Unit 5: Early Modern Europe
22. The Age of Absolutism
Versailles, Absolutism, Thomas Hobbes, The Five Great Farms, Enlightened Despotism, War of the League of Augsburg, War of the Spanish Succession, Great Northern War, St. Petersburg, Peter the Great, Frederick II, Old Believers, Slavophiles, Revolt of the Streltsy, Frederick William I, Enlightened Despotism, Inductive Reasoning, Bacon, Deductive Reasoning, Descartes, Philosophes, Encyclopediae, The Scientific Revolution, Geocentric universe, heliocentric universe, Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Classicism
23. The British Colonies in the Americas and the American Revolution
Plantation colonies, Trading colonies, Settlement colonies, Triangular trade, Middle Passage, Dutch colonization, French colonization, Seven Years' War, Plymouth, Jamestown, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Wampanoag, Algonquin, Puritans, Congregationalists, Salem Witch Trials, Maryland, Maryland Toleration Act, Rhode Island, Mercantilism, New Colonial Policy, Internal taxation, External taxation, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution of 1789, Bill of Rights
24. The French Revolution
Revolt Noblesse, Third Estate, Estates General, Tennis Court Oath, National Assembly, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Civil Constitution of the Clergy, Active and passive citizens, Girondists, Jacobins, sans-culottes, Declaration of Pillnitz, The Reign of Terror, The Emergency Republic, Thermidorian Reaction, Napoleon, The Consulate, Second and Third Coalitions, The Berlin Decrees and the Confederation of the Rhine, Waterloo, Holy Alliance, Congress of Vienna, The Quadruple Alliance and the Concert of Europe
25. The American and French Revolutions Spark Other Movements for Independence
Hispaniola, Saint-Domingue, gens de Couleur, Boukman, Maroons, Francois Dominique Toussaint "Louverture", Haiti, Creole, Miguel de Hidalgo, Augustin de Iturbide, Benito Juarez, La Reforma, Emiliana Zapata, Francisco Villa (Pancho Villa), terra y libertad, Mexican Constitution of 1917, Gran Columbia, Simon Bolivar, Emperor Pedro I, caudillo, Juan Manuel de Rosas, Coffee, Panama Canal, Theodore Roosevelt, Argentina, Porfiro Diaz
Unit 5 Focus Readings
Thomas Hobbes
The Bishop Bossuet first articulated the philosophy behind Louis's reign that the King is God. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes also articulated the philosophy of absolutism in his 1651 work, The Leviathan. The government of France under Louis XIV implemented the philosophy of The Leviathan. The Leviathan was a mythical creature of enormous proportions mentioned in the biblical books of Enoch, Job, Pslams, and Isaiah as living in the deep realms of the ocean. According to Hobbes, humans are wicked creatures who cannot be trusted. The only way to protect oneself was to give all power to a central monarch, who then implemented laws to protect the people from each other and other nations and to create a state of peace. Even a people's assembly, such as the French parlements, could not be trusted, as they would act in their own self interest. Although the sovereign's power derived from the people, the people were bound by complete submission to its power. The sovereign was the new Leviathan of the early modern era, a power that dominated every aspect of life.
Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
The Scientific Revolution, like the Renaissance, helped to end the old medieval ways of thinking and to usher the world into the modern era. During the Scientific Revolution a new, scientific attitude toward the study of the world emerged, one whose conclusions often clashed with the teachings of established religions. During the subsequent movement known as the Englightenment, the philosophies would ultimately reject the religion of past eras as superstition in favor of the use of reason. While the medieval work relied upon authorities, such as the Bible and the Church, the figures of the Scientific Revolution helped to establish the attitude that one should not believe anything unless one could empirically verify it or prove it mathematically.
The seventeenth century was an age of genius, in which such figures as Galileo, Kepler, Bacon, and Descartes flourished. All of these men believed that the universe is a rationally ordered, harmonious whole, and that humans have the ability to penetrate and to understand its structure.
For the figures of the seventeenth-century Scientific Revolution, nature was no longer a manifestation of some transcendent entity, but an "it" to be understood and manipulated for human benefit. humans could understand nature through empirical observation. The new thinkers of the seventeenth century in large part insisted on the use of experience rather than on revelation, and sought to correlate experience with the truths and principles of mathematics.
The seventeenth century was an age of genius, in which such figures as Galileo, Kepler, Bacon, and Descartes flourished. All of these men believed that the universe is a rationally ordered, harmonious whole, and that humans have the ability to penetrate and to understand its structure.
For the figures of the seventeenth-century Scientific Revolution, nature was no longer a manifestation of some transcendent entity, but an "it" to be understood and manipulated for human benefit. humans could understand nature through empirical observation. The new thinkers of the seventeenth century in large part insisted on the use of experience rather than on revelation, and sought to correlate experience with the truths and principles of mathematics.
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
Descartes, unlike Bacon, was a rationalist. Like the scientific figures of his age and even Bacon, he was interested in obtaining true knowledge as opposed to the reliance on authority of past eras. Descartes argued that this was only possible if one proceeded by foundations that were known for certain to be true. Many things we think are true are just opinions, so one must discover the foundations that are certainties. just as a building cannot be built on a weak foundation, so knowledge cannot be built on mere opinions. In the Discourse on Method, Descartes argued that one should not accept anything as true unless it is certain, and to proceed from the simple to the more complex. His methods were deductive, whereas Bacon's were inductive.
