Sample questions from each section

  1. 16 sections – divide work in class
  2. Choose the top 3-4 in each section
  3. Come up with a solid answer
  4. Discuss with whole class

Renaissance notes and Renaissance Art

  1. What do Single Point Perspective and Chiaroscuro have in common?
  2. How as Michelangelo’s idealism a good way for him to get “social” and “political,” while remaining an artist of religious subjects?
  3. What do Michelangelo and Donatello’s Davids have in common? What makes the different?
  4. Giotto is called the “father of Renaissance.” Why? What would come next?
  5. How is Machiavelli’s guidance a good example for a new leader? How is he a poor guide?
  6. How can Burke justify claiming that the Renaissance is a misnomer?
  7. In what way did competition lead to the downfall of Italian independence?
  8. In what way is Renaissance Art a good way to learn about Renaissance society?

Reformation and Tudors

  1. How did new technology influence the success of the Lutheran German Reformation?
  2. What were some issues Luther had with the Church which got him into trouble?
  3. When Luther exposed his 95 Theses, why might political leaders gravitate toward him and support his religious ideas, even if they didn’t agree with them?
  4. Luther created a whole new way of thinking about religion. Why would he choose the Bible as his basis for truth?

Scientific Revolution and Age of Exploration

  1. Why is the shift of the scientific impression of the solar system from Ptolemy's earth centered universe to a “heliocentric” sun-centered universe significant?
  2. For what was Galileo was blasted by the public and condemned by the Church?
  3. What was so exceptional about Descartes’ findings in his Discourse on Method, which included a quote about our own existence?
  4. According to Newton, what causes gravity?
  5. What was exploration such an obsession for Portugal and Spain?
  6. Why might we consider the sailors of the Age of Exploration exceptional?

Spanish Absolutists

  1. What were some of the conflicts Charles V dealt with during this reign?
  2. How was Spanish Philip II a good example of absolutism?
  3. What are some conflicts Philip dealt with during his reign?
  4. List and define the connections Spain had with England during the reign of Philip II.
  5. Philip II ruled for 42 years, and was clearly a devoted and strong ruler. Yet, he’s often considered a failure. What decisions would lead historians to say that?
  6. What was the Spanish Armada all about?

FRENCH ABSOLUTISM

  1. What was the method Henry IV used to secure his absolutist power in France?
  2. What was the method Louis XIII used to secure his absolutist power in France?
  3. What was the method Louis XIV used to secure his absolutist power in France?
  4. What was exceptional about the Palace of Versailles?
  5. What did the repealing of the Edict of Nantes say about Louis XIV?
  6. What did the issuing of the Edict of Nantes say about Henry IV?
  7. Although Louis XIV accumulated more wealth than any of the other rulers, he squandered all those financial gains. On what?
  8. Which reason was most consistent with the personality Louis XIV had for the reason he most likely had spent so much of that wealth irresponsibly?

ENGLISH PARLIAMENT questions

  1. How can we see the foundation of our American Revolution in the English Civil War?
  2. How can we (as Americans) relate most to the Roundheads?
  3. Cromwell, Lord Protector promoted education. Why? What was this based on?
  4. For what reason did the English choose to restore the monarchy after Cromwell?
  5. Why did the English likely not like the Stuarts, in relation to the Tudors?

GERMANS

  1. How are the Hapsburgs and Hohenzollerns different?
  2. Why would the Thirty Years War be called the First World War?
  3. What happened to the Catholic envoys of Ferdinand Hapsburg when they told the Bohemian leadership that they’d need to obey their new intolerant Catholic leadership?
  4. The Thirty Years War started as a war of religion, but that’s not how it finished. What changed?
  5. In the end, what really changed because of the impact of the Thirty Years War?

RUSSIANS

  1. What are some examples of what Peter the Great looked like, or the appearance he liked most?
  2. What was the purpose of the war against Sweden and the construction of St. Petersburg
  3. What does it say about Russia that the reforms Peter and Catherine tried were exception in Russia, and that once they were gone, most of their reforms were undone?
  4. What are some examples of ideas and reforms of Peter and Catherine?
  5. As reform minded as Peter and Catherine were, if you disobeyed their ideas or edicts, the result was torture and execution. What does this say about Russian leadership?

