Having studied the origins of the modern world in our first unit, today we will begin our study of the modern world itself. We will start by studying the rise of Europe. When we last left Europe, it was a backwater. The South was rich and creative while Europe was not. Yet within a few centuries European countries would have political and economic control over a large portion of the world's people. We'll start trying to figure out why (sort of like answering Yali's question again) today. We will also be working on the skills of reading comprehension, note taking, and paragraph writing.
Question of the Day
What led to the rise of Europe after the Middle Ages?
Focus Questions
How did the lack of a unified political system in Europe lead to political pluralism there?
How did geography lead to the development of free, competitive, creative, and interdependent economies in Europe?
How did these conditions create an environment where invention and innovation could thrive?
The vocabulary below is related to the work you are doing today and would be worth using in your paragraph. In a few classes you will have write an assessment in which you have to identify three of these that I will choose. Here is an example of an ID:
Alps: The Alps are a mountain range in southern Europe (France, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland). They were significant to European society between 1300 and 1750 because they were one of the physical landforms that made it difficult for Europe to be politically centralized under one government. Europe’s decentralization was a key to its economic development.
Historical Connection: Physical geography is important to the development of civilizations. Just as the Alps influenced the development of Europe, we have studied that the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers had an impact on the development of settlements and life in Mesopotamia.
Western Europe
Alps
Pyrenees
English Channel
Baltic Sea
Political pluralism
Economic pluralism
Capitalism
Middle class
Huguenots
Louis XIV
Gunpowder
Renaissance
Printing press
Reformation
Fortresses
Atlantic Ocean
Colonial empires
Industrial Revolution
Complete this reading on the rise of Europe. Click here for questions to guide your reading.
Be ready to answer these questions at the beginning of next class.
Comprehension quiz on the reading. The quiz will be based on the tasks in the reading guide (above).
We will have a lecture on this topic.
Write one paragraph at the end of class based on the homework and today's classwork. The prompt will be: What led to the rise of Europe after the Middle Ages?
To improve the quality of your paragraph you may include a sentence or two about the following historical document: England, India, and The East Indies, 1617.
You will read a short section of Chapter 4 of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations by David Landes (in Blackboard). Landes believes that part of the reason Europe became wealthy was that people could expect to make profits from their inventions and hard work in Europe's relatively free markets. So they worked hard and invented increasingly productive technologies without fear that the government would interfere.
Assignment: For this assignment you will have a choice.
Option #1: You may read the entire chapter (15 pages) and explain on a notecard at the beginning of next class why Landes believes Europe became wealthy.
Option #2: You may choose just one of the technologies discussed in the chapter and explain on a notecard at the beginning of next class why Landes believes that technology helped Europe become more wealthy. The technologies to choose from are:
The water wheel (2 paragraphs)
Eyeglasses (9 paragraphs)
The mechanical clock (12 paragraphs)
Printing (6 paragraphs)
Gunpowder (3 paragraphs)
Readings
If you want to learn more about this topic and be able to write about it and participate more effectively in discussions, complete this reading ("The Invention of the Printing Press and its Effects"), this one ("The Economic Recovery of Europe"), and this one ("The Birth of Banking").
Videos: Try these Crash Course videos too.