Midterm Review Flashcards
Describe the daily life of a peasant.
Peasants lived on land owned by a ruler, and farmed most days in order to survive. They ate what they grew, and were at the mercy of the weather. Most were incredibly poor, had very few rights, and made almost everything they owned.
What type of governing structure was used during the dark ages?
Monarchy (kings and queens)
What was the role of the Catholic Church?
The Catholic Church decided who got to be a king or queen.
They could keep being king as long as their people were Catholic, they paid the church . If a King didn’t do that, they would replace him
How did the Scientific Revolution weaken the Catholic Church?
Some of the teachings of the Catholic Church began to be proven incorrect by science, and people began to question more and more of the teachings
How did the Catholic church respond to the Scientific Revolution ?
They threatened, tortured, or killed scientists who refused to take back their research.
In your own words, describe what the Enlightenment was.
The Enlightenment was an explosion of ideas that focused on individual rights, better government, and science
What are the three Natural Rights? Explain each one
Life - Your right to be alive
Liberty - Your right to do whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t hurt others
Property - Your right to own and control things, and no one can take them from your without permission
According to John Locke, what is a government’s main concern?
If a government doesn’t protect natural rights, they should be overthrown
What new ideas were there about how governments should be run?
Citizens should vote on their leaders, 3 branches of government, citizens should have the right to a fair trial, free speech, religious freedoms, women should be treated as equals according to the law
What changes did Mary Wollstonecraft advocate for? To what extent has that change taken place?
The rights for women to own property, be educated, vote, and in general be treated as equals.
In most modern countries women do have all of those rights, but there are still areas that need improvement.
What is Mercantilism?
A Country uses their colonies to make money for the mother country, by providing raw materials and buying finished goods
Explain how the Enlightenment ideas inspired the American Revolution.
John Locke thought that a government was only supposed to be around to protect natural rights, and if it didn’t it should be overthrown. England was only trying to make itself richer, and wasn’t protecting our rights (the Navigation Acts, the Stamp Act, not allowed us to govern ourselves, forcing us to house their troops, etc.)
In what ways can you still see the impact of the Enlightenment on the United States government?
We have a government that focuses on protecting its citizens’ happiness. Voting rights, freedoms of speech religion, press, etc. 3 branches of government, trial by jury, no illegal search and seizure, capitalism.
What things did the first and second estates have in common?
Both had political power and were very wealthy, but did not pay any taxes
What is the only quality that all 3rd estate members shared?
None had political power, and they all had to pay taxes.
How large was the 3rd estate, and what kind of jobs did these people have?
97% total
17% were in the “upper 3rd” and were merchants, doctors, lawyers, business owners, etc.
80% were poor peasant farmers
How did Enlightenment ideas helped bring about the French Revolution?
John Locke thought that a government was only supposed to be around to protect natural rights, and if it didn’t it should be overthrown. French peasants were only used to make the king richer, and the government was taking away the rights of the peasants. (Taking their food, no freedoms of speech or religion, executing peasants without a trial for small crimes.)
In what ways was King Louis to blame for the French Revolution?
Had lousy leadership,wasn’t interested in ruling the country, never did anything about the economy until it was too late
Spent huge amounts of money on his own palace and lifestyle, which was paid for by the peasant class.
Who did the Jacobins blame for the problems in France?
The Wealthy
How many people ended up being killed during the Reign of Terror? How many were peasants?
40,000 and about 85% came from the 3rd estate
Was the French Revolution a success?
No, although it overthrew the king, it did not establish a government based on the Enlightenment.
Describe what life was like before the Industrial Revolution? (Where did people work, how did we make our stuff, etc?)
Most people lived on small farms and grew crops to eat
Most work was done in the home or was done by hand by an artisan
What major changes took place because of the Industrial Revolution?
Machines began doing more work for people instead of muscle power
People began to work outside of the home, and buy things that were mass produced in a factory
List the 7 reasons why England was the first to industrialize.
