Homework - Read the notes "French Revolution" on the class web page. You will have a quiz on these notes next class.
Unit Essay - The question for the unit essay is "What are the Challenges to Building a Democracy?"
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
September 23, 2015 - Spread of the Enlightenment
Homework - Use the source material listed below to answer the questions on the assignment sheet. These sources will be the focus of class discussion in the next class.
Test - Monday (9/28) - the test will have four short answer questions and you will have to answer two of the questions with a complete answer that draws on the ideas and historical evidence contained in this unit.
Reminder - The question for the unit essay is "Should political decisions be made from the top down (traditional) or bottom up (liberal)? You should be starting to organize your ideas and evidence for answering this question. Your essay should:
Biography - Voltaire
Voltaire was born in 1694 in France and spent his life working as a writer on topics ranging from poetry and plays to studies of history to science. As a young man, Voltaire was often imprisoned by the government or exiled from France because of his writings which were critical of government policy. In 1725, while living in exile in Britain, Voltaire studied the country's freedom of speech and religion and its system of constitutional monarchy (a king whose power is limited by a constitution), as opposed to the absolute monarchy of the French. When he returned to France three years later, he published a collection of essays that caused outrage because he argued that the British system of government was better than the French system. Voltaire also introduced many of Newton’s ideas about science to France.
While unpopular with the French government, Voltaire was invited by Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia, to live and work in Prussia. Frederick was inspired by many of the Enlightenment ideas to improve the lives of his subjects and supported the arts and sciences, abolished torture and censorship, and reformed Prussia’s legal system. However, after a few years in Prussia, Frederick ordered Voltaire leave Prussia after Voltaire refused to apologize for his writings which were critical of Frederick’s advisors.
Unable to freely return to France, Voltaire moved to Switzerland where he wrote his most important book Candide. In the book, the main character Candide experiences human cruelty and tragedy, and yet tries to hold to his belief that he lives in the best of all worlds and that “all is for the best”. It concludes with Candide acknowledging that this is not the case and that the only way to shut out the stupidity and cruelty of the world is to lose oneself in satisfying work. Voltaire also spent his time writing in support of tolerance and fighting for people who were victims of intolerance. In 1763, Voltaire wrote a "Treatise on Tolerance" which argued that freedom of religion, tolerance and speech will always need to be protected by society's lawmakers.
Biography - Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was born in France in 1713. He attended the University of Paris and worked as a writer and tutor. In the 1740s, he became a translator of English books. In 1747, Diderot began the process of putting together and editing the massive Encyclopédie or “Encyclopedia”. This encyclopedia collected the thoughts and works of Enlightenment thinkers in one souce and then spread the ideas across Europe. Many Enlightenment thinkers, such as Voltaire, wrote articles for the Encyclopedia. In addition to written articles, the Encyclopedia is also famous for its 3000 pages of illustrations showing everything from medical procedures to technical inventions and natural science. The Encyclopédie was revolutionary because it made information that had previously only been available to the wealthy available to everyone. Diderot said the purpose of the Encyclopédie was "to further knowledge and, by so doing, strike a resounding blow against reactionary forces in church and state."
The massive set of 20 volumes that made up the Encyclopédie were sold to wealthy individuals and small private libraries where the public could read it for a small fee. The impact of the Encyclopédie was widespread in France and Europe and by 1789, the start of the French Revolution, more than 25,000 copies had been sold.
Despite the success of the Encyclopédie, Diderot was not able to make a living off of the sales of the Encyclopédie. The Empress of Russia, Catherine the Great, supported Diderot by giving him a salary and buying his library – however she allowed him to keep his library as long as he lived. After his death, it was sent to Russia and became part of the National Library of Russia.
Source # 1 - Pages from the Encyclopédie
Source # 2 - Painting of a Salon
Source # 3 - Picture of a coffee shop
Source # 5 - Table showing the changes in literacy rates in different European Countries
Source # 6 - Chart showing the number of different types of books and periodicals (ESTC stands for "English Short Title Catalog") published in England from 1600 to 1790.
Test - Monday (9/28) - the test will have four short answer questions and you will have to answer two of the questions with a complete answer that draws on the ideas and historical evidence contained in this unit.
Reminder - The question for the unit essay is "Should political decisions be made from the top down (traditional) or bottom up (liberal)? You should be starting to organize your ideas and evidence for answering this question. Your essay should:
- Be no more than three pages - size 11 font with 1 inch margins
- Have a clear thesis with the structure of the essay following the logic of the thesis
The essay will be due on Tuesday (9/29)
Biography - Voltaire
Voltaire was born in 1694 in France and spent his life working as a writer on topics ranging from poetry and plays to studies of history to science. As a young man, Voltaire was often imprisoned by the government or exiled from France because of his writings which were critical of government policy. In 1725, while living in exile in Britain, Voltaire studied the country's freedom of speech and religion and its system of constitutional monarchy (a king whose power is limited by a constitution), as opposed to the absolute monarchy of the French. When he returned to France three years later, he published a collection of essays that caused outrage because he argued that the British system of government was better than the French system. Voltaire also introduced many of Newton’s ideas about science to France.
While unpopular with the French government, Voltaire was invited by Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia, to live and work in Prussia. Frederick was inspired by many of the Enlightenment ideas to improve the lives of his subjects and supported the arts and sciences, abolished torture and censorship, and reformed Prussia’s legal system. However, after a few years in Prussia, Frederick ordered Voltaire leave Prussia after Voltaire refused to apologize for his writings which were critical of Frederick’s advisors.
Unable to freely return to France, Voltaire moved to Switzerland where he wrote his most important book Candide. In the book, the main character Candide experiences human cruelty and tragedy, and yet tries to hold to his belief that he lives in the best of all worlds and that “all is for the best”. It concludes with Candide acknowledging that this is not the case and that the only way to shut out the stupidity and cruelty of the world is to lose oneself in satisfying work. Voltaire also spent his time writing in support of tolerance and fighting for people who were victims of intolerance. In 1763, Voltaire wrote a "Treatise on Tolerance" which argued that freedom of religion, tolerance and speech will always need to be protected by society's lawmakers.
Biography - Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot was born in France in 1713. He attended the University of Paris and worked as a writer and tutor. In the 1740s, he became a translator of English books. In 1747, Diderot began the process of putting together and editing the massive Encyclopédie or “Encyclopedia”. This encyclopedia collected the thoughts and works of Enlightenment thinkers in one souce and then spread the ideas across Europe. Many Enlightenment thinkers, such as Voltaire, wrote articles for the Encyclopedia. In addition to written articles, the Encyclopedia is also famous for its 3000 pages of illustrations showing everything from medical procedures to technical inventions and natural science. The Encyclopédie was revolutionary because it made information that had previously only been available to the wealthy available to everyone. Diderot said the purpose of the Encyclopédie was "to further knowledge and, by so doing, strike a resounding blow against reactionary forces in church and state."
The massive set of 20 volumes that made up the Encyclopédie were sold to wealthy individuals and small private libraries where the public could read it for a small fee. The impact of the Encyclopédie was widespread in France and Europe and by 1789, the start of the French Revolution, more than 25,000 copies had been sold.
Despite the success of the Encyclopédie, Diderot was not able to make a living off of the sales of the Encyclopédie. The Empress of Russia, Catherine the Great, supported Diderot by giving him a salary and buying his library – however she allowed him to keep his library as long as he lived. After his death, it was sent to Russia and became part of the National Library of Russia.
