The Americas: Pre-Columbian Empires to Colonies

1. The Americas: Pre-Columbian Empires to Colonies Ch. 15 and 16

2. Identify major causes and describe the major effects of European exploration

3. Causes • Political – Nationalism leads to a desire for overseas colonies.  • Economic – Industrial Revolution led for a search for new markets and raw materials • Social – Advancements in technology lead Europeans to develop racist attitudes as they see they are superior to others;

4. Effects • Native people lose control of their lands and independence • New diseases like smallpox reduce native populations • Areas stripped of natural resources • Artificial boundaries either combine rival groups or divide kinship groups that continue to create political problems in former colonies • Humanitarian efforts improve sanitation and education that leads to growth in life expectancy and literacy • Colonial lands equipped with infrastructure to aid in economic growth • Products from colonies valued in the international market

5. Why were the Europeans so easily able to conquer the natives in the New World?

6. Disease brought to the continent before the attempt at settlements decimated the people who had little immunity to the European microbes • Europeans had guns, which gave them a huge advantage in combat. • Europeans made a deliberate effort to occupy more land, and native tribes tended to try to give space to coexist or simply move on in order to avoid the white man.

7. Explain the impact of the Columbian Exchange on the Americas and Europe

8. There were many new animals and plants in the Americas that Europeans had never seen. • And, Europeans brought plants and animals to the New World that America had never seen. • The people living in the Americas did not have resistance to many of the "germs" brought by the Europeans (measles, smallpox, whooping cough, chicken pox, and influenza)

9. The people living in the Americas did not have resistance to many of the "germs" brought by the Europeans (measles, smallpox, whooping cough, chicken pox, and influenza) • The Indians also gave to the Europeansvenereal disease.

10. Explain the impact of the Atlantic slave trade on West Africa and the Americas.

11. Those Africans who raided, took captives, and sold slaves to Europeans profited handsomely from the trade, as did the port cities and the states that coordinated trade with European merchants. • The Atlantic slave trade alone deprived African societies of about 16 million individuals. • Brought goods to Africa from Europe to trade for slaves, who were then traded for sugar and molasses in the West Indies, which was taken back to Europe for use.

12. The Old Regime: Absolutism and Enlightenment Ch. 14 Section 5, Ch. 17

13. Identify major causes and effects of the Scientific Revolution

14. The Scientific Revolution changed the way people thought about the physical world around them.  Scientists began to question traditional beliefs about the workings of the universe.  • The basis for the Scientific Revolution was the Scientific Method.  The scientific method uses observation and experimentation to explain theories on the workings of the universe. • It removed blind adherence to tradition and religious teachings, and allowed scientists to logically find answers through the use of reason. 

15. Explain the Free Enterprise system and Adam Smith’s role in its development

16. Free Enterprise System • An economic system where few restrictions are placed on business activities and ownership. • In this system, governments generally have minimal ownership of enterprises in the market place. • This system aims for limited restrictions on trade and minimal government intervention.

17. Adam Smith’s Role • Described capitalism in his book, The Wealth of Nations. • Explained how competition and the division of labor help to guide a free-market economic system based on self-interest. • He argued that government should follow a laissez-faire, or “hands off,” policy towards the economy

18. Name characteristics of both absolute and limited monarchy

19. Absolute monarchies are also known as undemocratic monarchies. Within an absolute monarchy, a king or queen wields total power and acts essentially as a dictator. This means that the monarch has the power to make important economic and state-level decisions. • Power is gained through heredity or through marriage. • Divine right was the claim that an absolute monarch was given his position by some higher power.

20. Limited monarchies are also known as constitutional monarchies. In a limited monarchy, a monarch can reach power through heredity, but one can also be elected. • The power a limited monarch actually holds tends to vary. Decision-making power usually is held by parliament or a similar governing body. • The idea behind a limited monarchy is to avoid the potential for corruption or an abuse of power that can occur in absolute monarchies.

21. Explain the development of democratic-republican government through the English Civil War, Glorious Revolution , and the Enlightenment

22. English Civil War • Started because King Charles I tried to establish absolutism in England and collect taxes without Parliament’s consent. He eventually dissolved Parliament and ruled without it for 11 years. • When a rebellion arose in Scotland, Charles called Parliament into session. They continued to disagree and war began. The Roundheads defeated the Cavaliers and King Charles was tried and executed • The importance of the English civil war is that it went a long way toward resolving the relationship of the king with the parliament and defined what a democratic state was

23. Glorious Revolution • The Glorious revolution was a revolt against then king of England, King James II, as he was trying to use his power to establish a Catholic dynasty and thus undermining the Protestants. • By accepting the throne at the invitation of Parliament, William and Mary implicitly recognized the supremacy of Parliament. The revolution established the principal that sovereignty and ultimate power in the state was divided between the monarch and Parliament and that the King and/or Queen ruled only with the consent of the governed.