Plenty of rivers and coal
Large amounts of natural resources like coal and cotton
England had lots of rivers
Large harbors already built
Stable economy and government
Already had a global trade network
Large urban population with no other options
Explain the 5 reasons out of 8 for why England was first to industrialize.
Plenty of energy with rivers and coal to run the machines
Large amounts of natural resources like iron ore for building machines, and raw materials like cotton and wool
Rivers to transport materials and finished goods
Large harbors to handle all the new trade were already built
Stable economy and government allowed businesses to grow
Already had a global trade network to sell goods to
Large urban population with no other options to work in the factories for little pay
Describe the problems of housing for low wage workers during the Industrial revolution.
No building codes
No national free education
Very poor police protection
Streets had no drains and were piled high with waste
Widespread disease
Poor conditions were due to the fast pace of population growth in cities and government’s unwillingness to address the problems
Describe the working conditions of low wage workers
12 hour work days, 6 days a week
Paid 1 to 5 dollars per day
Incredibly dangerous
No minimum wage, worker’s compensation, or overtime
Business allowed to regulate businesses
Government in the US at the time believed in extreme hands-off principles
Allowed businesses to gain huge profits and make owners incredibly wealthy while workers remained incredibly poor
Explain how the invisible hand works and an example of it.
Invisible Hand - the collective decisions of all consumers informs businesses of what to make without the need for governments involvement
Picnic pants vs the charger
Who owns the factors of production in capitalism and makes decisions?
The people/ consumers/ business
What was a common feature between all the Capitalist reforms?
They did not actually want to change the system, used excuses to justify why it was broken.
They blamed the poor people for the problems.
What is the goal of communism?
The government work to ensure equality for all people
In a communist country, who would control all of the goods, factories, businesses, money, etc?
The government
Describe how unions gained rights and better conditions for their workers.
Unions have gained many reforms through collective bargaining – negotiations between employers and the business
If that fails, workers can go on strike, which means refusing to work until an agreement has been reached
What positive changes have happened in our world as a result of the Industrial Revolution?
No more child labor
Shorter work hours and the entire idea of the weekend
Better pay
Safer conditions
Minimum wage, workers’ compensation, and overtime
Describe what Imperialism is.
When a powerful country takes over a less powerful country and dominates their politics, economics, and social life.
Explain the economic reasons for Europeans to want colonies?
They would take resources to use for industrializing without paying for them
Colonies were used as a market to sell the goods Europeans produced in factories
Control of trade routes which allows your ships to resupply and you can charge other countries to use your stops
Explain the social reasons Europeans gave for wanting colonies.
Europeans felt that it was their responsibility to help “civilize” the native peoples
Spread European culture, which included things like sanitation, healthcare, education, technology
Spread Christianity
What is the white man’s burden?
Europeans felt that it was their responsibility to help “civilize” the native peoples
Helped to justify all the negative things the Europeans were doing in the colonies
What does The White Man’s burden say about how Europeans view themselves?
Made them feel like they were actually helping the people in the colonies by giving them “culture and civilization” and not just stealing their resources
What does The White Man’s burden say about how Europeans view the native people in colony?
They viewed the natives as almost child-like, and not able to look after themselves.
What are examples of the White Man’s Burden in practice in colonies?
Europeans forced natives to become Christian, change their language, foods, clothing styles, etc.
What is indirect rule?
Europeans allowed Indian princes to remain in power, as long they paid the Europeans taxes
How indirect rule work in India?
Indian princes got to remain alive and be rich and powerful if they agreed to do what the English wanted them to do. The English wouldn’t really have to do much, but still gain a lot of money.
What is the role of the Europeans in indirect imperialism?
Europeans are in the highest positions of power, and make the big decisions for the colonies, but do not deal with small details and decisions. They are responsible for setting tax rates and quotas for goods to be produced.
What is the role of the native working peoples in indirect imperialism?
The do all of the work, and pay the taxes.
