"The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner
Course Description
Welcome! This site is for students, parents, teachers and anyone else interested in the tenth-grade World History 2 Course at Santa Fe Prep.
The overall course covers the history of the world from roughly 1500 to the present. The first quarter opens with the time when Asia was the center of world affairs, then traces European encounters with Asia and the Americas, and the complex interactions and consequences of the so-called "Columbian Exchange" between Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. The first quarter ends with a survey of the European Renaissance and Reformation, in both its local and global dimensions. The second quarter will focus on the rise of absolute monarchies and new ideas and practices, especially with the scientific revolution and Enlightenment. The second quarter ends with assessments of the legacies of the French Revolution, Napoleon and the emergence of the British Empire. The third quarter starts with the implications of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars in the wake of the Congress of Vienna, i.e., the discourse on rights, reaction, revolution and reform, the rise of new ideologies, in particular, Classical Liberalism, nationalism, and romanticism, and conservative reactions to the changes wrought by the American and French Revolutions. The course then examines the rise of industrialization and social change in 19th-century Europe, and the emergence of middle and working class cultures, followed by new iterations of liberalism and conservatism, the proliferation of more ideologies, e.g., socialism, communism, ultranationalism, social Darwinism, and antisemitism. Then the course examines the unification of the Italian and German nation states, and the creation of the modern welfare state. From there the course traces the rise of a new wave of Western imperialism, followed by the rest of the world's reactions to the rise of European empires and ideas, and in particular, the emergence of industrial Japan and their surprising victory over Russia. The third quarter ends with the outbreak of the First World War. The fourth and final quarter surveys the effects of the First World War, followed by the brief peak of classical liberal nation states and promises for peace, and the rapid rise of authoritarianism, in both communist and fascist variations, with a special focus on the rise of Nazism, the Nazi racial transformation of Germany and the Holocaust and Shoah of modern Europe. The fourth quarter concludes by looking at the causes and effects of the Second World War, the Cold War, the end of European empires in Asia and Africa, the emergence of the Modern Middle East and China, the end of the Cold War, history since 1989, all the way to the present, including current events.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Week 6: Africa in the World - The Ironic Sweetness of Power, Slavery and Freedom
Book review drafts DUE by the end of the class day on Wednesday, 10/1/2014.
** Share drafts with instructor via GoogleDocs for comment.
*** Communicate with the instructor about extenuating circumstances and deadline extensions.
Review of historiography-based analysis and discussion of document-based writing guidelines.
Document-based question #1 during long periods of Week 7, Tuesday (periods 1 & 6), and Wednesday (period 4), 10/7-10/8/2014.
Day 1, Monday, 9/29/2014: The Ironic Sweetness of Power.
- In-class: Recap synthesis of historiography on the effects of European colonization (1500-1600).
- In-class: Discuss book review projects, strategic reading and writing.
- Homework for Day 3 (Periods 1 & 6 on Wednesday, 10/1/2014; period 4 on Thursday, 10/2/2014: Read Charles Mann, "Bad Beginnings," in 1493, pp. 369-382.
Prepare comprehensive answers to the following questions for discussion (BE PREPARED TO SHOW NOTES and to DISCUSS IN CLASS as part of homework and participation grades):
Reading questions:
1. What is the history of sugar?
2. How does the history of sugar influence the history of slavery and what were the results?
Key terms: al-zucar, Saccharum, plantations, Madeira, Iberian(and African) slavery vs. chattel slavery.
Day 3: Sugar and slavery.
- In-class: Discuss the history of sugar and its role in the rise of chattel slavery.
- Homework: Read Charles Mann, "Forest of Fugitives," in 1493, pp. 421-442, and prepare comprehensive answers to the following questions for discussion (BE PREPARED TO SHOW NOTES and to DISCUSS IN CLASS as part of homework and participation grades):
1. What are quilombos and what do they tell us about the early modern history of Africans in the Americas?
2. In other words, what are the myths about Africans, particularly African slaves in the Americas, and what does the latest research tell us?