24. Enlightenment • Enlightenment was also known as the Age of Reason. Reason was considered to be the best way of learning the truth. • Rousseau, Locke and Voltaire studied education, laws, and politics. They published attacks on social injustice, religious superstition, and ignorance. Their ideas led to the American and French Revolutions. • Enlightenment was critical to the development of western thought. The ideas of democracy in the US Constitution are directly related to the Enlightenment

25. Identify the impact of political and legal ideas contained in the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, and the English Bill of Rights

26. Magna Carta • The Magna Carta is the major source of traditional English respect for individual rights and liberties. It was a contract between the king and the nobles of England. • It contained certain important principles which limited the power of the English monarch over his subjects. • It implied that monarchs had no right to rule in any way they pleased and were forced to govern according to law

27. Declaration of Independence • The declaration of Independence is important because it led America's independence from King George III. • It justified the Americans right to revolt against a government that no longer guaranteed them their rights and also stated certain ideals believed to be important for man to have such as liberty and equality.

28. English Bill of Rights • The English Bill of Rights was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689. • The main reason why the Bill of Rights was important is that it controlled the power of kings and queens to make them subject to laws passed by Parliament.

29. Contributions of Enlightenment philosophers

30. John Locke • Believed that man were born with certain natural rights (Life, Liberty, Property) • Government is instituted to make laws that protect these three natural rights. • If a government does not properly protect these rights, it can be overthrown.

31. Thomas Hobbes • Believed life is "nasty, brutish, and short.” • Fear of violent death is the principal motive that causes people to create a government and surrender their natural rights and to submit to the absolute authority

32. Voltaire • Poked fun at traditional authority in society, government, and the church. • Believed in religious tolerance. • Believed there should be a separation of church and state

33. Montesquieu • Argued for a separation of powers in government as a check against tyranny. • His book, Spirit of Laws, encouraged the development of a system of checks and balances later in the U.S. Constitution • Executive, Legislative, Judicial branches

34. Rousseau • Believed that government and its people formed a social contract • The actions of the government should express the “general will” of the people.

35. The Age of Democratic Revolutions Ch. 18

36. Describe the Enlightenments impact on political revolutions in America and France in the late 18th century

37. Enlightenment ideas contributed to the popular desire for more rights and liberties • The American Revolution was based on John Locke’s ideas of the natural born rights of Life, Liberty, and Property • The French Revolution was based on John Jaque Rousseau’s idea of a Social Contract between the government and those it governs

38. What were the causes of the American and French Revolutions?

39. Issues of taxation helped spark each revolution • In the American Revolution, Americans were being taxed without having any say in levying the tax. They were not represented in Parliament whatsoever • In the French Revolution, nobles were asked by the King to give up their tax exemptions during a financial crisis.

40. Explain the impact of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Napoleonic Wars on Europe and Latin America

41. Napoleon created stability in France by establishing the Napoleonic Code, a law code that consolidated such achievements of the Revolution as social equality, religious toleration, and trial by jury • Seized a large portion of Europe, introducing the ideas of the French Revolution and ending feudal restrictions and serfdom wherever he conquered • Stimulated the growth of nationalism worldwide

42. Identify characteristics of democracy, socialism, and republic

43. Characteristics of a Democracy • Citizen Control • Majority Rule and Minority Rights • Protection of Human Rights • Free and Fair Elections • Citizen Participation • Tolerance and Compromise

44. Characteristics of Socialism • 1. Government ownership of productive resources: • 2. Central Planning • 3. Redistribution of income • 4. Social welfare rather than private profit • 5. Peaceful and democratic revolution:

45. Characteristics of a Republic • form of government in which a state is ruled by representatives of the citizen body. • founded on the idea that sovereignty rests with the people, though who is included and excluded from the category of the people varies. • Because citizens do not govern the state themselves but through representatives, republics may also be distinguished from direct democracy, though modern representative democracies are by and large republics.

46. Identify political and legal ideas contained in the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man

47. Declaration of Independence • Equal Rights - "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” • Unalienable Rights - It declares that all men are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness . . . ."

48. U.S. Constitution • The Constitution is considered the supreme law of the land both because of its content and because its authority is derived from the people. • The most significant features of the U.S. Constitution are: • the establishment of the rule of law, • the creation of a federal system with a supreme national government, • the separation of governmental powers into three branches that check and balance each other • the establishment of a republican form of government.

49. Declaration of the Rights of Man • Proclaims that all citizens are to be guaranteed the rights of “liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.” • The Declaration sees law as an “expression of the general will,“ intended to promote this equality of rights and to forbid “only actions harmful to the society.”

50. The Industrial Revolution Ch. 20