Unit 3: History of Europe

Unit Description

Ancient Greece and Rome have left a lasting impact on the world today. Ancient Greece, although comprised of many separate city-states embroiled in fierce rivalries, had a rich and well-developed culture. Alexander the Great’s conquest of Persia expanded Greece’s influence to the rest of the ancient world thus forever changing history. Many Greek ideas such as democracy, philosophy, and art heavily influenced Rome. Through Rome’s conquests of neighboring civilizations, its culture had a far-reaching impact. Elements of both civilizations, especially government structures, are all around us today in the United States.

During the European Middle Ages, Europe moved away from the centralized government of the former Roman Empire and towards smaller kingdoms managed through the feudal system. The Middle Ages in Europe is sometimes erroneously called the Dark Age. A dark age implies that little learning, intellectual achievements, or architectural feats were made—a description that does not actually describe this time period. The Catholic Church rose to prominence during this period and greatly influenced the daily life of people at this time. This religious presence was the driving force behind the holy wars known as the Crusades launched by Christians to retake Jerusalem from the Muslims who had inhabited the area for several centuries. These wars, combined with the effects of the Bubonic Plague, weakened the feudal system in Europe and led to a new social order and new ways of thinking in a time period called the Renaissance. During this time, people began to find new value and appreciation for the human mind and the accomplishments of people.


Essential Question

Why do societies organize people according to power and authority?

Themes

    • Historians must challenge the dominant historical narrative because it is often told from the perspective of the oppressor.
    • The standard of living of a group of people depends upon a region's environment, access to natural resources, and the ability to exploit resources for their benefit.
    • Push/pull factors cause people to migrate to seek a better life, which causes cultures to diffuse and mix their traditions.
    • A region’s economy typically becomes reliant upon its resources and environment.
    • The development of legal systems establishes an authority structure through formalizing laws and consequences.
    • Societies use social systems and belief systems to create a shared identity and organize themselves according to power and authority.
    • Societies enter conflicts to increase their power and defend their way of life.
    • Humans develop different technologies and innovations as they settle in a region to organize themselves and meet community needs and wants.

Standards Addressed

  • 6.1.1- Produce clear and coherent writing for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
  • 6.1.3- Analyze information in primary and secondary sources to address document-based questions.
  • 6.1.4- Identify and compare measurements of time in order to understand historical chronology.
  • 6.2.6- Analyze the origin and spread of major world religions as they developed throughout history.
  • 6.2.9- Describe the characteristics, significance, and influences of feudalism, the Crusades, and the growth of towns and cities through trade and commerce during the Middle Ages.
  • 6.2.10-Examine the significance of the people and ideas that influenced the Renaissance in Europe.
  • 6.3.3- Compare and contrast physical and political boundaries of civilizations, empires, and kingdoms.
  • 6.3.4- Determine world migration patterns and population trends by interpreting maps, charts, and graphs.
  • 6.4.3- Explain the connection between physical geography and its influence on the development of civilization.
  • 6.5.1- Describe the elements of Greek government that influenced democracy.
  • 6.5.2- Describe the government of the roman republic that influenced democracy.
  • 6.6.1- Explain the impact of job specialization in the development of civilizations.
  • 6.6.2- Analyze the progression from barter exchange to monetary exchange.
  • 6.6.3- Describe the economic motivation for expanding trade and taxation


Unit Outcomes

Students will know:

    • The geography of Greece and Rome.
    • The origins of Greek and Roman civilizations.
    • The key characteristics of Greek city-states.
    • The effect of war on civilizations.
    • The influence of Greek philosophers on ancient Greece and the modern world.
    • The development of modern democracy.
    • The intellectual achievements of Greece and Rome.
    • The impact of Alexander the Great on global culture.
    • The beginnings of the republic form of government.
    • Daily life in ancient Greece and Rome.
    • The spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.
    • The characteristics of the Byzantine Empire and the role of Emperor Justinian in its success.
    • The political, social, and economic structures found in Europe after the fall of Rome.
    • The importance of the Roman Catholic Church in the daily lives of Europeans during the Middle Ages.
    • The causes, course, and consequences of the Crusades.
    • The impact improved farming techniques had on European society.
    • The causes, course, and consequences of the Black Death in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
    • The impact the Renaissance had on European society.
    • The Renaissance led to rapid learning and growth in Europe.

Students will be able to:

Historical Thinking:

    • Annotate documents
      • Use the different steps for different types of documents when analyzing their contents
    • Source documents
      • Identify author’s point of view/position on a historical event
      • Identify author’s purpose in producing the document
      • Consider the source’s audience
    • Contextualize sources
      • Understand how context influences content of the document
      • Recognize documents are products of particular points in time
    • Close read sources
      • Identify author’s claims about an event
      • Evaluate evidence and reasoning the author uses to support claims
      • Evaluate author’s word choice

Writing

    • Strong body paragraphs
      • TOSEEC
      • Topic Sentences
      • 2 types of evidence
    • Strengthening evidence
      • Context
      • Extended Response
      • Introducing Text Evidence
    • Strengthening Elaborations
      • Elaboration
      • Concluding Sentence
      • Context pt. 2

