October 29, 2014

Homework - Over the long-run, the Industrial Revolution held the promise of lifting the urban and rural poor out of poverty.  This becomes clear with the increase in real wages and life spans in the second part of the nineteenth century (see charts the after question).  British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli noted this when he said, “The claims of the future are represented by suffering millions". 

Using the notes as a source and the charts shown below, gather and organize the evidence that would be useful in answering the question, "Would it have been better for the government of England to help the poor workers with better wages, housing and working conditions if the result would have been slower economic growth"?

Also, develop a "rough draft" topic sentence that could be useful in answering this question.

Source # 1 - Life expectancy in British industrial cities

Source # 2 - Real wages in Britain

Source # 3 - Growth of output (amount each worker produced) compared to wages



















Source # 4 - House of Industrial Workers

Source # 5 - House of Factory Owners

Source # 6 - Simulation of managing a cotton mill - Who Wants to be a Cotton Millionaire? (This runs on Flash, so you will not be able to do it on your ipads) 

October 27, 2014

Homework - In the class notes, read up to the section "Age of Progress".

Question # 1 - Answer for Thursday - What made the Industrial Revolution so "revolutionary"?

For source information, use the materials from the previous blog post (quotes and videos), class notes and the source materials shown below.

Source # 1 - Graph showing the growth of global GDP perperson over history.  GDP stands for "Gross Domestic Product" and it is a measure of total economic output.  The graph shows what would be the proportion of GDP per person if the economic output was divided evenly among the population.

Source # 2 - Coalbrookdale in the morning

Source # 3 - Coalbrookdale at night

Source # 4 - Iron Bridge at Coalbrookdale - built in 1781, it was the first arched bridge to be made with cast iron.

Source # 5 - Coal production in Britain

Source # 6 - Energy consumption per person in England

Source # 7 - Railroad track in Britain

Source # 8 - Map of Industrial Development in England

Source # 9 - Urban population of British Cities

Source # 10 - Map of Industrial Development in Europe

Source # 11 - Urban population in European cities - Comparison of 1850's to 1890.

October 23 & 24, 2014

Homework - Using the notes as a source, gather and organize the evidence that would be useful in answering the question, "What made the Industrial Revolution so "revolutionary'?

Also, develop a "rough draft" topic sentence that could be useful in answering this question.

Think about the following two statements and video clips as you gather your evidence

Statement # 1 - In its Millennium Issue, the British magazine The Economist wrote, "The industrial change, however, was neither as swift not as complete as is often thought.  Tradition describes a roaring take-off between 1770 and 1830, driven by a handful of technological innovations, such as textile machinery and James Watt's improved steam engines; and, hey presto, Britain is "the workshop of the world".  In fact, the process had begun in the 17th century and was still incomplete in the 1830s, by when only a few industries - mining, metal-working, textiles, brewing - had taken to "factory" methods."

Statement # 2 - Nobel Prize winner in ecnomics Robert E. Lucas described the Industrial Revolution by saying, "For the first time in history, the living standards of the masses of ordinary people have begun to undergo sustained growth... Nothing remotely like this economic behavior has happened before."

Video # 1




Video # 2

October 22, 2014

Homework - In the notes read up to the section "Philosophy and Ideas about Industrialization - Economic Liberalism".

October 20 & 21, 2014

Homework - Read in the "Industrial Revolution" notes up to the section "Industrialization of Life".

Classwork Questions:  In class you will work in small groups to answer the following questions using the class reading notes.  At the end of class, you will be turning in a single document for your group (you will send it to be by email) that contains outlined answers to both questions.  An outlined answer is the framework of an answer without the commentary linking the parts of the answer together.  It should contain:

• a good topic sentence that answers the question
• supporting topic sentences for the important points in the answer
• specific historic information - with enough detail so it is clear how it connects to its part of the answer. 

You should work on both questions as a group. The purpose of his activity is to see how other people approach thinking about and organizing their answers to the content questions.

# 1.  Would it be correct to think of Otto von Bismarck as an "Enlightened Despot" similar to Fredrick the Great?

# 2.  How was nationalism both a constructive and destructive force in the way it reshaped Europe in the 19th century?

The map below shows Europe after the Congress of Vienna.

The map below shows the languages spoken in Europe in 1900 - Language is a important part of national identity.

October 16, 2014

Homework - Finish Reading the note packet "Storm and Stress - Nationalism Reshapes Europe"

October 14, 2014

Homework - Read in the new note packet "Storm and Stress - Nationalism Reshapes Europe" up to the section "Political Events - Restoration Europe".

October 9 & 10, 2014

The test on the Revolutionary France unit will be on Tuesday - see below for information about the test.

Extra Credit Question - How did the development of democratic republican government in France from the beginning of the French Revolution to the Third Republic demonstrate the ideas of Edmund Burke about the importance of developing institutions? (this question is worth up to 10 extra credit points) - Due Tuesday October 14th.

Information about the test - The test will have the same format as the previous test.  Use the questions below to help study for the test.  Remember, the test is about assessing how well you can think using the big ideas of the unit and the historical information in the unit.  The best way to study for the test is to use these questions to practice the process of thinking needed to fully answer the questions.  That means making a diagram based on the "big ideas" you find in reading the question and then organizing historical facts to match the "big ideas".

Practice Questions: 

1.  How did the French Revolutionaries use the ideas of the Enlightenment in the Revolution?

2.  How did Robespierre and the Jacobins use the Reign of Terror as an opportunity to create their idealized version of France?

3.  How was Napoleon similar to Oliver Cromwell?

4.  How did the Congress of Vienna try to prevent future events like the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars?

5.  Which event should be considered the start of the French Revolution: the Tennis Court Oath or the Storming of the Bastille?

6.  How was Louis XVI’s mishandling of the start of the French Revolution similar to Charles I of England’s mishandling of the English Civil War?

7.  How was Napoleon the cause of his own downfall?

8.  How was the choice of both Louis Phillipe and Napoleon III to be leaders of France a compromise between tradition and change within France?

9.  Why would Metternich consider it was good to suppress the ideas of nationalism and democracy following the defeat of Napoleon?

10.  How were the French Revolution and the Revolts of 1848 in France both examples of struggle between the middle class and the poor?

13.  How is the history of France during the nineteenth century one of continuing revolutionary conflict between monarchy and democracy?

October 6 & 7, 2014

Homework - Write an answer to the question below for October 9th.  Use the class notes as the source of information in answering the question.

Question # 3 - Karl Marx wrote the famous phrase, "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice.  He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce" to describe Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III).  Was he correct to be so dismissive of Louis Napoleon's rule of France?