Source # 1 - Pages from the Encyclopédie
Source # 2 - Painting of a Salon
Source # 3 - Picture of a coffee shop
Source # 4 - Map of the Enlightenment in Europe
Source # 5 - Table showing the changes in literacy rates in different European Countries
Source # 6 - Chart showing the number of different types of books and periodicals (ESTC stands for "English Short Title Catalog") published in England from 1600 to 1790.
Source # 7 - Excerpts from Candide (1759) by Voltaire
Chapter 5 - This chapter begins with Candide, the main character of the novel, walking into the city of Lisbon, Portugal, with is tutor Dr. Pangloss after having survived a ship wreak.
Scarcely had they ceased to lament the loss of their benefactor and set foot in the city, when they perceived that the earth trembled under their feet, and the sea, swelling and foaming in the harbor, was dashing in pieces the vessels that were riding at anchor. Large sheets of flames and cinders covered the streets and public places; the houses tottered, and were tumbled topsy-turvy even to their foundations, which were themselves destroyed, and thirty thousand inhabitants of both sexes, young and old, were buried beneath the ruins.
Candide fainted away, and Pangloss fetched him some water from a neighboring spring. The next day, in searching among the ruins, they found some eatables with which they repaired their exhausted strength. After this they assisted the inhabitants in relieving the distressed and wounded. Some, whom they had humanely assisted, gave them as good a dinner as could be expected under such terrible circumstances. The repast, indeed, was mournful, and the company moistened their bread with their tears; but Pangloss endeavored to comfort them under this affliction by affirming that things could not be otherwise that they were.
"For," said he, "all this is for the very best end, for if there is a volcano at Lisbon it could be in no other spot; and it is impossible but things should be as they are, for everything is for the best."
Chapter 6
After the earthquake, which had destroyed three-fourths of the city of Lisbon, the sages of that country could think of no means more effectual to preserve the kingdom from utter ruin than to entertain the people with an auto-da-fe ("act of faith"), it having been decided by the University of Coimbra, that the burning of a few people alive by a slow fire, and with great ceremony, is an infallible preventive of earthquakes.
In consequence thereof they had seized on a Biscayan for marrying his godmother, and on two Portuguese for taking out the bacon of a larded pullet they were eating; after dinner they came and secured Dr. Pangloss, and his pupil Candide, the one for speaking his mind, and the other for seeming to approve what he had said.... Candide was flogged to some tune, while the anthem was being sung; the Biscayan and the two men who would not eat bacon were burned, and Pangloss was hanged, which is not a common custom at these solemnities. The same day there was another earthquake, which made most dreadful havoc.
Candide, amazed, terrified, confounded, astonished, all bloody, and trembling from head to foot, said to himself, "If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others? If I had only been whipped, I could have put up with it, as I did among the Bulgarians; but, not withstanding, oh my dear Pangloss! my beloved master! thou greatest of philosophers! that ever I should live to see thee hanged, without knowing for what!"
Chapter 28 - In this chapter, Candide is reunited with Dr Pangloss, who is being held as a slave on a Turkish ship.
"But how happens it that I behold you again, my dear Pangloss?" said Candide.
"It is true," answered Pangloss, "you saw me hanged, though I ought properly to have been burned; but you may remember, that it rained extremely hard when they were going to roast me. The storm was so violent that they found it impossible to light the fire; so they hanged me because they could do no better. A surgeon purchased my body, carried it home, and prepared to dissect me. He began by making a crucial incision from my navel to the clavicle. It is impossible for anyone to have been more lamely hanged than I had been. The executioner was a subdeacon, and knew how to burn people very well, but as for hanging, he was a novice at it, being quite out of practice; the cord being wet, and not slipping properly, the noose did not join. In short, I still continued to breathe; the crucial incision made me scream to such a degree, that my surgeon fell flat upon his back; and imagining it was the Devil he was dissecting, ran away, and in his fright tumbled down stairs. His wife hearing the noise, flew from the next room, and seeing me stretched upon the table with my crucial incision, was still more terrified than her husband, and fell upon him. When they had a little recovered themselves, I heard her say to her husband, 'My dear, how could you think of dissecting a heretic? Don't you know that the Devil is always in them? I'll run directly to a priest to come and drive the evil spirit out.' I trembled from head to foot at hearing her talk in this manner, and exerted what little strength I had left to cry out, 'Have mercy on me!' At length the Portuguese barber took courage, sewed up my wound, and his wife nursed me; and I was upon my legs in a fortnight's time. The barber got me a place to be lackey to a Knight of Malta, who was going to Venice; but finding my master had no money to pay me my wages, I entered into the service of a Venetian merchant and went with him to Constantinople.
"One day I happened to enter a mosque, where I saw no one but an old man and a very pretty young female devotee, who was telling her beads; her neck was quite bare, and in her bosom she had a beautiful nosegay of tulips, roses, anemones, ranunculuses, hyacinths, and auriculas; she let fall her nosegay. I ran immediately to take it up, and presented it to her with a most respectful bow. I was so long in delivering it that the man began to be angry; and, perceiving I was a Christian, he cried out for help; they carried me before the cadi, who ordered me to receive one hundred bastinadoes, and sent me to the galleys. I was chained in the very galley and to the very same bench with the Baron. On board this galley there were four young men belonging to Marseilles, five Neapolitan priests, and two monks of Corfu, who told us that the like adventures happened every day. The Baron pretended that he had been worse used than myself; and I insisted that there was far less harm in taking up a nosegay, and putting it into a woman's bosom, than to be found stark naked with a young Icoglan. We were continually whipped, and received twenty lashes a day with a heavy thong, when the concatenation of sublunary events brought you on board our galley to ransom us from slavery."
"Well, my dear Pangloss," said Candide to him, "when You were hanged, dissected, whipped, and tugging at the oar, did you continue to think that everything in this world happens for the best?"
"I have always abided by my first opinion," answered Pangloss; "for, after all, I am a philosopher, and it would not become me to retract my sentiments; especially as Leibnitz could not be in the wrong: and that preestablished harmony is the finest thing in the world."
Chapter 5 - This chapter begins with Candide, the main character of the novel, walking into the city of Lisbon, Portugal, with is tutor Dr. Pangloss after having survived a ship wreak.
Scarcely had they ceased to lament the loss of their benefactor and set foot in the city, when they perceived that the earth trembled under their feet, and the sea, swelling and foaming in the harbor, was dashing in pieces the vessels that were riding at anchor. Large sheets of flames and cinders covered the streets and public places; the houses tottered, and were tumbled topsy-turvy even to their foundations, which were themselves destroyed, and thirty thousand inhabitants of both sexes, young and old, were buried beneath the ruins.
Candide fainted away, and Pangloss fetched him some water from a neighboring spring. The next day, in searching among the ruins, they found some eatables with which they repaired their exhausted strength. After this they assisted the inhabitants in relieving the distressed and wounded. Some, whom they had humanely assisted, gave them as good a dinner as could be expected under such terrible circumstances. The repast, indeed, was mournful, and the company moistened their bread with their tears; but Pangloss endeavored to comfort them under this affliction by affirming that things could not be otherwise that they were.
"For," said he, "all this is for the very best end, for if there is a volcano at Lisbon it could be in no other spot; and it is impossible but things should be as they are, for everything is for the best."
Chapter 6
After the earthquake, which had destroyed three-fourths of the city of Lisbon, the sages of that country could think of no means more effectual to preserve the kingdom from utter ruin than to entertain the people with an auto-da-fe ("act of faith"), it having been decided by the University of Coimbra, that the burning of a few people alive by a slow fire, and with great ceremony, is an infallible preventive of earthquakes.
