Neeshi Patadia

Fabiola Fernandez

Kimberly Kaiser

December 20, 2010

Social History Practice Test

The period between 1450-1815 experienced extreme variations of social history. This history was made up of: status of women/marriage and family life, changes in education and religion, agrarian reforms in farming, as well as the status of serfs. Classes and social structure varied between centuries, as well as acceptance of slavery. Lastly, nutrition and health fluctuated along with harvests and standards of sanitation.

In the late Middle Ages, (1)______marriages and (2)______families were common. Marriage was more based on (3)______reasons than on love. Society was mainly (4)______, or male dominant. At the same time, there was relative sexual equality, and the status of women was better than in the 16th-17th century. Many working class girls took jobs outside the home, and the domestic servants were often abused. There was a lack of strong relationship between parents and their children due to high (5)______rates. Due to the high rate of illegitimacy because of the increasing urbanization, there was an increase in (6)______, or orphanages. This man whose name begins with a J wrote Emile, and greatly influenced the education of children; his name was (7)______. These and other books enforced severe discipline and encouraged the saying of “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” Religious education greatly varied throughout the turn of the centuries. This group of people called the (8)______ encouraged people to read the Bible for themselves. Due to this group and the idea of (9)______, the literacy rate greatly increased among the middle class. There were, however, many reform movements, such as that of the (10)______, or followers of John Wycliffe. Amidst all the new religions such as Calvinism and Lutheranism, many (11)______ Monarchs took control of national churches. Many women were accused of being witches due to the belief that they were more likely to be corrupted by the Devil. However, by the 18th century, they had decreased. In the end, many Europeans were able to attain greater religious freedom than ever before.

The social (12)______of European society faced many changes from the 1450s to 1815. The (13)______population was growing, and the inhabitants of both (14)______and city land were very different in their styles of living. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the country consisted of land lords, (15)______, and landless laborers while the (16)______and artisans lived in the city. In the 18th century, although the general class hierarchy remained the same, changes were seen. (17)______was introduced in Easter Europe, and the rural areas saw the arrival of the (18)______which was a family run business, often done in addition to farm work. The cottage industry was a precursor to the (19)______.

Specifically, the status of serfs changed in Europe. Often times nobles in the 14th and 15th centuries manipulated the law to get the serfs to work the land for longer. One specific law called (20)______bound the serfs to the land and their owner from one generation to the next. However, by the 1500s, serfdom began to die down, and was all gone by the time agricultural reform began to surface in the 18th century. Nevertheless, even with their freedom, the peasants could not find happiness.

Seeing the need to make better use of the land, the (21)______, which had previously been for public use, was removed in the (22)______ Peasants faced a difficult situation for the land they had used to graze their animals and find food was now gone. In addition to this change, the system of (23)______was modified so that all land could be used at all times. In general, these changes had a positive effect as countries saw an (24)______in food production.

In the Middle Ages, malnutrition and the (25) ______led to loss of one-third of the European population. By the 16th and 17th centuries, (26) ______and other diseases, as well as continued poor nutrition, resulted in low life expectancy. Higher production costs due to less food caused less consumption although upper classes ate large quantities of (27) ______, while the poor sustained themselves on (28) ______. Quality of life increased in the 18th century, and life expectancy increased from twenty-five to thirty-five years. Also during this century, societies emphasized hospital reformation, mental health institutions, and a general (29) ______system. A variety of vegetables became more available, and people such as Edward Jenner made major advances in the control of plague and disease. Life expectancy increased again in the early 19th century, and (30) ______mortality decreased significantly. At the same time, living conditions in cities were poor.
In the Middle Ages, few (31) ______lived in Europe; however, by the 16th and 17th centuries, African slavery was introduced, leading to a dramatic increase of slave (32) ______in the New World. As of the 1700s, slavery continued to exist in the Portuguese, Spanish, and British empires. In the early 19th century, (33) ______ended in Latin America as the Spanish and Portuguese leaders were overthrown and Latin American countries achieved independence.

ANSWERS

1. arranged

2. nuclear

3. economic

4. patriarchal

5. infant mortality

6. foundling homes

7. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

8. Protestants

9. Humanitarianism

10. Lollards

11. Absolute

12. Structure
13. Urban
14. Rural
15. Peasants
16. Merchants

17. Serfdom
18. Cottage industry
19. Textile industry
20. Hereditary subjugation
21. Common land
22. Enclosure movement
23. Crop rotation
24. increase
25. Black Plague
26. smallpox
27. meat
28. bread
29. public health
30. child
31. Africans
32. trading
33. slavery