Overview
This lecture reviews Units 1, 2, and 3 for the Global Regents exam, focusing on Empires, Enlightenment and Revolutions, and the Industrial Revolution, including key ideas, causes, effects, and vocabulary.
Empires: Expansion and Control
- Empires aim to gain, consolidate, and maintain power over large regions.
- The Ottoman Empire spanned parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, showing expansion through land control.
- Empires expanded via trade (cultural diffusion) and military conquest.
- Maps and documents often highlight repeating terms like "acquisitions" and "trade" to signal expansion themes.
- Laws and military power were used by rulers (e.g., Japan's Tokugawa) to enforce order and centralize control.
- Context is important—look for summaries, titles, and sources to understand documents.
Enlightenment and Revolutions
- Enlightenment thinkers like Montesquieu (separation of powers), Rousseau (social contract), and Locke (natural rights) inspired political change.
- Main Enlightenment ideas: end monarchy, guarantee natural rights (life, liberty, property), and promote government accountability.
- French Revolution causes: tax inequality, rigid social structure (estates), and king's abuses.
- Effects: Reign of Terror (Robespierre), rise of Napoleon, Napoleonic Code (expanded rights), eventual return to monarchy.
- Enlightenment ideas spread to Latin American and Haitian Revolutions, promoting independence and nationalism.
- Latin American social pyramid: Europeans at top, enforced by encomienda system, led to revolution.
Industrial Revolution
- Began in England due to coal, iron, and irregular coastlines aiding trade, plus the Agricultural Revolution reducing need for farm labor.
- Effects: urbanization, rise of the working/middle class, pollution, and overpopulation in cities.
- Factory system replaced home-based (domestic) production, increasing mass production.
- Irish Potato Famine caused forced migration to the US.
- Industrialization spread globally (e.g., Japan’s Meiji Restoration—modernization and blending tradition with Western technology).
- New economic ideas: capitalism (Adam Smith, laissez-faire) and communism (Karl Marx, class struggle—proletariat vs. bourgeoisie).
Key Terms & Definitions
- Empire — Large territory controlled by one ruler or group.
- Cultural Diffusion — Spread of ideas and goods between cultures.
- Centralization — Concentrating power in a single authority.
- Enlightenment — Era emphasizing reason, rights, and reforms.
- Social Contract — Agreement to give up some freedoms for government protection.
- Natural Rights — Rights to life, liberty, and property.
- Reign of Terror — Period of violence during the French Revolution.
- Nationalism — Pride in one’s country, often leading to independence.
- Encomienda System — Spanish colonial hierarchy enforcing labor/slavery.
- Industrialization — Shift to machine-based production.
- Urbanization — Movement of people into cities.
- Domestic System — Home-based production of goods.
- Factory System — Mass production in centralized locations.
- Laissez-Faire — Policy of minimal government interference in business.
- Proletariat — Working class in industrial society.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Prepare index cards for each major unit and subtopic.
- Pause and review screenshots or handwritten notes for study.
- Review vocabulary and key ideas for each unit.
- Contact your teacher for additional index cards or clarification if needed.