| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Enlightenment | A philosophical movement in eighteenth-century Europe that fostered the belief that one could reform society by discovering rational laws that governed social behavior and were just as scientific as the laws of physics. |
| Benjamin Franklin | American intellectual, inventor, and politician. He helped negotiate French support for the American Revolution. |
| George Washington | Military commander of the American Revolution. He was the first elected president of the United States. |
| Joseph Brant | Mohawk leader who supported the British during the American Revolution. |
| Constitutional Convention | Meeting in 1787 of the elected representatives of the thirteen original states to write the Constitution of the United States. |
| Estates General | France's traditional national assembly with representatives of three classes in French society: the clergy, nobility, and commoners. Their calling in 1789 led to the French Revolution. |
| National Assembly | French Revolutionary assembly. Called first as the Estates General, the three estates came together and demanded radical change. It passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789. |
| Declaration of the Rights of Man | Statement of fundamental political rights adopted by the French National Assembly at the beginning of the French Revolution. |
| Jacobins | Radical republicans during the French Revolution. They were led by Maximilien Robespierre from 1793 to 1794. |
| Maximilien Robespierre | Young provincial lawyer who led the most radical phases of the French Revolution. His execution ended the Reign of Terror. |
| Napoleon Bonaparte | 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. |
| gens de couleur | Free men and women of color in Haiti. They sought greater political rights and later supported the Haitian Revolution. |
| Francois Dominique Touissaint L'Ouverture | Leader of the Haitian Revolution. He freed the slaves and gained effective independence for Haiti despite military interventions by the British and French. |
| Congress of Vienna | Meeting of representatives of European monarchs called to reestablish the old order after the defeat of Napolean I (Bonaparte). |
| 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. |
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