ENLIGHTENMENT

  1. What was the goal of the Enlightenment Philosophes?
  2. How is Enlightenment a very American concept?
  3. How is our American government a good example of Enlightenment teachings?
  4. How are Locke and Hobbes a good foundation for the Enlightenment?
  5. Deism is a religion created out of the rationality discussed by enlightenment philosophes, in which God would judge you on the good you did for society. Explain how that is consistent with enlightenment teachings.

IMPACT OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT

  1. What did all three Enlightenment Absolutists have in common?
  2. What set Joseph II apart from the other two?
  3. That there were so few enlightened kings, and that their effects were not all that lasting, what does that say about European government and society at this point (1700s)?
  4. Baroque and Rococo were totally different in intent, but the actual results and style might not appear all that different. What did each seem to represent?
  5. Frederick the Great called himself THE FIRST SERVANT OF THE STATE. What does that mean? How might he apply it?

BRITAIN IN THE 1700s

  1. What made the English government different than the governments of France, Spain, Russia, or even the Germans from the end of the Stuarts forward?
  2. English government has several divisions, like Whigs and Tories, House of Lords and House of Commons, Parliamentarians and Royalists. How is this the DREAM environment for the Enlightenment philosophe Montesquieu?
  3. Why did language have an impact in the diminishing power of the English monarchy during the early years of the Hanoverian dynasty? (that was the name of King George I, II, III and IV)
  4. The act of Union was a BIG deal for British politics. What was united?
  5. What was “common” about the House of Commons, as opposed to the House of Lords?

BIRTH OF AMERICA

  1. How did the enlightenment effect the American Revolution?
  2. What major revolution was impacted by the American Revolution?
  3. What did “popular sovereignty” have to do with the American Revolution?
  4. What was the real purpose of the Boston Massacre for the American cause?

FRENCH SOCIETY PRIOR TO THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

  1. French society was divided into three sections prior to the revolution, called estates. What were each called, and what did each represent?
  2. In what way was the French Revolution a manifestation of the principles of the enlightenment?
  3. What was the intention of the Meeting of the Estates General?
  4. What was the determination of the National Assembly at the Tennis Court Oath? (what did the promise to do?)
  5. What was the reason the National Assembly formed, since the king had called together the meeting of the Estates General?

START OF FRENCH REVOLUTION

  1. The National Assembly took two years to create a constitution, known as the Constitution of 1791. What did this mean would be the “law of the land”?
  2. The new constitution allowed for a monarchy with dramatically limited powers. What did King Louis’ dash for the boarder do for his reputation?
  3. After the constitution created a form of republic, what happened to the “flavor” of the revolution?
  4. After 1792, what was the new republic’s relationship with neighboring countries, like Austria, Prussia and Britain?
  5. Each of those countries were loaded with emigres, who arrived there after the Great Fear of 1789. Who were these emigres, and what did they stir up in the nations hosting them?

REIGN OF TERROR

  1. Who was Maximillian Robespierre, and what was he trying to do?
  2. What was the purpose of the guillotine? How is this a good manifestation of the enlightenment? How did it become a ridiculous exaggeration of the enlightenment?
  3. Why did the Revolution become so violent?
  4. Most of those killed during the French Revolution were NOT nobles. Why not? Where were they? So who was it that were killed in larger numbers? Why them?
  5. Why was Robespierre, who considered himself “the incorruptible” killed in such a grotesque manner?

AGE OF NAPOLEON

  1. What was Napoleon’s job prior to becoming a political leader of France?
  2. Emperor Napoleon is often called a child of the Enlightenment. What did he do, or what was he that would warrant such a title? Include terms like Napoleonic Code and Corsica.
  3. What did Napoleon do with much of Europe he conquered, like Italy, half of Prussia and the Netherlands?
  4. What happened to the Holy Roman Empire and Poland after Napoleon got control of those lands?
  5. Britain defied Napoleon. Napoleon responded with the Continental System. What was that meant to do to Britain?
  6. How did nationalism have an effect on France, and on conquered nationalities throughout Europe?
  7. What happened in Russia that was such a shock to Napoleon?
  8. With so many of Napoleon’s “Grand Army” gone, what was bound to happen at the Battle of the Nations?