Chapter 4 Key Terms and Assessments
Key Terms
Committee of Public Safety the provisional government of revolutionary France from 1793 to 1794
Congress of Vienna an 1814–1815 meeting of Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria to restore the balance of power and assert principles of conservatism
conservatism a political ideology that emerged in reaction to the freedoms associated with the revolutions of the eighteenth century and advocated submitting to government authority and giving religious doctrine a central role in maintaining social order and stability
Continental Congresses two assemblies of elected colonial representatives that met in Philadelphia in 1774 and 1775, the second time to adopt the powers of government and approve the Declaration of Independence from Britain
deductive reasoning a form of logical reasoning that begins with a general statement and applies it to specific conclusions
Directory an executive council of five men established by the Convention in France to replace the Committee of Public Safety after the decline of the Reign of Terror
empiricism a philosophical concept based on the belief that all knowledge derives from sensory experience
enlightened despot an absolutist ruler influenced by the principles of the Enlightenment
Estates General a legislative assembly of the three estates, or orders, of French society: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners
general will a concept in political philosophy by which the state can be legitimate only if it is guided by the will of the people as a whole
gens de couleur libres a French term that referred to free people of color in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now Haiti
Germanic Confederation an alliance of thirty-nine mostly German-speaking states developed to replace the Holy Roman Empire in 1815
Girondins a moderate faction of the Jacobin political club in revolutionary France
inductive reasoning a form of logical reasoning that gathers specific examples and observations to arrive at a broad generalization
Jacobins a radical political club in revolutionary France that supported overthrowing the monarchy
liberalism a political ideology that promotes freedom of expression, popular sovereignty, the protection of civil rights and private property, and representative government
Mountain a radical faction of the Jacobin club in revolutionary France that supported executing the king
nationalism a political ideology that promotes the interests of the nation over international concerns and advocates the uniqueness and inherent superiority of the individual’s own country over others
natural rights universal and inalienable rights that cannot be revoked or rescinded by human laws
popular sovereignty the idea that government should exist only by the consent of the governed
Proclamation Line the boundary of westward settlement that Britain marked out in its thirteen North American colonies
public sphere shared spaces that enabled the exchange of ideas and information outside the contro