In the Meditations, Descartes introduced the method of radical skepticism when he supposed that there might be an evil demon deceiving us all along the way in everything we think we know or experience. In such a case, Descartes argued that almost everything we think we know must be rejected, as it was susceptible to even this wild supposition. The only thing we cannot doubt, however, is the contents of our own minds, particularly, the notion that if "I think, therefore I am" or the famous Cogito Ergo Sum. Descartes argued that the absolutely clear knowledge we have of the contents of our own minds was the certain foundation for all knowledge for which he was looking. Descartes said that the contents of the mind were "clear and distinct," and this became his new criteria for knowlege. Descartes's method was entirely based on the use of reason; one could come to his conclusions without ever leaving one's armchair, and therefore, Descartes differed from the empiricist method of Bacon, Hume, and also John Locke, who believed that all knowledge came from experience.
The Cartesian view fundamentally separatated mind from body, and the Cartesian idea that the mind was transparent, would not be challenged until Sigmund Freud argued that there were areas of our psyches that were opaque to us.
In the Meditations, Descartes introduced the method of radical skepticism when he supposed that there might be an evil demon deceiving us all along the way in everything we think we know or experience. In such a case, Descartes argued that almost everything we think we know must be rejected, as it was susceptible to even this wild supposition. The only thing we cannot doubt, however, is the contents of our own minds, particularly, the notion that if "I think, therefore I am" or the famous Cogito Ergo Sum. Descartes argued that the absolutely clear knowledge we have of the contents of our own minds was the certain foundation for all knowledge for which he was looking. Descartes said that the contents of the mind were "clear and distinct," and this became his new criteria for knowlege. Descartes's method was entirely based on the use of reason; one could come to his conclusions without ever leaving one's armchair, and therefore, Descartes differed from the empiricist method of Bacon, Hume, and also John Locke, who believed that all knowledge came from experience.
The Cartesian view fundamentally separatated mind from body, and the Cartesian idea that the mind was transparent, would not be challenged until Sigmund Freud argued that there were areas of our psyches that were opaque to us.
The Declaration of Independence
Thomas Paine had first raised the issue of independence in his 1775 pamphlet Common Sense, but it was not until 1776 that independence was formally declared. The Second Continental Congress, representing the colonial governments, adopted the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. Thomas Jefferson drafted the document, but the delclaration was influenced greatly by John Locke's Two Treatises on Government. The Declaration opened with a statement of principles and concluded with a list of the "injuries and usurpations" of the British monarch. Since many of the ideas articulated by Jefferson had, in fact, been the basis of the Glorious Revolution, the document presented a reasonable argument for independence. Jefferson had a flair for writing, and while Locke had said that the rights of life, liberty, and property were inalienable, Jefferson changed "property" to the "pursuit of happiness."
The war for independence had begun. The colonies, now states, had no central system of government, inadequate military forces, and no European ally. What they did have, however, was a common experience as colonials and a common determination to escape from the system of "tyranny" imposed on them by the British. As many as one-half of the colonists in the Americas remained loyal to Britain. Many of these loyalists, who were mostly wealthy landowners with moderate politcal beliefs, left during the Revolutionary War.
The first year of the war, from the spring of 1775 to summer 1776, saw inconclusive action as the British tried to figure out whether, indeed, they were engaged in warfare, or simply caught up in the irritating plots of a group of spoiled colonists. At first, the war was a struggle localized in and around the city of Boston. Following the Declaration of Independence, the conflict spread. In the fall of 1776, the largest British fleet ever sent abroad arrived in New York harbor. On Christmas night, 1776, the Americans won their first victories at Trenton and then at Princeton, New Jersey.
The campaigns of 1777 brought mixed success to the British. Under such capable leaders as William and Richard Lord Howe and John Burgoyne, they devised a plan to divide the United States into two sections. This plan failed and the American victory at Saratoga brought an end to their New York campaign.
Saratoga resulted in more than just a defeat for the British in New York; it convinced the French, and their new King Louis XVI, that the new American states might actually win the conflict, and in February 1778, the French government extended official recognition to the United States. A military alliance and military aid were forthcoming. The French were also driven by bitterness of their loss in the Seven Years' War.
The final phase of the war took place in the South. With the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, the war for independence ended. The American Revolution, however, had just begun.
The war for independence had begun. The colonies, now states, had no central system of government, inadequate military forces, and no European ally. What they did have, however, was a common experience as colonials and a common determination to escape from the system of "tyranny" imposed on them by the British. As many as one-half of the colonists in the Americas remained loyal to Britain. Many of these loyalists, who were mostly wealthy landowners with moderate politcal beliefs, left during the Revolutionary War.