In consequence thereof they had seized on a Biscayan for marrying his godmother, and on two Portuguese for taking out the bacon of a larded pullet they were eating; after dinner they came and secured Dr. Pangloss, and his pupil Candide, the one for speaking his mind, and the other for seeming to approve what he had said.... Candide was flogged to some tune, while the anthem was being sung; the Biscayan and the two men who would not eat bacon were burned, and Pangloss was hanged, which is not a common custom at these solemnities. The same day there was another earthquake, which made most dreadful havoc.
Candide, amazed, terrified, confounded, astonished, all bloody, and trembling from head to foot, said to himself, "If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others? If I had only been whipped, I could have put up with it, as I did among the Bulgarians; but, not withstanding, oh my dear Pangloss! my beloved master! thou greatest of philosophers! that ever I should live to see thee hanged, without knowing for what!"
Chapter 28 - In this chapter, Candide is reunited with Dr Pangloss, who is being held as a slave on a Turkish ship.
"But how happens it that I behold you again, my dear Pangloss?" said Candide.
"It is true," answered Pangloss, "you saw me hanged, though I ought properly to have been burned; but you may remember, that it rained extremely hard when they were going to roast me. The storm was so violent that they found it impossible to light the fire; so they hanged me because they could do no better. A surgeon purchased my body, carried it home, and prepared to dissect me. He began by making a crucial incision from my navel to the clavicle. It is impossible for anyone to have been more lamely hanged than I had been. The executioner was a subdeacon, and knew how to burn people very well, but as for hanging, he was a novice at it, being quite out of practice; the cord being wet, and not slipping properly, the noose did not join. In short, I still continued to breathe; the crucial incision made me scream to such a degree, that my surgeon fell flat upon his back; and imagining it was the Devil he was dissecting, ran away, and in his fright tumbled down stairs. His wife hearing the noise, flew from the next room, and seeing me stretched upon the table with my crucial incision, was still more terrified than her husband, and fell upon him. When they had a little recovered themselves, I heard her say to her husband, 'My dear, how could you think of dissecting a heretic? Don't you know that the Devil is always in them? I'll run directly to a priest to come and drive the evil spirit out.' I trembled from head to foot at hearing her talk in this manner, and exerted what little strength I had left to cry out, 'Have mercy on me!' At length the Portuguese barber took courage, sewed up my wound, and his wife nursed me; and I was upon my legs in a fortnight's time. The barber got me a place to be lackey to a Knight of Malta, who was going to Venice; but finding my master had no money to pay me my wages, I entered into the service of a Venetian merchant and went with him to Constantinople.
"One day I happened to enter a mosque, where I saw no one but an old man and a very pretty young female devotee, who was telling her beads; her neck was quite bare, and in her bosom she had a beautiful nosegay of tulips, roses, anemones, ranunculuses, hyacinths, and auriculas; she let fall her nosegay. I ran immediately to take it up, and presented it to her with a most respectful bow. I was so long in delivering it that the man began to be angry; and, perceiving I was a Christian, he cried out for help; they carried me before the cadi, who ordered me to receive one hundred bastinadoes, and sent me to the galleys. I was chained in the very galley and to the very same bench with the Baron. On board this galley there were four young men belonging to Marseilles, five Neapolitan priests, and two monks of Corfu, who told us that the like adventures happened every day. The Baron pretended that he had been worse used than myself; and I insisted that there was far less harm in taking up a nosegay, and putting it into a woman's bosom, than to be found stark naked with a young Icoglan. We were continually whipped, and received twenty lashes a day with a heavy thong, when the concatenation of sublunary events brought you on board our galley to ransom us from slavery."
"Well, my dear Pangloss," said Candide to him, "when You were hanged, dissected, whipped, and tugging at the oar, did you continue to think that everything in this world happens for the best?"
"I have always abided by my first opinion," answered Pangloss; "for, after all, I am a philosopher, and it would not become me to retract my sentiments; especially as Leibnitz could not be in the wrong: and that preestablished harmony is the finest thing in the world."
Monday, September 21, 2015
September 21, 2015 - Enlightenment Ideas
Homework - Use the source material listed below to answer the questions on the assignment sheet. These sources will be the focus of class discussion in the next class.
Reminder - The question for the unit essay is "Should political decision be made from the top down (traditional) or bottom up (liberal)? You should be starting to organize your ideas and evidence for answering this question. Your essay should:
- Be no more than three pages - size 11 font with 1 inch margins
- Have a clear thesis with the structure of the essay following the logic of the thesis
Biography - Montesquieu
Montesquieu was born in France in 1689 to a noble family at a time when there was great anger toward the king, Louis XIV, for his unsuccessful wars and high taxes. As a young man he moved to Paris to study law. However, he was not interested in working as a lawyer or a judge. Because of the wealth he inherited from his family, Montesquieu spent his time on travel to England, studying the history of ancient Rome and writing.
In 1748, after 17 years of reading, writing and revising, he published the book On the Spirit of the Laws, which was more than 1000 pages long. In the book, Montesquieu attempted to make a science of the government. His work reflected Enlightenment ideas so that people, using their minds, could understand the world around them. He believed that the king’s power was dangerous but thought that a strong aristocracy could balance that authority. He admired England because the strength of the nobles limited the control of the king. Montesquieu wanted to make sure that no part of the government grew too strong. The best way to preserve freedom, he said, was to divide authority so that the ability to make laws, to carry out laws, and to judge laws would be controlled by different parts of the government.
Biography - Adam Smith
Adam Smith was born in 1723 in Scotland. Smith studied at both Glasgow University and Oxford University and became professor at the University of Glasgow in 1752. Smith was a quiet and absent minded individual who enjoyed reading books in his own library. While he was often awkward in social situations, he was known as an interesting and lively teacher. In 1764, while traveling around Europe, he met many other Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire.
In 1776, after returning to Scotland, Smith published his book called "The Wealth of Nations". His book had a big effect on economic thinking. In the book, Smith explains why he doesn't like mercantilism, which was used by governments across Europe. In mercantilism, the government controls the economy so that it can collect lots of gold and silver. Smith did not see the gold and silver as wealth for the country. Instead, he thought a society's ability to produce things, like food and goods, was a better indicator of a society's wealth. A society that could produce more was wealthier than one that had lots of gold and silver.
Smith believed that wealth was created through the hard work of people. He believed in a “free market economy,” where individual people are free to make their own economic decisions and the government only plays a small role. Smith said that a free market economy would make a society wealthy because when people choose to work for their own benefit, and they do work that improves the lives of other people, which makes society richer. Smith said that the laws of economics worked as an “invisible hand” to guide individuals to make decisions that create the best economic outcome.
Smith summed up this idea in The Wealth of Nations when he wrote, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our necessities but of their advantages.” This means that the butchers, brewers and bakers are not making these decisions to be nice - they are doing it because it makes them the most money. But when everyone in society acts in their own self interest, it actually benefits society.