- Key terms: the "Transatlantic" world, quilombos, maroon communities (mocambos, palenques, cumbes), Jolof Empire, Palmares, and bandeirantes.
- Key persons: Aqualtune, Ganga Zumba, and Zumbi.
- Key historiographical debates: The origins and effects of the African slave trade.
Day 4: Africa, slavery and Freedom.
- In-class: Discuss what some of the latest research on maroon communities (maroons) indicates about the history of slavery and freedom in the "Transatlantic" world.
- Homework: prepare for the first in-class document-based question during the long periods of Week 7.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Week 5: New Spain and the Legacy of Columbus
Event: Parents Open House, Saturday, 9/27
Holiday: Rosh Hashana, Thursday, 9/25. No school.
Long periods: Work in library on research and reading for the book review project.
Day 1: The Perspectives of Encounters, Conquest and Exchange
- In-class: Current events reports.
- In-class: Read and discuss the primary source handout, "The Siege of Tenochtitlan," from The Broken Spears, the excerpt from Bartolome de Las Casas, Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies (1542), and Bernal Diaz del Castillo's memoir on the Aztecs, and conduct a SOAPSTONE analysis of each source to the best of your ability.
- Homework for Day 2: Read "Confrontation of Cultures," in the textbook, The West in the World, ed. Sherman/Salisbury, pp. 367-375 (up until the section entitled "The African Slave Trade," and prepare answers for the following 2 questions. Homework questions will be collected after class discussions.
- Homework question #1: What were the Americas like before contact with the Europeans?
- Homework question # 2: What were relations like between the original Americans and Europeans?
Day 2: The Confrontation of Cultures
- In-class: Discuss the textbook reading and homework questions.
- Homework for Day 3: Read/Review "Family Values," in Mann, 1493, pp. 393-410. Prepare notes on the casta system, how it was supposed to function and how it actually worked. Homework questions will be collected after class discussions.
- See also Maria Elena Martinez, "Social Order in Spanish New World", PBS onlinefor a visual discussion of the effects of Spain on the New World.
Day 3: The Casta System.
- In-class: Discuss the caste system, based on the homework reading and question.
- In-class: Review and discuss the secondary source handout, M. L. Bush, "The Effects of Expansion on the Non-European World," from Western Civilization, ed. Sherman, pp. 43-44; for discussion, clearly identify the author's argument and evidence (as well as the limits and problems with the argument), and think of other possible effects, other arguments and evidence that we have seen this semester.
Key terms: Tenochtitlan, repartimiento (or mita), encomienda, syncretism, purity of the blood, casta system, casta paintings, Peninsulare, Criollo, Mestizo, and Mulatto.
Key persons: Motecuhzoma, Cortes, Malinche, Pizarro, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Bartolome de Las Casas.
Key historiographical debate: The effects of European colonization.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Book Review Project Guidelines and Resources
I. Book review project calendar and due dates:
II. Instructions
2. For additional book review guidelines: please check out the following websites:
4. Begin to outline your review of the book you have chosen to read.
Title: Think of a title that can hook the reader.
A. Introduction
- There are different ways to start your book review, but find a way to hook your reader's interest to continue reading your review and to learn more about this book.
B. Body paragraphs - organize around possible key points:
- Usually start with the strengths of the book, where possible, and end with constructive criticism
- Explain the author(s) aims with his, her or their book project
- Briefly note information on how the book is organized.
- Discuss key chapters that illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the book.
- Identify key arguments they want to make and the quality of the evidence they use.
- Write about what strikes you about the book, i.e., how it is written, what one can learn from it, if the author(s) successfully accomplished what they set out to do in terms of the argument, research and use of evidence, and/or any questions, comments or criticism you might have about the book.
II. Additional notes:
5. Book review drafts will be due on Wednesday, October 1. For those students with extenuating circumstances like the late arrival of your books on order at the library, PLEASE talk to your instructor about adjusting due dates.
Week 4 - The Rise of the West
Online quiz#2 opens on Thursday afternoon at 3:30, 9/18 (covers Week 3 & 4), and closes at midnight on Saturday, 9/20. Follow this link: https://www.myhaikuclass.com/rspinney/worldhistory/assessmentshttps://www.myhaikuclass.com/rspinney/worldhistory/assessments
Guest lecture from Ellen Zieselmann on the art history of contact and conquest (Period 1, 4, and 6 on Monday, 9/15).
