AP Modern World History Flashcards: The Enlightenment
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Review key ideas with interactive flashcards. This set includes 19 cards to help you master important concepts.
What is the Enlightenment?
A philosophical movement that applied new, empiricist approaches to understanding the natural world and human relationships, emphasizing reason and reexamining religion's public role.
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All Flashcards (19)
What is the Enlightenment?
A philosophical movement that applied new, empiricist approaches to understanding the natural world and human relationships, emphasizing reason and reexamining religion's public role.
Identify an event associated with the demand for women's suffrage.
The Seneca Falls Conference was a significant event where demands for women’s suffrage were made.
Natural Rights
A key political idea developed during the Enlightenment concerning rights inherent to every individual.
Identify an example of a person associated with emergent feminism.
Mary Wollstonecraft was a key figure in emergent feminism who challenged political and gender hierarchies.
What new political ideas about the individual did Enlightenment philosophers develop?
Philosophers developed new political ideas about the individual, their natural rights, and the social contract between people and their government.
How did emergent feminism challenge the status quo?
Demands for women’s suffrage and an emergent feminism challenged established political and gender hierarchies.
What was the Enlightenment's core method for understanding the world?
The Enlightenment emphasized reason and applied empiricist approaches to understand the natural world and human relationships.
What was the goal of the end of serfdom movement?
This reform movement, influenced by the Enlightenment, aimed to end the system of serfdom and contribute to the expansion of rights.
What was the intellectual context for the revolutions that swept the Atlantic world from 1750 to 1900?
The Enlightenment provided the intellectual and ideological context, as its philosophies applied new ways of understanding the world and human relationships.
Nationalism
A major force that became prominent during this era, shaping the historical development of states and empires.
What two forces influenced the various reform movements of this era?
Enlightenment ideas and religious ideals both influenced the various reform movements that led to an expansion of rights.
How did the Enlightenment affect societies over time?
Enlightenment ideas and religious ideals influenced various reform movements that contributed to the expansion of rights.
What was the relationship between Enlightenment thought and revolutions?
The rise and diffusion of Enlightenment thought, which questioned established traditions, often preceded revolutions and rebellions against existing governments.
What did Enlightenment philosophies reexamine in the public sphere?
Enlightenment philosophies reexamined the public role of religion as part of a new way of understanding human relationships.
Social Contract
An Enlightenment political idea developed by philosophers concerning the relationship and agreement between the people and their government.
What were three major outcomes of reform movements influenced by the Enlightenment?
These reform movements contributed to expanded suffrage, the abolition of slavery, and the end of serfdom.
Who was Olympe de Gouges?
She was a key figure in the emergent feminist movement whose demands challenged political and gender hierarchies.
Expanded Suffrage
An expansion of the right to vote, which was a key outcome of reform movements influenced by Enlightenment ideas.
What was the goal of the abolition of slavery movement?
As a reform movement influenced by Enlightenment ideas, its goal was to end slavery and contribute to the expansion of rights.