Source # 1 - Excerpt from What is the Enlightenment by Immanuel Kant (1784)
Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! [Dare to think!] "Have courage to use your own reason!"- that is the motto of enlightenment. Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a portion of mankind, after nature has long since discharged them from external direction (naturaliter maiorennes), nevertheless remains under lifelong tutelage, and why it is so easy for others to set themselves up as their guardians. It is so easy not to be of age. If I have a book which understands for me, a pastor who has a conscience for me, a physician who decides my diet, and so forth, I need not trouble myself. I need not think, if I can only pay - others will easily undertake the irksome work for me. ... ... After the guardians have first made their domestic cattle dumb and have made sure that these placid creatures will not dare take a single step without the harness of the cart to which they are tethered, the guardians then show them the danger which threatens if they try to go alone. Actually, however, this danger is not so great, for by falling a few times they would finally learn to walk alone. But an example of this failure makes them timid and ordinarily frightens them away from all further trials. For any single individual to work himself out of the life under tutelage which has become almost his nature is very difficult. He has come to be fond of his state, and he is for the present really incapable of making use of his reason, for no one has ever let him try it out. . . . . For this enlightenment, however, nothing is required but freedom, and indeed the most harmless among all the things to which this term can properly be applied. It is the freedom to make public use of one's reason at every point. But I hear on all sides, "Do not argue!" The Officer says: "Do not argue but drill!" The tax collector: "Do not argue but pay!" The cleric: "Do not argue but believe!" .... Everywhere there is restriction on freedom. . . . If we are asked , "Do we now live in an enlightened age?" the answer is, "No ," but we do live in an age of enlightenment. As things now stand, much is lacking which prevents men from being, or easily becoming, capable of correctly using their own reason in religious matters with assurance and free from outside direction. But on the other hand, we have clear indications that the field has now been opened wherein men may freely deal with these things and that the obstacles to general enlightenment or the release from self-imposed tutelage are gradually being reduced. In this respect, this is the age of enlightenment, or the century of Frederick.
Source # 2 - Excerpt from The Spirit of Laws by Montesquieu
In every government there are three sorts of power; the legislative; the executive, in respect to things dependent on the law of nations; and the executive, in regard to things that depend on the civil law.
By virtue of the first, the prince or magistrate enacts temporary or perpetual laws, and amends or abrogates those that have been already enacted. By the second, he makes peace or war, sends or receives embassies; establishes the public security, and provides against invasions. By the third, he punishes criminals, or determines the disputes that arise between individuals. The latter we shall call the judiciary power, and the other simply the executive power of the state.
The political liberty of the subject is a tranquility of mind, arising from the opinion each person has of his safety. In order to have this liberty, it is requisite the government be so constituted as one man need not be afraid of` another.
When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may anse, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.
Again, there is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control, for the judge would then be the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with all the violence of an oppressor.
There would be an end of every thing were the same man, or the same body, whether of the nobles or of the people to exercise those three powers that of enacting laws, that of executing the public resolutions, and that of judging the crimes or differences of individuals.
Excerpt # 3 - Excerpt from Sketch for an Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind (1794) by Condorcet, a French mathematician, philosopher and revolutionary.
Such observations upon what man has been and what he is today, will instruct us about the means we should employ to make certain and rapid the further progress that his nature allows him still to hope for.
Such is the aim of the work that I have undertaken, and its result will be to show by appeal to reason and fact that nature has set no term to the perfection of human faculties; that the perfectibility of man is truly indefinite; and that the progress of this perfectibility, from now onwards independent of any power that might wish to halt it, has no other limit than the duration of the globe upon which nature has cast us. This progress will doubtless vary in speed, but it will never be reversed as long as the earth occupies its present place in the system of the universe, and as long as the general laws of this system produce neither a general cataclysm nor such changes as will deprive the human race of its present faculties and its present resources.
Friday, September 18, 2015
September 18, 2015 - Scientific Revolution
Homework - Use the source material listed below to answer the questions on the assignment sheet. These sources will be the focus of class discussion in the next class.
Reminder - The question for the unit essay is "Should political decision be made from the top down (traditional) or bottom up (liberal)? You should be starting to organize your ideas and evidence for answering this question.
Reminder - The question for the unit essay is "Should political decision be made from the top down (traditional) or bottom up (liberal)? You should be starting to organize your ideas and evidence for answering this question.
Source # 1 - Video about Newton and his discoveries - click here
Source # 2 - The British Enlightenment Poet wrote the following in 1793 with the intention that it be used as the epitaph on Newton's grave at Westminster Abby - "Nature and Nature's laws lay hid by night: God said, Let Newton be! and all was light." The Church authorities at Westminster Abby refused to allow this to be Newton's epitaph.
Source # 3 - Video on Lavoisier and the scientific method - click here
Source # 4 - The British Royal Society for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge founded in Britain in 1662 has the motto "Nullius in verba", which is roughly translated at "Take nobody's word for it".
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
September 16, 2015 - Hobbes & Locke
Homework - Use the source material listed below to answer the questions on the assignment sheet. These sources will be the focus of class discussion in the next class.
Biography of Thomas Hobbes - Philosopher of Absolutism
Thomas Hobbes was born in 1588 and studied at Oxford University. He worked as a private tutor and traveled across Europe and met early scientists like Francis Bacon, Descartes and Galileo. In 1640, the English Civil War broke out between the British Parliament (like our legislature) and King Charles I. This violent conflict that tore England apart had a deep impact on Hobbes. During the civil war, Hobbes left England to escape the fighting and lived for eleven years in France under the rule of Louis XIV. He worked as a tutor to the future king of England, Charles II. It was during this time that he developed his ideas about government and power. While he criticized both sides of the English Civil War, he supported the king over Parliament, but he also denied that the king was given his right to rule from god. Hobbes believed that government was based on a “social contract” or agreement between the government and the people in which the government protects people and, in exchange, the people are obedient to the government.
In 1651, Hobbes returned to England and published his book The Leviathan, which explained why Hobbes support the absolute power of kings. The title of the book referred to a leviathan, a mythological, whale-like sea monster that devoured whole ships. Hobbes likened the leviathan to a government, a powerful state created to impose order. He saw the king as a necessary figure of leadership and authority. He felt that democracy would never work because people are only motivated by self-interest. He saw humanity as being motivated by a constant desire for power, and to give power to the individual would result in a war of every one against the other that would make life "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Hobbes believed that, to prevent people from fighting and killing each other all the time, they needed a strong leader like an absolute monarch to keep peace.
Biography of John Locke - Philosopher of Natural Rights and Rule of Law
John Locke was born 1632, in England. He studies at Oxford University and was a members of the English Royal Society – one of the earliest organizations of scientists. Locke became friends with Isaac Newton. It was Locke's work with the Oxford scientists that gave him a critical perspective on how scientific reasoning could be applied to people and society.
Locke was opposed to the idea of absolute monarchy and, because this was considered a challenge to the King's authority, Locke went into exile in Holland. While in Holland, Locke wrote Two Treatises of Civil Government. This work is a theory of natural law and rights in which he makes a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate governments and argues for revolution against tyrannical governments. He believed that government was formed as a social contract between people to protect their natural rights. He said that the purpose of government is to protect the natural rights of life, liberty and property of a people, and if these goals are not respected, then people are allowed to rebel against the government.
After British King James II was overthrown, William of Orange the King of Holland was invited to become the new King of England. Known as the Glorious Revolution of 1688, this event marks the change in the dominant power in English government from King to Parliament. In 1688 Locke took the opportunity to return to England on the same ship that carried Queen Mary to join her husband King William. Locke’s ideas were used in the writing of the British Bill of Rights, which outlined the rights of the British people and limited the power of the king. The British Bill of Rights was an important event in establishing the concept of “rule of law”. The British Bill of Rights became the basis for the American Bill of Rights in the Constitution
Source # 1 - Video lecture explaining Hobbes' philosophical justification for absolutism - click here
Source # 2 - Title page to The Leviathan (1651)
Source # 3 - The following is an excerpt from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes was a British political philosopher who believed in the need for strong government.
And therefore if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies…
Hereby it is manifest, that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war, as is of every man, against every man.
In such condition there is … continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
Source # 4 - Historian's Perspective
Historian John Miller described the importance of the absolute monarchs, like Louis XIV, by saying, "Absolute monarchies helped to bring a sense of nationhood to disparate territories, to establish a measure of public order and promote prosperity... we need therefore to jettison the liberal and democratic preconditions of the twentieth century and instead think in terms of an impoverished and precarious existence, of low expectations and submission to the will of God and the king".
