4.5: Chapter Summary and Key Terms

Chapter Summary

This period in world history can be defined by both enlightenment and turmoil.  More people, particularly in the Atlantic World, demanded that their voices be heard, in many cases through violence and rebellion.  The institution of slavery was deeply questioned, although very little would be done to address it for several decades in many places, with just France willing to abolish it outright, if only briefly. This type and amount of change certainly came from the Age of Enlightenment thinking, which gave birth to a number of social and cultural movements throughout the Western world, yet with a Eurocentric perspective. 

The revolutionary movements seen here were truly revolutionary in many ways; the idea that “ordinary” people could rise up and refuse to be subject to authoritarian power was a concept alien to many and had been for many years, as indicated by the absolutism government structure that dominated many major world powers.  However, once a revolution appeared successful, other regions and territories followed suit, leading to a domino effect of revolutions and rebellions, the rise of new government structures, and a change to what was the definition of “citizen.”  These movements also created a certain amount of chaos in their wake as these new citizens and their leaders struggled to organize themselves into different government structures or risk societal collapse.  In France, this was known as the Reign of Terror, subjecting French citizens to violence and severe uncertainty. Because of this uncertainty, a leadership vacuum was created, allowing another authoritarian to become ruler, Napoleon Bonaparte. France would briefly return to a monarchy but with more power given to a representative body, which made the monarchy more symbolic than anything, before becoming obsolete. With the creation of the United States, though, a new government structure emerged, involving a balance of republicanism and democracy. This has become known as the American Experiment and while it has evolved in numerous ways, still essentially remains. 

As the United States grew after the American Revolutionary War, both in population and territory, a new concept took root, known as Manifest Destiny. Although this concept wasn’t given a formal name until the early part of the nineteenth century, it formed the foundation of European justification for colonization, as well as imperialism later practiced by the US.  During the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries, the American descendants of European colonizers believed it was their Christian God-given right to expand “from sea to shining sea,” regardless of who originally occupied the land they were taking over. Europe used this concept to increase its colonization, especially as various European nations moved toward the middle of the Eurasian continent and into Africa. 

However, not all revolutions affected the indigenous and marginalized populations in the same way.  In fact, two revolutions in particular, the Mexican and the Haitian, are excellent examples of marginalized populations overthrowing the established government structure to create their own and included indigenous populations within their ranks, who saw an opportunity to reclaim their lands and status. It was these revolutions that provided a foundation for what would later be defined as “nationalism;” a distinct change in who was considered a “citizen” of that region or territory, also known as a nation. Under these new governments, citizens weren’t defined by their loyalty to a ruler, but rather by sharing common causes and loyalty to a population. 

This period in world history was marked by a significant amount of uncertainty, turbulence, violence, and volatility.  However, it also saw the greatest amount of change, moving us forward in many ways, both good and bad. The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, allowed more philosophical ideas and concepts to make their way out into the world, which would provide the foundation for modern ideas, concepts, and social movements. In addition, though, the movement of these ideas and concepts also cost a number of people their livelihoods, if not their very lives, predominately those within indigenous and marginalized populations. The change occurred rapidly which would impact world development, but many didn’t survive that change. 

Key Terms

Eurocentrism: The belief that European social norms and culture are superior to other cultures and civilizations. This refers primarily to historical perspective and the use of European narratives to describe non-European civilizations. Also defined in Chapter 3.

Westernization: An expansion of Eurocentric belief that incorporates the United States, Canada, Australia, and other non-Asian or African civilizations after the development of these locations through colonization and/or revolution.  Any population that is non-Western is therefore inferior to those that are Western. 

Age of Enlightenment: A period of time in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries defined by a rise in new philosophical, religious, social, and cultural concepts and ideas from a Eurocentric perspective. This age came after the Age of Exploration (defined in Chapter 3) which, with cross-cultural exchange and increased colonization, allowed more opportunities for people to study these concepts and ideas and implement them throughout the world. This age defined a lot of the history that we study today.

Absolutism: A form of government that makes the leader answerable only to their God or higher power, with absolute control over the population, no matter the socioeconomic class. In this government structure, no one was equal to the leader and the leader typically controlled the population through economic and/or political influence or military loyalty and strength.

Reign of Terror: A period in French history starting at the end of the French Revolution and the absolutism monarchical government structure, defined by the chaotic governing systems that emerged, as well as the extensive use of the guillotine to execute anyone deemed to be an “enemy of the state.” This reign affected all socioeconomic classes and structures, with anyone susceptible to being deemed an enemy of the state. 

Deism: A faith-based philosophy that follows a “watchmaker” theory; the Christian God created the Earth and set it in motion, but then walked away from the creation, and doesn’t have any current involvement in day-to-day Christian religious practices.  This philosophy, which grew during the Age of Enlightenment, encourages its followers to prioritize reason over blind faith and allows for the questioning of the Christian God’s world, which under most sects historically hadn’t been allowed.

Manifest Destiny: A Western-centric belief that certain people have a Christian God-given right to expand beyond their current borders, particularly if the populations living beyond those borders appear to “need” conversion to a Christian religion.  Thus, these Western-centric people had a duty to “manifest”, or make a reality, the expansion and takeover of outside lands and conversion of non-Christian peoples.