Prologue

Essential Question: How and where the theory and practice of democratic government develop?

What you will learn: In this chapter you will follow the development of democratic thinking, from its beginning in ancient Greece through the American and French Revolution.

Section 1: The Legacy of Ancient Greece and Rome

--->Main Idea: The Greeks developed democracy, and the Romans added Representative Democracy.

It was from these civilizations that the Founding Fathers used to form what we now know as the United States of America:

A republic-->people vote for representatives to make laws for them via fair elections which occur in a cycle to change the person in power.

A set of written laws that everybody must follow.

The rule of law-->no one is above the law and everyone is equal in the eyes of the law regardless of income, race, religion, ability level, social status, etc.

Section 2: Judeo-Christian Tradition

--->Main Idea: Judaism and Christianity taught individual worth, ethical values and the need to fight injustice.

We also learned and spent time with the Renaissance and the Reformation time periods. Both of these major events stressed the importance of the individual and stressed the importance of humanism. Together we looked at the famous Renaissance Men who emphasized these ideas. We further linked these ideas to our later studies in Unit 2 which concern the events of the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. The ultimate effect of the Renaissance and Reformation was human beings stopped looking at the afterlife as the most important event in ones life. Instead people began to seek earthly pleasures and this lad to many of the advancements that our society has seen since.

Supplemental Assignment: Leonardo's Inventions

Task: Researching Leonardo Da Vinci's Inventions

Purpose: To Show how Leonardo anticipated many modern scientific inventions

Instructions: Like many other Renaissance humanists, Leonardo da Vinci believed in the limitless possiblities of human achievement. Leonardo's faith in human creativity found expression in his notebooks which were filled with drawings and descriptions of an astonishing range of inventions. Many of these inventions, such as the flying machine and an alarm clock, have a somewhat modern look and purpose. Here are some other examples of Leonardo's inventions:

• parachute

• power loom

• armored tank

• diving suit (scuba)

• submarine

• construction crane

• hangglider

• flywheel

You will research one of Leonardo da Vinci's inventions and find illustrations and descriptions of some of his drawings. You then need to compare Leonardo's invention with its modern version. To accomplish this you will need to use google slides.

Section 3: Democracy develops in England

--->Main Idea: England was the first to develop democratic institutions to limit the power of the absolute monarchy. These items mainly consisted of a document called The Magna Carta and the establishment of a democratic lawmaking body called Parliament.

Essay questions can be both tricky and intimiditing. Approach an essay question in this way:

1. Think of an essay question as an friendly argument that you are having with me. If I present a question to you as my end of the arguement then you must present your response with proof.

2. You are the teacher and you must teach the teacher who you assume knows nothing about the topic by giving them enough information to prove your point.

3. You are a lawyer and you must convince both judge and jury (who know nothing) that your client is innocent.

Anyway that you dice it you must

1. state your case (thesis), the point that you are trying to prove

2. depending on the question you must present exampleS to discuss

3. you must back up your examples with EVIDENCE (proof).

Culminating Essay Question: Study this question carefully since you will see it again and again.

Choose two of the following things that we discussed and explain how they influenced democracy and the shaping of the modern world?

=Monotheistic Religions

=Renaissance

=Reformation

Answer to the question above:

All three focused on individuals as important and they challenged both the kings and the church as leaders. For example, the monothestic religions preached the idea that all people are equals and they didn't rank people by income. This went against everything that both the church and the kings believed. Once literacy spread the idea of all men are created equal became common and for a call for the overthrow of both king and church.

Secondly, the Renaissance helped lead to the invention of the printing press and continued the idea that every person is important. The Renaissance pushed people to learn and interpret the world for themselves rather than king and church. This led people to learn about democracy from the ancient Greeks and for these people to establish democracies.

Today most of the world's governments are democracies and this is thanks in part to the Renaissance and monothestic religions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All good essays should have a thesis statement which is basically the reason for your answer. Then examples need to be given which should be backed up by at least 2-3 pieces of evidence.

Look how I picked apart the answer to the essay question by identifying the specific parts that all essays need.

All three emphasized the importance of the individuals and challenged the authority of kings/authoritarian leaders. For example, the major religions of the world preached that it is our duty as individuals to combat oppression. Monarchs and nobles at that time controlled everything and could do just about anything they wanted. The religions of the world told us that all people are equal despite their status of position in society. In doing so it told human beings that they should be treated equally and deserved a say in how society was run. These beliefs were the ultimate reason for the reestablishment of democracy.

Secondly, the Renaissance stressed the importantance of the individual by encouraging learning, reading and interpreting the world for oneself. This went against everything the church and the king stood for because they enforced the idea that they were the only ones who could learn, read and intrepret the world. This led to the reading of texts from Ancient Greece which led people to finding out about democracy. The printing press spread the ideas of the Renaissance even more and helped lead to democracy returning.

Today most of the world's governments are democracies and this is thanks in part to both religion and the Renaissance.

If your still struggling here is a more down to Earth example if the essay question on your test read:

Despite some controversary, Tom Brady is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. Discuss at least two reasons why you think this is so and tell me in the end why he is the greatest quarterback of all time.

All good essays should have a thesis statement which is basically the reason for your answer. Then examples need to be given which should be backed up by at least 2-3 pieces of evidence.

Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback to ever play professional football. One reason for this is the number of Super Bowls that he was won in his career. Between 2001 and 2014 (13 years) Brady has won five Super Bowls in seven attempts. He is the only quarterback to win more than four Super Bowls in a career.

Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback for another reason because he ranks in the top five all-time in both passing yards and touchdown passes. Tom Brady ranks 5th in career passing yards with 54,012 and 4th in touchdown passes with 399. Only six quarterbacks in NFL history have thrown for over 50,000 yards in a career and when he does accomplish the feat he will be one of four quarterbacks to throw 400 or more touchdowns.

Remember if you respond without a focused thesis, examples and evidence then your argument means nothing.