Source # 5 - Video Lecture explaining Locke's philosophical argument for Natural Rights and the Rule of Law - click here
Source # 6 - Excerpt is from John Locke’s Two Treatise on Government (1690)
Men being…by nature all free, equal, and independent, no one can be subjected to the political power of another without his consent…To protect natural rights governments are established. Since men hope to preserve their property by establishing a government, they will not want that government to destroy their objectives. When legislators try to destroy or take away the property of the people, or try to reduce them to slavery, they out themselves in a state of war with the people, who can refuse to obey the laws.
Source # 7 - Excerpt from the English Bill of Rights (1689)
An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown
Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully and freely representing all the estates of the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight [old style date] present unto their Majesties, then called and known by the names and style of William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, being present in their proper persons, a certain declaration in writing made by the said Lords and Commons in the words following, viz.:
Whereas the late King James the Second, by the assistance of divers evil counsellors, judges and ministers employed by him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and the laws and liberties of this kingdom....
And whereas the said late King James the Second having abdicated the government and the throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the prince of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious instrument of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) did (by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and divers principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal being Protestants, and other letters to the several counties, cities, universities, boroughs and cinque ports, for the choosing of such persons to represent them as were of right to be sent to Parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster upon the two and twentieth day of January in this year one thousand six hundred eighty and eight [old style date], in order to such an establishment as that their religion, laws and liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted, upon which letters elections having been accordingly made;
And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now assembled in a full and free representative of this nation, taking into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case have usually done) for the vindicating and asserting their ancient rights and liberties declare
That the pretended power of suspending the laws or the execution of laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament is illegal;
That the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal;
That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious;
That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal;
That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal;
That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law;
That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law;
That election of members of Parliament ought to be free;
That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament;
That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted;
That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders;
That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void;
And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of the laws, Parliaments ought to be held frequently.
Thomas Hobbes was born in 1588 and studied at Oxford University. He worked as a private tutor and traveled across Europe and met early scientists like Francis Bacon, Descartes and Galileo. In 1640, the English Civil War broke out between the British Parliament (like our legislature) and King Charles I. This violent conflict that tore England apart had a deep impact on Hobbes. During the civil war, Hobbes left England to escape the fighting and lived for eleven years in France under the rule of Louis XIV. He worked as a tutor to the future king of England, Charles II. It was during this time that he developed his ideas about government and power. While he criticized both sides of the English Civil War, he supported the king over Parliament, but he also denied that the king was given his right to rule from god. Hobbes believed that government was based on a “social contract” or agreement between the government and the people in which the government protects people and, in exchange, the people are obedient to the government. In 1651, Hobbes returned to England and published his book The Leviathan, which explained why Hobbes support the absolute power of kings. The title of the book referred to a leviathan, a mythological, whale-like sea monster that devoured whole ships. Hobbes likened the leviathan to a government, a powerful state created to impose order. He saw the king as a necessary figure of leadership and authority. He felt that democracy would never work because people are only motivated by self-interest. He saw humanity as being motivated by a constant desire for power, and to give power to the individual would result in a war of every one against the other that would make life "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." Hobbes believed that, to prevent people from fighting and killing each other all the time, they needed a strong leader like an absolute monarch to keep peace.
Biography of John Locke - Philosopher of Natural Rights and Rule of Law
John Locke was born 1632, in England. He studies at Oxford University and was a members of the English Royal Society – one of the earliest organizations of scientists. Locke became friends with Isaac Newton. It was Locke's work with the Oxford scientists that gave him a critical perspective on how scientific reasoning could be applied to people and society.Locke was opposed to the idea of absolute monarchy and, because this was considered a challenge to the King's authority, Locke went into exile in Holland. While in Holland, Locke wrote Two Treatises of Civil Government. This work is a theory of natural law and rights in which he makes a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate governments and argues for revolution against tyrannical governments. He believed that government was formed as a social contract between people to protect their natural rights. He said that the purpose of government is to protect the natural rights of life, liberty and property of a people, and if these goals are not respected, then people are allowed to rebel against the government.
After British King James II was overthrown, William of Orange the King of Holland was invited to become the new King of England. Known as the Glorious Revolution of 1688, this event marks the change in the dominant power in English government from King to Parliament. In 1688 Locke took the opportunity to return to England on the same ship that carried Queen Mary to join her husband King William. Locke’s ideas were used in the writing of the British Bill of Rights, which outlined the rights of the British people and limited the power of the king. The British Bill of Rights was an important event in establishing the concept of “rule of law”. The British Bill of Rights became the basis for the American Bill of Rights in the Constitution
Source # 1 - Video lecture explaining Hobbes' philosophical justification for absolutism - click here
Source # 2 - Title page to The Leviathan (1651)
Source # 3 - The following is an excerpt from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes was a British political philosopher who believed in the need for strong government.
And therefore if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies…
Hereby it is manifest, that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war, as is of every man, against every man.
In such condition there is … continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
Source # 4 - Historian's Perspective
Historian John Miller described the importance of the absolute monarchs, like Louis XIV, by saying, "Absolute monarchies helped to bring a sense of nationhood to disparate territories, to establish a measure of public order and promote prosperity... we need therefore to jettison the liberal and democratic preconditions of the twentieth century and instead think in terms of an impoverished and precarious existence, of low expectations and submission to the will of God and the king".
Source # 5 - Video Lecture explaining Locke's philosophical argument for Natural Rights and the Rule of Law - click here
Source # 6 - Excerpt is from John Locke’s Two Treatise on Government (1690)
Men being…by nature all free, equal, and independent, no one can be subjected to the political power of another without his consent…To protect natural rights governments are established. Since men hope to preserve their property by establishing a government, they will not want that government to destroy their objectives. When legislators try to destroy or take away the property of the people, or try to reduce them to slavery, they out themselves in a state of war with the people, who can refuse to obey the laws.
Source # 7 - Excerpt from the English Bill of Rights (1689)
An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown
Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully and freely representing all the estates of the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight [old style date] present unto their Majesties, then called and known by the names and style of William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, being present in their proper persons, a certain declaration in writing made by the said Lords and Commons in the words following, viz.:
Whereas the late King James the Second, by the assistance of divers evil counsellors, judges and ministers employed by him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and the laws and liberties of this kingdom....
And whereas the said late King James the Second having abdicated the government and the throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the prince of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious instrument of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) did (by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and divers principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal being Protestants, and other letters to the several counties, cities, universities, boroughs and cinque ports, for the choosing of such persons to represent them as were of right to be sent to Parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster upon the two and twentieth day of January in this year one thousand six hundred eighty and eight [old style date], in order to such an establishment as that their religion, laws and liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted, upon which letters elections having been accordingly made;
And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now assembled in a full and free representative of this nation, taking into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case have usually done) for the vindicating and asserting their ancient rights and liberties declare
That the pretended power of suspending the laws or the execution of laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament is illegal;
That the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal;
That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious;
That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal;
That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal;
That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law;
That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law;
That election of members of Parliament ought to be free;
That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament;
That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted;
That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders;
That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void;
And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of the laws, Parliaments ought to be held frequently.
Friday, September 11, 2015
September 11, 2015 - English Civil War & Glorious Revolution
Homework - Use the source material listed below to answer the questions on the assignment sheet. These sources will be the focus of class discussion in the next class.
