Unit #1 - The World in 1750

• absolute Monarchy - King and/or Queen who with total power given to them by God to rule over the people
• archipelago - Chain of islands
• Constitutional/Limited Monarchy - A King or Queen whose power is limited by laws
• divine right - the belief that a king/queen receives their power directly from god.
• dynasty - a family of rulers
• foreign - outside of a place
• Meiji Restoration - After the end of the shogunate the restoring of the emperor of Japan as the leader of the state/nation/country. Believed in opening and westernization of Japan in the mid 1800s
• mercantilism - Economic System in which a country's wealth is judged by the amount of Gold & Silver they own and have more exports than imports
• parliament - legislature (law making) part of a government
• patriarchal - A society led by male lineage (male dominated)
• matriarchal - A society led by female lineage (female dominated)
• serf/peasant - lower class tenant (doesn't own the land) farmer
• social contract - a non-written agreement between the ruler/government and the people
• Tokugawa shogunate - the rule of the shoguns in Japan rather than the emperor. They promoted isolationism
• warm water port - a port that does not freeze in the winter
• authoritarian/authoritative - enforcing strict obedience to authority
• autocracy - rule by a single person with all the power
• tribute - Payment usually under force for protection.
• isolationism - A national policy of abstaining from political, economic, social, intellectual, religious relations with other countries
• modernization - To make a country or society modern
• westernization - the policy of making your country/nation adopt some Western European customs, and/or economics