Hansen
Name ___________
World History
Enlightenment, Absolutism, and Revolutions -- Test Study Guide 0910
Old Stuff
 Centuries
 Classical Civilization (what this term means and who it refers to)
 Why, after the Dark Ages, our course has turned to ‘Western Civilization’
 Who ‘the West’ refers to, both today, and pre-Renaissance?
 What the Renaissance was a rebirth of and where it started.
 The difference between a Republic and a Direct Democracy
 What Monarchy, dictatorship, and tyranny refer to.
 The vocabulary term popular sovereignty
 The fact that in the Dark Ages/Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was more powerful than kings
and that the Protestant Reformation is what started the reversal of this trend
 New World versus the Old World
Absolutism

Terms: Absolutism, Divine Right, and Absolute Monarchs (aka Renaissance Princes)

Know that Louis XIV and the kings from the Habsburg family are good examples of Absolutism)

What are some of the factors that led to Absolutism? (think: Protestant Reformation, exploration,
and the story of Atahualpa)

Why did the wealth of the New World help Renaissance Princes gain absolute power? Another way
to ask this question would be: Why are kings weakened when they get their money through taxes?

Louis XIV- what were the symbols of his power? (there are a number of these…think: L’etat c’est
moi, the Palace of Versailles, the morning ritual involving the nobility, his symbol- the Sun, and
the lottery story)

Know that Carlos Hechizado was a Habsburg and the king of Spain. Know what Hechizado means?
Understand why I talked about Carlos Hechizado- in other words, how does he connect the themes
of Absolutism and the Enlightenment?

What do we call the collisions between Absolutism and Enlightenment thinkers?
The Enlightenment

The definition of the Enlightenment: The application of ______________ to the study of _________.

Know that the Enlightenment was primarily an 18th century phenomenon (1700s) and that it
clashed with Absolutism, the most common form of government in Europe in the year 1700.

Know the connection between the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. You should be able
to fit the word ‘logic’ into this answer and you should be able to use the friendship of John Locke and
Isaac Newton or a book written by Montesquieu as examples.

Know where the Enlightenment was centered (the Enlightenment triangle- Paris, London,
Amesterdam) and what a salon was. Know the name for French Enlightenment thinkers, what this name
literally means, and know that this name was ultimately attached to all Enlightenment thinkers, no matter
where they came from.

Understand the basic Enlightenment idea of natural law (same as the classical Greek idea). Also,
know the following Enlightenment philosopes’ basic ideas: Locke (natural rights -not the same as natural
law!), the social contract theory, the right to revolution in order to protect natural rights, the basic
goodness of people, power to the people-popular sovereignty, limited government, and the need for
universal education). Also, understand the key philosoph we studied: Hobbes (people are bad, absolute
monarch needed to keep them in line); Montesqueieu- division of government power to make ambition
counteract ambition); Voltaire’s stance and famous quote regarding freedom of speech/expression ; and
finally, Rousseau and his ideas of the General Will, the good of the community over the good of the
individual, the idea of the noble savage and (as a result) direct democracy. Know that there were
philosophes in America, particularly in Philadelphia, who set up the American system of government after
the American Revolution. .

Know how the salonnieres got around the gender biases of their day.

Understand why we studied Athens and Sparta in this unit. You should be able to answer this using
the term ‘scientific method’ as part of your answer. Understand the central differences between Spartan and
Athenian culture. Know how to connect our focus on Athens and Sparta to the statement made by a
founding father after the American Revolution: ‘Put down the sword and put on the toga”.

What is the central reason that the Enlightenment and Absolutism could not peacefully coexist?

Finally, know that some of the people who rose up against Absolutists were not actually
philosophers and didn’t care about the fancy ideas of the philosoph. Why, then, did they revolt?
The English Revolution

Know the chronological order of the three revolutions in this unit: English, American, and French

Know the five basic characteristics of revolutions in general and the Cascade and Strong Man
problems associated with most revolutions.

Know what the Magna Carta was/is and why this document made England a likely choice for the
first Absolutist versus Enlightenment revolution.

Know the basic things over which James I and Charles I argued with Parliament. Know the
names of the two sides of the English Civil War (not the same as the Glorious Revolution). Know which
side won the English Civil War, what they did with Charles I, Charles I basic argument during his trial, the
type of government Parliament tried to set up after the Civil War, and what this government eventually
became under Oliver Cromwell.

Know why English people felt Oliver Cromwell’s government was a failure and ‘who’ they feared
might have caused this government to fail. Know how the English people and Parliament tried to solve
these problems after Oliver Cromwell’s death. Know that the next two kings, Charles II and James II,
basically ended up with the same problems as James I and Charles I. Know why it is important to
understand where James II and Charles II spent their time in exile before being asked to return to rule
England. Know why Parliament was at first in a terrible position in deciding what to do about these
unwanted kings (in other words, why couldn’t they keep them and why couldn’t they get rid of them?).
Know the clever solution Parliament worked out to get rid of James II without angering ‘you-know-who.”
Know who Parliament called on to invade England and what this shows about who held the true power in
England forever after.

How did James II react to the invasion of England by the king invited by Parliament, and know how
this explains the name given to this ‘battle’?

Know what a Constitution is and that England became a Constitutional Monarchy as a result of
the Glorious Revolution.

Know the central freedoms granted to the English people by the English Bill of Rights (king had no
power to dissolve Parliament, Habeas Corpus, freedom of speech, Parliament had the last say in taxation).

NOTE*** In case it was confusing in class, the English Revolution consisted of an early stage,
where Charles I was killed called the English Civil War and a second stage, where James II was replaced
by William and Mary of the Netherlands, known as the Glorious Revolution (called Glorious because the
king wasn’t killed in this second stage, just chased away.)

Know the basic connection between the English Revolution and the American Revolution (you
should be able to answer this using the statements ‘Hey, why not us too?’ or ‘no taxation without
representation’)
The American Revolution

How did England rise to be a world power in the 18th c? What was their most lucrative (valuable)
trading commodity? How did they get money out of their new world colonies despite a lack of gold and
silver?

Why would the French help the Americans in the American Revolution? (several reasons)

What is meant by “no taxation without representation?” Why did the British think that this
statement was unfair?

Know Thomas Paine and the central argument in his pamphlet Common Sense. Know why I
stressed the name of the title of his book.

Know what happened at the Boston Tea Party and how this fits into our larger theme of a clash
between the Enlightenment and Absolutism.

Know how the tiny American colonists were able to beat the mighty English Empire.

Why was America the ideal place to set up an Enlightenment government? Why were both England
and especially France trickier places to do this? What does this have to do with a famous American’s
statement to ‘Put on the Toga”?

Know how Enlightenment ideas appear in the American Constitution. What vocabulary word we
studied would best be attached to the American Bill of Rights.

Why was the American Revolution important even for those not living in America or England? How
did George Washington make allow the formation of a completely new government?
French Revolution

Know which of the three Revolutions would be considered a success by an Enlightenment
philosopher like John Locke. (I didn’t teach this… so hah! You will have to think about it!)

What is the connection between the American Revolution and the French Revolution?

***Everything else covered in our one day lecture on the French Revolution***