Source # 1 - Videos on the English Civil War and New Model Army
Video # 1 - Introduction to Conflict in English Civil War - click here
Video # 2 - English Civil War Begins - click here
Video # 3 - New Model Army - click here
Source # 2 - Map of the English Civil War
Source # 3 - Cover Page to New Model Army's Training Manual
Source # 4 - Instructions from the New Model Army Training Manuel on How to Fire a Musket
Source # 4 - Print of the Battle of Nasbye
Source # 5 - Video on Cromwell's Rule as Lord Protector of England - click here
Source # 6 - Excerpts from the Diary of John Evelyn, a Royalist
Restoration of the Stuarts
May 29, 1666
This day, his Majesty, Charles the Second came to London, after a sad and long exile and calamitous suffering both of the King and Church, being seventeen years. This was also his birthday, and with a triumph of above 20,000 horse and foot, brandishing their swords, and shouting with inexpressible joy; the ways strewed with Howers, the bells ringing) the streets hung with tapestry, fountains running with wine; the Mayor, Aldermen, and all the Companies, in their liveries, chains of gold, and banners; Lords and Nobles, clad in cloth of silver, gold, and velvet; the windows and balconies, all set with ladies; trumpets, music, and myriads of people fiocking, even so far as from Rochester, so as they were seven hours in passing the city, even from two in the afternoon till nine at night.
The Glorious Revolution
February 3, 1687
Most of the great officers, both in the court and country, Lords and others, were dismissed, as they would not promise his Majesty their consent to the repeal of the test and penal statutes against Popish Recusants.
June 10, 1688
A young Prince born, which will cause disputes. About two o'clock, we heard the Tower-ordnance discharged, and the bells ring for the birth of a Prince of Wales. This was very surprising, it having been universally given out that her Majesty did not look till the next month.
September 30, 1688
The Court in so extraordinary a consternation, on assurance of the Prince of Orange's intention to land, that the writs sent forth for a Parliament were recalled.
October 7, 1688
In the mean time, [the king] called over 5,000 Irish, and 4,000 Scots, and continued to remove Protestants and put in Papists at Portsmouth and other places of trust, and retained the Jesuits about him, increasing the universal discontent. It brought people to so desperate a pass, that they seemed passionately to long for and desire the landing of that Prince, whom they looked on to be their deliverer from Popish tyranny, praying incessantly for an east wind, which was said to be the only hindrance of his expedition with a numerous army ready to make a descent. To such a strange temper, and unheard-of in former times, was this poor nation reduced, and of which I was an eye-witness.
November 5, 1688
I went to London; heard the news of the Prince having landed at Torbay, coming with a fleet of near 700 sail, passing through the Channel with so favourable a wind, that our navy could not intercept, or molest them....
These are the beginnings of sorrow, unless God in His mercy prevent it by some happy reconciliation of all dissensions among us. This, in all likelihood, nothing can effect except a free Parliament- but this we cannot hope to see, whilst there are any forces on either side. I pray God to protect and direct the King for the best and truest interest of his people!
December 18, 1688
I saw the King take barge to Gravesend at twelve o'clock - a sad sight! The Prince comes to St. James's and fills Whitehall with Dutch guards. A Council of Peers meet about an expedient to call a Parliament; adjourn to the House of Lords. The Chancellor, Earl of Peterborough, and divers others taken.... All the world go to see the Prince at St. James's, where there is a great Court. There I saw him, and several of my acquaintance who came over with him. He is very stately, serious, and reserved.
Source # 7 - Excerpt from the English Bill of Rights (1689)
An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown
Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully and freely representing all the estates of the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight [old style date] present unto their Majesties, then called and known by the names and style of William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, being present in their proper persons, a certain declaration in writing made by the said Lords and Commons in the words following, viz.:
Whereas the late King James the Second, by the assistance of divers evil counsellors, judges and ministers employed by him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and the laws and liberties of this kingdom....
And whereas the said late King James the Second having abdicated the government and the throne being thereby vacant, his Highness the prince of Orange (whom it hath pleased Almighty God to make the glorious instrument of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary power) did (by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and divers principal persons of the Commons) cause letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal being Protestants, and other letters to the several counties, cities, universities, boroughs and cinque ports, for the choosing of such persons to represent them as were of right to be sent to Parliament, to meet and sit at Westminster upon the two and twentieth day of January in this year one thousand six hundred eighty and eight [old style date], in order to such an establishment as that their religion, laws and liberties might not again be in danger of being subverted, upon which letters elections having been accordingly made;
And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and elections, being now assembled in a full and free representative of this nation, taking into their most serious consideration the best means for attaining the ends aforesaid, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case have usually done) for the vindicating and asserting their ancient rights and liberties declare
- That the pretended power of suspending the laws or the execution of laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament is illegal;
- That the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the execution of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal;
- That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious;
- That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal;
- That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal;
- That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of Parliament, is against law;
- That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law;
- That election of members of Parliament ought to be free;
- That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament;
- That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted;
- That jurors ought to be duly impanelled and returned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders;
- That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void;
- And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of the laws, Parliaments ought to be held frequently.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
September 10, 2015 - Louis XIV - Model of an Absolute Monarch
Homework - Use the source material listed below to answer the questions on the assignment sheet. These sources will be the focus of class discussion in the next class.
Biography of Louis XIV (1643 – 1715) – The Sun King
Louis XIV was the King of France for 54 years. This long period of rule allowed him to dominated France. Louis was called "the Sun King" not only because he used the sun as his symbol, but because he believed that France depended on him the way the earth depended on the sun. Louis acted as the center of France, directing and controlling the lives of his subjects, often without caring about their own wishes.
Louis XIV was able to directly control the workings of his government through the administrative organization of his government. An important point of his administration was that he appointed intendants, or royal managers, from the middle class to govern the different parts of France according to his commands. The intendants were loyal to Louis XIV because they wanted to keep their positions. They worked to strengthen the power of the king by building the French economy and collecting taxes from the population. While these economic policies did grow the economy, the high taxes made many middle and lower class French citizens very poor.
Louis XIV's power was based his wealth. He used his wealth to build the Palace of Versailles to represent the glory and power of his reign. Versailles was more than just the center of Louis’ government. Louis spent extravagant amounts of money to make Versailles the cultural center of Europe. He financially supported the best artists, musicians and writers to make his court a sophisticated, luxurious and splendorous environment, which was envied and copied by European monarchs for generations. Louis cleverly used Versailles to weaken the nobles so they could not rebel against him. He required the nobles of France to live at Versailles so that he could keep an eye on them. However, many nobles actually enjoyed living at Versailles because it was so luxurious and there was always something to do. As a result of having to move to Versailles, the nobles became “absentee landlords”, which means they didn't take care of the peasants who worked their land.
Louis also used his money to fight wars to spread his power. For 30 of the 54 years that he ruled France, France was at war. Louis had the largest army in Europe at the time, with more than 400,000 professional soldiers. His most costly war was the War of the Spanish Succession where the other countries of Europe united in a "Balance of Power" strategy to defeat France. The smaller countries formed alliances to “balance” the greater power of France, because they saw France as such a big threat. Because of this, France was unable to use its greater military power to win any major victories.
Louis was a Catholic monarch and he believed that everyone should be the same religion because he believed this would give him more authority. In 1685, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes. An “edict” is an order from a king. The Edict of Nantes was issued by Louis' grandfather, Henry IV, and it allowed people to have religious freedom. When Louis XIV took away their religious freedom, hundreds of thousands of merchants and craftsmen who were not Catholic left France and went to countries like England and the Netherlands, where they could practice their religion. Ultimately, the loss of this skilled and productive population hurt the economy of France and strengthened the economies of France’s enemies.