Unit Vocabulary

  1. peninsula- A piece of land surrounded by water on three sides and land on the fourth.
  • city-state (polis)- A city that is not part of a larger unit. It acts like an independent country with its own government.
  • Mediterranean Sea - a sea almost completely enclosed by land, south of Europe and north of Africa
  • citizenship - a status, or standing, given by a government to some or all of its people.
  • citizen- A member of a political community; they participate in government.
  • polytheistic - belief in many gods
  • myth- a story about mythical beings such as gods
  • mythology- collection of myths or stories about their gods and heroes
  • alphabet- A writing system where symbols represent sounds.
  • literature- Books and writing.
  • epic- In Greece, a long poem filled with heroic deeds.
  • fable- In Greece, short stories that tell a moral or lesson.
  • drama-A play where actors act out the story.
  • tragedy- A drama about the fall in fortunes of the main character; it ends sadly
  • comedy- A drama about the rise in fortunes of a main character; it ends silly and happy.
  • architecture - the art of designing and constructing buildings
  • column - an upright pillar, typically made of stone, supporting a structure
  • Acropolis- ancient city center in Athens, built on a hill
  • Parthenon- a temple in Ancient Athens on the Acropolis
  • philosophy-A way of life and thinking.
  • Socrates - ancient Greek philosopher
  • Plato - ancient Greek philosopher, disciple of Socrates
  • Athens - Greek city-state; had direct democracy as form of government
  • Sparta- Greek city-state; had an oligarchy as form of government, known for creating soldiers
  • oligarchy- A type of government where a small group of people rule. Found in Sparta.
  • direct democracy- type of government where citizens themselves vote on the issues in government.
  • Persian Wars - wars fought between Persia and all the Greek city-states; Greece won and became united
  • Peloponnesian Wars - wars fought between Athens and Sparta; Sparta won but Greece became weak
  • Alexander the Great - King of Macedon, conqueror of Greece, Egypt and Persia. Spread Greek culture across vast area.
  • Hellenistic - another word for Ancient Greek (ex: Hellenistic culture = the culture of Ancient Greece)
  • Plebeian- The lower-class citizens of the Roman Republic.
  • Patrician- The often wealthy upper-class citizens of the Roman Republic.
  • republic/representative democracy- A form of government where citizens elect representatives to make decisions in government.
  • Senate- The governing body in the Roman Republic that voted on laws.
  • jury - citizens who deliver a verdict in a legal case in court
  • dictator- Temporary position in the Roman government that gave total control to one man
  • Julius Caesar - Roman general who became a dictator for the Roman Republic; his murder led to the Roman Empire
  • empire- A group of places under a single ruler; not democratic
  • emperor - single ruler of an empire
  • Pax Romana- A time of more than 200 years of Roman peace
  • Latin- The language of the Romans and basis of modern romance languages.
  • currency - standardized form of money
  • Aqueduct- A structure that could carry water from mountains to dry areas
  • rights - individual privileges that governments protect (ex: freedom of speech, the right to a jury)
  • responsibilities - requirements of being a citizen (ex: voting, following the laws)
  • Middle Ages - the period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance
  • rural: countryside
  • urban: city
  • Catholic- the first Christian religion, and before Martin Luther, the only Christian religion
  • Charlemagne - the First Holy Roman Emperor who helped to unite Europe at the beginning of the Middle Ages
  • feudalism- social system in medieval Europe centered around exchanging land/work for protection
  • kingdom- a territory ruled by a king or queen
  • social class - division of society based on social and economic status
  • fief / manor - a large estate with land leased to tenants
  • noble / lord- a person with high social or political status
  • Knight / vassal- a man who served his lord as a mounted soldier in armor
  • serf- a farm laborer bound to the land but not considered property
  • Manorialism - the economic system of how land was distributed and who profited from the land
  • Christianity- a monotheistic religion that believes Jesus is the son of God
  • Judaism- the first monotheistic religion; for much of its history, Jews did not have a homeland
  • Islam- a monotheistic religion founded by Muhammad and found in the Middle East and West Africa
  • Muslim - a follower of the religion of Islam
  • Jerusalem - an ancient holy city important to Jews, Christians, and Muslims
  • Crusades- a series of holy wars between Christians and Muslims for control of Jerusalem
  • corroboration - considering and comparing details from multiple accounts.
  • Magna Carta - a legal document signed by the King of England that protected the rights of citizens from the government and limited the monarch's power for the first time in history
  • heavy plow - a farm tool with a heavy blade that prepared the land for crops and increased crop yields during the Middle Ages
  • apprentice - a person who is learning a trade from a skilled employer
  • guild- a medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often having considerable power.
  • The Black Plague- a plague that killed 50% of Europe’s population; also known as the Bubonic Plague or Black Death
  • plagues -infectious diseases that spread among a large population of people
  • Renaissance- a time period of cultural rebirth in Europe based on the rediscovery of Greek and Roman culture
  • classical - referring to the culture of the Greeks and Romans
  • realistic - true to life
  • standards of beauty - the socially constructed notion of physical attractiveness.
  • Humanism - a new way of thinking that viewed both society as a whole as well as individuals important
  • Secularism- religion does not need to be the center of human affairs
  • Individualism - the belief that the individual is more important than the larger community.
  • Printing Press- an invention that allowed books to be mass produced instead of hand-written, leading to the spread of literacy


Potential Misunderstandings

Students often confuse Greek and Roman elements. Providing opportunities for students to categorize and compare/contrast helps them properly store information in their minds. Students tend to accept history as a set of facts that tell a story. Teachers need to provide opportunities for students to view history from multiple perspectives to tell a full story and better understand when pieces of a story are missing. Creating a double timeline of Greek and Roman accomplishments that students construct throughout the unit will help tremendously understanding time and place of the events they are learning about

Master Timeline- creating a triple timeline of European, Middle Eastern and African accomplishments that students construct throughout the unit will help tremendously understanding time and place of the events they are learning about