The first year of the war, from the spring of 1775 to summer 1776, saw inconclusive action as the British tried to figure out whether, indeed, they were engaged in warfare, or simply caught up in the irritating plots of a group of spoiled colonists. At first, the war was a struggle localized in and around the city of Boston. Following the Declaration of Independence, the conflict spread. In the fall of 1776, the largest British fleet ever sent abroad arrived in New York harbor. On Christmas night, 1776, the Americans won their first victories at Trenton and then at Princeton, New Jersey.
The campaigns of 1777 brought mixed success to the British. Under such capable leaders as William and Richard Lord Howe and John Burgoyne, they devised a plan to divide the United States into two sections. This plan failed and the American victory at Saratoga brought an end to their New York campaign.
Saratoga resulted in more than just a defeat for the British in New York; it convinced the French, and their new King Louis XVI, that the new American states might actually win the conflict, and in February 1778, the French government extended official recognition to the United States. A military alliance and military aid were forthcoming. The French were also driven by bitterness of their loss in the Seven Years' War.
The final phase of the war took place in the South. With the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, the war for independence ended. The American Revolution, however, had just begun.
The Storming of the Bastille, the Great Fear and the Reign of Terror
The bread riots alarmed the monarchy, and it already had many troops in Paris due to the revolutionary activities of the Third Estate. The masses became further agitated when Louis dismissed his minister, Necker, whom the people saw as their champion against the aristocracy. The volatile situation erupted on July 14, 1789, and culminated in the storming of the Bastille, a fortress prison where where the monarchy traditionally kept dissenters. The rioters killed troops and released seven prisoners and formed a new municipal government, the commune. In response, the government created a militia in Paris, which became the National Guard. Its emblem was a cockade made up of the two colors of the city of Paris, blue and red. Louis XVI gave command of the Guard to General Lafayette, despite his involvement in the American Revolution, of which the monarchy had disapproved.....
The situation became progressively more volatile as the Great Fear swept through France in 1789. Fear of an aristocratic conspiracy to overthrow the Third Estate in the National Assembly, desperate needs in time of famine, and long-standing anger over feudal dues brought about violent protest against ancient manorial privileges. Peasants still paid fees for the use of village mills and other privileges known as banalities. They paid rent for land....
From 1792-1795, the Emergency Republic ruled France, dominated by the Committee of Public Safety, created in April 1793. The committee was essentially a dictatorship, whose tasks were to manage the war abroad and the growing chaos at home. Wages and prices were frozen, and the French ordered the use of the worthless assignats as money. The most important leaders were Georges Danton and Maximillian Robespierre, who vigorously argued in defense of any measures to ensure the survival of the "Republic of Virtue." Robespierre instituted a Reign of Terror starting in 1793. Robespierre supported such lofty ideas as universal suffrage, but the society he created was anything but utopian. He turned against any and all whom he believed did not support the revolution and who might see its reforms turned back. The Girondists, for example, were now enemies of the spread of the revolution. In 1793 Charlotte Corday, whose brother had been denounced and condemned by the Committee of Public Safety, assassinated Marat while he was soaking in his bathtub. Robespierre condemned many of his own friends, such as Danton, to the guillotine.
The situation became progressively more volatile as the Great Fear swept through France in 1789. Fear of an aristocratic conspiracy to overthrow the Third Estate in the National Assembly, desperate needs in time of famine, and long-standing anger over feudal dues brought about violent protest against ancient manorial privileges. Peasants still paid fees for the use of village mills and other privileges known as banalities. They paid rent for land....
From 1792-1795, the Emergency Republic ruled France, dominated by the Committee of Public Safety, created in April 1793. The committee was essentially a dictatorship, whose tasks were to manage the war abroad and the growing chaos at home. Wages and prices were frozen, and the French ordered the use of the worthless assignats as money. The most important leaders were Georges Danton and Maximillian Robespierre, who vigorously argued in defense of any measures to ensure the survival of the "Republic of Virtue." Robespierre instituted a Reign of Terror starting in 1793. Robespierre supported such lofty ideas as universal suffrage, but the society he created was anything but utopian. He turned against any and all whom he believed did not support the revolution and who might see its reforms turned back. The Girondists, for example, were now enemies of the spread of the revolution. In 1793 Charlotte Corday, whose brother had been denounced and condemned by the Committee of Public Safety, assassinated Marat while he was soaking in his bathtub. Robespierre condemned many of his own friends, such as Danton, to the guillotine.
Questions to Consider
Before answering the questions below, be sure to understand the readings by defining unknown words, researching allusions, and using prior knowledge to make connections with the broader strokes of history. This set of excerpts can be used for further study of the Art as a Reflection lecture at http://demott.weebly.com/philosophies-lecture.html
1. Explain the underlined passages. If necessary, supply an additional example in your explanation.
2. What are the implications of each of the underlined passages? How was each a product of the society prior and a producer of the society which followed?
3. Why were different ideas more dangerous than others? How is the same idea more dangerous than others in different World Historical Contexts (places and times)?
1. Explain the underlined passages. If necessary, supply an additional example in your explanation.
2. What are the implications of each of the underlined passages? How was each a product of the society prior and a producer of the society which followed?
3. Why were different ideas more dangerous than others? How is the same idea more dangerous than others in different World Historical Contexts (places and times)?