cixi
(1835-1908) Empress of China and mother of Emperor Guanxi. She put her sun under house arrest, supported antiforeign movements, and resisted reforms of the Chinese government and armed forces.
Leopold II
(1835-1909) King of Belgium, he was active in encouraging the exploration of Central Africa and became the ruler of the Congo Free State (to 1908).
Menelik
(1844-1911) Emperor of Ethiopia. He enlarged Ethiopia to its present dimensions and defeated an Italian invasion at Adowa.
boxers
Chinese rebels during the Qing Dynasty who believed that through intense and rigorous practice of the martial arts, the bullets of foreigners could not harm them. They secretly murdered Chinese Christians and were supported by Dowager Cixi.
Meiji Restoration
the political program that followed the destruction of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1868, in which a collection of young leaders set Japan on the path of centralization, industrialization,and imperialism.
Sokoto Caliphate
a large Muslim state founded in 1809 in what is now northern Nigeria.