- Long periods: Time in library to look over possible book selections and discuss research topics with the instructor.
Day 1: Spain in the 16th and 17th Centuries.
- In-class: Guest lecture by Ellen Zieselmann, Curator of Education at New Mexico Museum of Art.
- In-class: Introduce the SOAPSTONE rubric for primary source analysis.
Speaker (who?)
Occasion (when, where? what is the source?)
Audience (to whom?)
Purpose (why?)
Subject (what is it about?)
Tone (what does it feel like?)
- Homework for Day 2: Analyze 2 primary source HANDOUTS using the SOAPSTONE rubric, #1: Gomes Eannes de Azurara, "The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea," and Christopher Columbus, "Letter to Lord Sanchez, 1493". - Using these sources, ANSWER the question: why did the Europeans, i.e., the Portuguese, begin exploring. Discussion on Day 2 will be graded based on this preparation and discussion.
Day 2: The Rise of Portugal and Spain.
- In-class: Discuss the primary source readings on Spain and Portugal from homework.
- Homework: Read the two secondary source HANDOUTS, Richard B. Reed, "The Expansion of Europe," in Western Civilization, ed. Sherman, pp. 41-43, and Kenneth Pomeranz and Steven Topik, "Woods, Winds, Shipbuilding, and Shipping: Why China Didn't Rule the Waves," pp. 47-49.
- For each secondary source, ANSWER the question: What is the author(s) argument about the rise of Europe vs. China, and what kind of evidence do they use to support their argument (DUE in class on Day 3)? Discussion on Day 3 will be graded based on this preparation and discussion.
Day 3: Why China Did not Rule the Waves.
- In-class: Discuss the secondary source readings on Europe and China from homework.
- In-class: Read the secondary source handout (included in the original handout packet for the week), by M. L. Bush, "The Effects of Expansion on the Non-European World," and identify the author's main argument(s) and evidence.
Day 4: Research and Reading Time.
- In-class: Finish selecting a book, and use class time to read and research.
- Homework: Use time on the weekend to read from your selected book; finalized book selections are due by Monday, 9/22.
Key Terms: The Reconquista (Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula), nation state, the "new monarchies," joint stock company, entrepot, and market forces.
Key Persons: Gomes Eannes de Azurara, Prince Henry the Navigator.
Key Historiographical Arguments: The reasons for the rise of Europe and retreat of China.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Week 3: Atlantic Journeys: When Plants and Bugs Made History
Day 1: Atlantic Journeys.
- In-class: Discuss current events and begin to look over "Atlantic Journeys," in 1493, pp. 51-151, especially "Seasoning," pp. 104ff, and "About Face," pp.116ff.
- Homework (DUE: Day 2 (Tuesday)): Think about a possible independent research topic and possible selections for the book review project.
Answer these two questions:
#1: Why did Jamestown almost fail and how was it saved?
#2: How did the history of malaria influence the rise of chattel slavery?
Day 2: The Rise of the West.
- In-class: Introduce the SOAPSTONE rubric for primary source analysis. Analyze 2 primary sources using this rubric, #1: Gomes Eannes de Azurara, "The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea," and Christopher Columbus, "Letter to Lord Sanchez, 1493".
- Long periods (6 & 1): Time in library to look over possible book selections and discuss research topics with the instructor.
Key Terms: Jamestown (p. 73f.), joint stock company (p. 71), Tassantassas (p. 74), the Starving Time (pp. 77-78), tobacco, malaria, seasoning, indentured servants, and chattel slavery.
Key Persons: John Smith, Powhatan, Pocahantas and Sir Francis Drake.
Key Historiographical Arguments: The origins of chattel slavery and the role of the Columbian exchange in the origins of chattel slavery.
Monday, September 1, 2014
What’s Going On? Current Events Chronicle Guidelines:
I. Definitions: What is a chronicle?