Source # 1 - Painting of Louis XIV and is court at Versailles
Source # 2 - Video on the building of Versailles (Link to Video)
Source # 3 - Video on the gardens at Versailles - click here
Source # 4 - Video on Louis XIV use of technology to build his absolute monarchy - click here
Source # 5 - Sun Symbol on Gate at Paris of Versailles
Source # 6 - Hall of Mirrors at Versailles
Source # 7 - Map of Louis XIV's wars and Painting of Louis XIV as military leader
Source # 8 - Building the Canal du Medi - The painting to the left shows one of Louis XIV intendants (Colbert) showing him plans to build the Canal du Midi. A canal is a man-made channel of water, like a river. The map on the right shows the system of canals that were created in France under Louis XIV.
Source # 9 - Debt of the Royal Family of France during Louis XIV reign
Source # 10 - Duc de Saint-Simon: The Court of Louis XIV - The Duc de Saint-Simon resided for many years at Versailles. He left an account of Life there.
The Court
His natural talents were below mediocrity; but he had a mind capable of improvement, of receiving polish, of assimilating what was best in the minds of others without slavish imitation; and he profited greatly throughout his life from having associated with the ablest and wittiest persons, of both sexes, and of various stations. He entered the world (if I may use such an expression in speaking of a King who had already completed his twenty-third year), at a fortunate moment, for men of distinction abounded. His Ministers and Generals at this time, with their successors trained in their schools, are universally acknowledged to have been the ablest in Europe; for the domestic troubles and foreign wars under which France had suffered ever since the death of Louis XIII had brought to the front a number of brilliant names, and the Court was made up of capable and illustrious personages.... Glory was his passion, but he also liked order and regularity in all things; he was naturally prudent, moderate, and reserved; always master of his tongue and his emotions....
His Ministers, generals, mistresses, and courtiers soon found out his weak point, namely, his love of hearing his own praises. There was nothing he liked so much as flattery, or, to put it more plainly, adulation; the coarser and clumsier it was, the more he relished it.....
It was this love of praise which made it easy for Louvois to engage him in serious wars, for he persuaded him that he had greater talents for war than any of his Generals, greater both in design and in execution, and the Generals themselves encouraged him in this notion, to keep in favor with him. I mean such Generals as Condé and Turenne; much more, of course, those who came after them. He took to himself the credit of their successes with admirable complacency, and honestly believed that he was all his flatterers told him...
His mind was occupied with small things rather than with great, and he delighted in all sorts of petty details, such as the dress and drill of his soldiers; and it was just the same with regard to his building operations, his household, and even his cookery. He always thought he could teach something of their own craft even to the most skilful professional men; and they, for their part, used to listen gratefully to lessons which they had long ago learnt by heart. He imagined that all this showed his indefatigable industry; in reality, it was a great waste of time, and his Ministers turned it to good account for their own purposes, as soon as they had learnt the art of managing him; they kept his attention engaged with a mass of details, while they contrived to get their own way in more important matters.
His vanity, which was perpetually nourished ... He imagined that they were great only through him, mere mouthpieces through which he expressed his will; consequently he made no objection when they gradually encroached on the privileges of the greatest noblemen. He felt that he could at any moment reduce them to their original obscurity; whereas, in the case of a nobleman, though he could make him feel the weight of his displeasure, he could not deprive him or his family of the advantages due to his birth. For this reason he made it a rule never to admit a seigneur to his Councils, to which the Duke de Beauvilliers was the only exception....
Life at Versailles
Very early in the reign of Louis XIV the Court was removed from Paris, never to return.
He availed himself of the frequent festivities at Versailles, and his excursions to other places, as a means of making the courtiers assiduous in their attendance and anxious to please him; for he nominated beforehand those who were to take part in them, and could thus gratify some and inflict a snub on others. He was conscious that the substantial favors he had to bestow were not nearly sufficient to produce a continual effect; he had therefore to invent imaginary ones, and no one was so clever in devising petty distinctions and preferences which aroused jealousy and emulation.
Not only did he expect all persons of distinction to be in continual attendance at Court, but he was quick to notice the absence of those of inferior degree; at his lever, his coucher, his meals, in the gardens of Versailles (the only place where the courtiers in general were allowed to follow him), he used to cast his eyes to right and left; nothing escaped him, he saw everybody. If any one habitually living at Court absented himself he insisted on knowing the reason; those who came there only for flying visits had also to give a satisfactory explanation; any one who seldom or never appeared there was certain to incur his displeasure.
He always took great pains to find out what was going on in public places, in society, in private houses, even family secrets, and maintained an immense number of spies and tale-bearers. These were of all sorts; some did not know that their reports were carried to him; others did know it; there were others, again, who used to write to him directly, through channels which he prescribed; others who were admitted by the backstairs and saw him in his private room. Many a man in all ranks of life was ruined by these methods, often very unjustly, without ever being able to discover the reason; and when the King had once taken a prejudice against a man, he hardly ever got over it....
No one understood better than Louis XIV the art of enhancing the value of a favor by his manner of bestowing it; he knew how to make the most of a word, a smile, even of a glance. If he addressed any one, were it but to ask a trifling question or make some commonplace remark, all eyes were turned on the person so honored; it was a mark of favor which always gave rise to comment....
He loved splendor, magnificence, and profusion in all things, and encouraged similar tastes in his Court; to spend money freely on equipages and buildings, on feasting and at cards, was a sure way to gain his favor, perhaps to obtain the honor of a word from him. Motives of policy had something to do with this; by making expensive habits the fashion, and, for people in a certain position, a necessity, he compelled his courtiers to live beyond their income, and gradually reduced them to depend on his bounty for the means of subsistence.
Source # 11 - A person who lived at the time of Louis XIV wrote the following description of how commoners lived in France a the time:
The highroads of the country, and the streets of the towns and cities are full of beggars whom nakedness and famine have driven forth...One tenth of the population are actually beggars; five tenths do not absolutely beg, but are on the verge of starvation.
Biography of Louis XIV (1643 – 1715) – The Sun King
Louis XIV was the King of France for 54 years. This long period of rule allowed him to dominated France. Louis was called "the Sun King" not only because he used the sun as his symbol, but because he believed that France depended on him the way the earth depended on the sun. Louis acted as the center of France, directing and controlling the lives of his subjects, often without caring about their own wishes.
Louis XIV was able to directly control the workings of his government through the administrative organization of his government. An important point of his administration was that he appointed intendants, or royal managers, from the middle class to govern the different parts of France according to his commands. The intendants were loyal to Louis XIV because they wanted to keep their positions. They worked to strengthen the power of the king by building the French economy and collecting taxes from the population. While these economic policies did grow the economy, the high taxes made many middle and lower class French citizens very poor.
Louis XIV's power was based his wealth. He used his wealth to build the Palace of Versailles to represent the glory and power of his reign. Versailles was more than just the center of Louis’ government. Louis spent extravagant amounts of money to make Versailles the cultural center of Europe. He financially supported the best artists, musicians and writers to make his court a sophisticated, luxurious and splendorous environment, which was envied and copied by European monarchs for generations. Louis cleverly used Versailles to weaken the nobles so they could not rebel against him. He required the nobles of France to live at Versailles so that he could keep an eye on them. However, many nobles actually enjoyed living at Versailles because it was so luxurious and there was always something to do. As a result of having to move to Versailles, the nobles became “absentee landlords”, which means they didn't take care of the peasants who worked their land.