What were the positive effects of imperialism on India?
Large railroad network and paved roads
Linked India to the industrialized world
Better health, education, and technology
What were the negative effects of imperialism on India?
Use of cash crop plantation led to starvation
Didn’t get value of resources
Were not allowed to learn how to govern
Lost independence and were treated like children
What is a cash crop?
A crop that is grown to sell for money, not for eating
What are some examples of cash crops?
Spices, tea, cotton, opium, tobacco, rubber, chocolate, coffee, etc.
What was Africa like before the age of Industrialization and Imperialism?
Hundreds of ethnic groups
Little modern technology
Europeans only had land on the coasts for trading slaves
What problems did the Europeans have trying to take over Africa before the Industrial Revolution?
Rough terrain including deserts, mountains, jungles and no maps
Rivers were too rough to navigate
Equal weapons (muskets) which Africans got from trading slaves
Malaria, other diseases killed Europeans
What were the solutions to these problems that the Industrial Revolution changed?
Railroads allowed the Europeans to move troops and supplies in and around Africa quickly
Steamboats could against the current and allowed the Europeans to move troops and supplies in and around Africa quickly and safely on water
The Maxim Gun was the first true machine gun which the Europeans used against the African people
Anti-Malaria drug called Quinine was introduced to Europeans in Africa. Made malaria survivable, and lessened the symptoms
What was the purpose of the Berlin Conference?
To make sure there weren’t any European vs. European wars over African land
Who was invited to the conferences? Who was left out- why?
Africa, because they were not considered important
What was the main thing the Europeans cared about when dividing up Africa?
What resources they could get
What did they ignore while dividing up Africa?
Ethnic and cultural boundaries
How was direct rule different from indirect rule?
Direct Imperialism - Europeans were in full control of the colony, brought in Europeans to run all the government jobs, made all decisions, and usually wanted to change the native culture to match their own.
Indirect Imperialism - Europeans only made the large decisions for the colony and set tax and quota rates. Natives were allowed to otherwise run their own country, and left most of their culture intact.
How did imperialism affect regular African people?
Africans died from wars, diseases, and brutal working conditions
How do Europeans and Africans view imperialism differently?
Europeans viewed it as helping the natives
The natives viewed it as an invasion and a theft of all their resources
What were the negative effects of Imperialism in Africa?
Many Africans were killed through rebellions against the Europeans, diseases, and on plantations and mines
Africans lost all the value of the resources of their continent
Created decades of conflict because the national borders did not align with tribal borders, which leads to modern day civil wars
Explain one long term effect of Imperialism still seen in Africa today.
They are poorer because they never got the value of all their resources, they still have a lot of wars as the ethnic groups separate from each other.
What was one effect from Imperialism on European countries?
They became far wealthier than the rest of the world
What are the four M.A.I.N. causes of World War I?
Militarism, Alliance System, Imperialism, and Nationalism
What is militarism?
Countries’ focus on having giant, powerful militaries
What were the complex web of alliances in Europe supposed to stop?
wars from happening in Europe
Which countries were in the Central Powers?
Ottoman Empire, Germany, Austria-Hungary
Which countries were in the Allied Powers?
France, Great Britain, Italy, United States, Russia
How did imperialism contribute to the start of WWI?
Germany wanted to get colonies, and England and France wanted to keep theirs. The winner would get control of all of them
What is nationalism?
Intense pride in your country
How did nationalism contribute to the start of WWI? (two ways)
Made countries feel superior and were sure they would win a war
Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in an attempt to free Bosnia from Austria-Hungary
What was the name of the terrorist organization that killed Franz Ferdinand?
The Black Hand
Why did Gavrilo Princip assassinate Ferdinand?
He was trying to free Bosnia from Austria-Hungary, and thought they would join with his native Serbia
How did Austria-Hungary respond to the killing of their prince?
They threatened Serbia, and then invaded them
Which were the first two countries to go to war?
Serbia and Austria-Hungary
