Key Historical Events and Concepts: 18th-19th Centuries
Key Historical Events and Concepts
The Inquisition
The Inquisition was an ecclesiastical tribunal created by the Catholic Monarchs. Its function was to monitor and ensure that the only official religion in Spain was Catholicism.
Social Class: Proletariat
The proletariat is the social class constituted by proletarians, i.e., the working class.
The Bubble Act
The Bubble Act was a British Parliament act that prohibited all corporations from unauthorized actions by Royal Charter. It was approved on June 9, 1720.
The French Republic and the War (1792-95)
The meeting was called the National Convention, abolishing the monarchy and proclaiming the republic. In 1793, the King was executed and a Constitution was created. The new republic faced opposition from the aristocracy and the Girondins, who rejected this new form of government.
The Directory and the Rise of Napoleon (1795-1804)
The Thermidorian Convention promulgated a new constitution. This convention was replaced by a Directory, in which Napoleon helped and excelled in a coup d’état. Consequence: Three consuls came to power, with Napoleon as the principal.
The Oath of the Ball Game
The Oath of the Ball Game was a binding commitment made on June 20, 1789, among 577 deputies of the Third Estate to not separate until France had a constitution.
The Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror was a period of the French Revolution that lasted one year (1793-94). There was repression by resorting to state terrorism, and many innocent people died.
Monopoly Concession
A monopoly is a concession granted by the competent authority to a company to carry out an industrial or commercial activity.
Federal Republic
A federal republic is a political system where the states have autonomy to govern themselves but agree to have a common foreign policy, army, and constitution.
The Estates-General
The Estates-General was an assembly composed of the nobility, clergy, and the Third Estate. Each estate had one vote.
The National Assembly
The National Assembly represents the nation and not a particular state. The Third Estate quit the Estates-General to create a constitution for France. This led to the storming of the Bastille in Paris.
National Sovereignty
National sovereignty refers to the people electing their representatives through elections (although at that time, the vote was not universal; there was census suffrage, generally only for men).
Separation of Powers
The separation of powers—legislative (parliament and senate), executive (government), and judicial (courts)—cannot be held by the same person or group of persons (Montesquieu).
Enactment of a Constitution
The enactment of a Constitution is a document where the principles governing a country and the rights and freedoms of citizens are collected.
Natural Rights
Every person has natural rights by the fact of being. The most important are property (for the bourgeoisie), equality before the law, and tolerance.
Liberalism
Liberalism‘s objective is to defend the liberty of individuals. It opposed the absolute power of kings and rejected stratified society because it stated that power should belong to the people with wealth (the middle class). It left aside social problems and the bourgeoisie did not trust the people.
Census Suffrage
In census suffrage, only citizens included in a census that met certain conditions (wealth, culture, etc.) could vote.
Federal Republic
A federal republic is a political system where the states have autonomy to govern themselves but agree to have a common foreign policy, army, and constitution.
The National Assembly
The National Assembly represents the nation and not a particular state. The Third Estate quit the Estates-General to create a constitution for France. This led to the storming of the Bastille in Paris.