Louis also used his money to fight wars to spread his power. For 30 of the 54 years that he ruled France, France was at war. Louis had the largest army in Europe at the time, with more than 400,000 professional soldiers. His most costly war was the War of the Spanish Succession where the other countries of Europe united in a "Balance of Power" strategy to defeat France. The smaller countries formed alliances to “balance” the greater power of France, because they saw France as such a big threat. Because of this, France was unable to use its greater military power to win any major victories.
Louis was a Catholic monarch and he believed that everyone should be the same religion because he believed this would give him more authority. In 1685, Louis revoked the Edict of Nantes. An “edict” is an order from a king. The Edict of Nantes was issued by Louis' grandfather, Henry IV, and it allowed people to have religious freedom. When Louis XIV took away their religious freedom, hundreds of thousands of merchants and craftsmen who were not Catholic left France and went to countries like England and the Netherlands, where they could practice their religion. Ultimately, the loss of this skilled and productive population hurt the economy of France and strengthened the economies of France’s enemies.
Source # 1 - Painting of Louis XIV and is court at Versailles
Source # 2 - Video on the building of Versailles (Link to Video)
Source # 3 - Video on the gardens at Versailles - click here
Source # 4 - Video on Louis XIV use of technology to build his absolute monarchy - click here
Source # 5 - Sun Symbol on Gate at Paris of Versailles
Source # 6 - Hall of Mirrors at Versailles
Source # 7 - Map of Louis XIV's wars and Painting of Louis XIV as military leader
Source # 8 - Building the Canal du Medi - The painting to the left shows one of Louis XIV intendants (Colbert) showing him plans to build the Canal du Midi. A canal is a man-made channel of water, like a river. The map on the right shows the system of canals that were created in France under Louis XIV.
Source # 9 - Debt of the Royal Family of France during Louis XIV reign
Source # 10 - Duc de Saint-Simon: The Court of Louis XIV - The Duc de Saint-Simon resided for many years at Versailles. He left an account of Life there.
The Court
His natural talents were below mediocrity; but he had a mind capable of improvement, of receiving polish, of assimilating what was best in the minds of others without slavish imitation; and he profited greatly throughout his life from having associated with the ablest and wittiest persons, of both sexes, and of various stations. He entered the world (if I may use such an expression in speaking of a King who had already completed his twenty-third year), at a fortunate moment, for men of distinction abounded. His Ministers and Generals at this time, with their successors trained in their schools, are universally acknowledged to have been the ablest in Europe; for the domestic troubles and foreign wars under which France had suffered ever since the death of Louis XIII had brought to the front a number of brilliant names, and the Court was made up of capable and illustrious personages.... Glory was his passion, but he also liked order and regularity in all things; he was naturally prudent, moderate, and reserved; always master of his tongue and his emotions....
His Ministers, generals, mistresses, and courtiers soon found out his weak point, namely, his love of hearing his own praises. There was nothing he liked so much as flattery, or, to put it more plainly, adulation; the coarser and clumsier it was, the more he relished it.....
It was this love of praise which made it easy for Louvois to engage him in serious wars, for he persuaded him that he had greater talents for war than any of his Generals, greater both in design and in execution, and the Generals themselves encouraged him in this notion, to keep in favor with him. I mean such Generals as Condé and Turenne; much more, of course, those who came after them. He took to himself the credit of their successes with admirable complacency, and honestly believed that he was all his flatterers told him...
His mind was occupied with small things rather than with great, and he delighted in all sorts of petty details, such as the dress and drill of his soldiers; and it was just the same with regard to his building operations, his household, and even his cookery. He always thought he could teach something of their own craft even to the most skilful professional men; and they, for their part, used to listen gratefully to lessons which they had long ago learnt by heart. He imagined that all this showed his indefatigable industry; in reality, it was a great waste of time, and his Ministers turned it to good account for their own purposes, as soon as they had learnt the art of managing him; they kept his attention engaged with a mass of details, while they contrived to get their own way in more important matters.
His vanity, which was perpetually nourished ... He imagined that they were great only through him, mere mouthpieces through which he expressed his will; consequently he made no objection when they gradually encroached on the privileges of the greatest noblemen. He felt that he could at any moment reduce them to their original obscurity; whereas, in the case of a nobleman, though he could make him feel the weight of his displeasure, he could not deprive him or his family of the advantages due to his birth. For this reason he made it a rule never to admit a seigneur to his Councils, to which the Duke de Beauvilliers was the only exception....
Life at Versailles
Very early in the reign of Louis XIV the Court was removed from Paris, never to return.
He availed himself of the frequent festivities at Versailles, and his excursions to other places, as a means of making the courtiers assiduous in their attendance and anxious to please him; for he nominated beforehand those who were to take part in them, and could thus gratify some and inflict a snub on others. He was conscious that the substantial favors he had to bestow were not nearly sufficient to produce a continual effect; he had therefore to invent imaginary ones, and no one was so clever in devising petty distinctions and preferences which aroused jealousy and emulation.
Not only did he expect all persons of distinction to be in continual attendance at Court, but he was quick to notice the absence of those of inferior degree; at his lever, his coucher, his meals, in the gardens of Versailles (the only place where the courtiers in general were allowed to follow him), he used to cast his eyes to right and left; nothing escaped him, he saw everybody. If any one habitually living at Court absented himself he insisted on knowing the reason; those who came there only for flying visits had also to give a satisfactory explanation; any one who seldom or never appeared there was certain to incur his displeasure.
He always took great pains to find out what was going on in public places, in society, in private houses, even family secrets, and maintained an immense number of spies and tale-bearers. These were of all sorts; some did not know that their reports were carried to him; others did know it; there were others, again, who used to write to him directly, through channels which he prescribed; others who were admitted by the backstairs and saw him in his private room. Many a man in all ranks of life was ruined by these methods, often very unjustly, without ever being able to discover the reason; and when the King had once taken a prejudice against a man, he hardly ever got over it....
No one understood better than Louis XIV the art of enhancing the value of a favor by his manner of bestowing it; he knew how to make the most of a word, a smile, even of a glance. If he addressed any one, were it but to ask a trifling question or make some commonplace remark, all eyes were turned on the person so honored; it was a mark of favor which always gave rise to comment....
He loved splendor, magnificence, and profusion in all things, and encouraged similar tastes in his Court; to spend money freely on equipages and buildings, on feasting and at cards, was a sure way to gain his favor, perhaps to obtain the honor of a word from him. Motives of policy had something to do with this; by making expensive habits the fashion, and, for people in a certain position, a necessity, he compelled his courtiers to live beyond their income, and gradually reduced them to depend on his bounty for the means of subsistence.
Source # 11 - A person who lived at the time of Louis XIV wrote the following description of how commoners lived in France a the time:
The highroads of the country, and the streets of the towns and cities are full of beggars whom nakedness and famine have driven forth...One tenth of the population are actually beggars; five tenths do not absolutely beg, but are on the verge of starvation.
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
September 8, 2015
Homework - Read the Notes for the unit Europe Prior to the French Revolution for Thursday's class. You will have a quiz on this reading.
Essay Question: Should political decisions be made from the top down (traditional) or bottom up (liberal)?
We will be working on this essay over the course of this unit. It will be due the day after the first test.
Essay Question: Should political decisions be made from the top down (traditional) or bottom up (liberal)?
We will be working on this essay over the course of this unit. It will be due the day after the first test.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
September 3, 2015
Homework - Read the Overview Reading for the unit Europe Prior to the French Revolution for Tuesday's class.
You will be reading the Notes for the unit Europe Prior to the French Revolution for Thursday's class (9/10).
You will be reading the Notes for the unit Europe Prior to the French Revolution for Thursday's class (9/10).
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Welcome to Modern World - September 1, 2015
Welcome to Modern World History. The daily class materials and homework assignments will be posted to this page.
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