"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.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Week 15 - The French Revolution, 1789-1795
Long Periods: Research and writing time in the library.
Independent research presentations continue.
Independent research final drafts DUE on Friday, 12/5.
Quiz#8 opens on Friday at 3:30 and will remain open until Monday evening at midnight; covers the Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, Ancien Regime and the French Revolution
Day 1: The Ancien Regime: The Twilight of Monarchies?
- In-class: Review remaining projects, final exams, the second self reflection, and remaining extra credit opportunities. Independent research presentations continue all week. Read and discuss primary sources on the ancien regime. Chronicle current events.
- Homework for Day 2: Read "Overturning the Political and Social Order," from The West in the World, Vol II., eds. Sherman and Salisbury, pp. 487-497 (Up until the section, "Radical Republicans Struggle for Power"). Take notes on key terms and persons, and prepare notes on the accompanying question (see below).
- Key terms: The ancien regime, Reform efforts (of Jacques Turgot), the Estates General, The Tennis Court Oath, cahiers, the Bastille, The National Assembly, The Great Fear, Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, Declaration of the Rights of Women, March to Versailles, Civil Constitution of the Clergy, Sans-culottes, The Jacobin Club, and the National Convention.
- Key persons: Arthur Young, Louis XVI, Jacques Turgot, Abbe Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyes, Olympe de Gouges, and Georges-Jacques Danton.
- Key question: What were the underlying causes of the revolution (cites primary sources where possible).
Day 2: Independent Research.
In-class: Meet in the library; bring materials for final drafting and discussion with the instructor.
- Homework for Day 3: Read from "Radical Republicans Struggling for Power," in The West in the World, Vol II., eds. Sherman and Salisbury, pp. 497-505 (Up until the section, "Napoleon Bonaparte"). Take notes on key terms and persons, and prepare notes on the accompanying TWO questions (see below).
- Key terms: Girondins and Jacobins,, the terror, committee of public safety, levee en masse, the Haitian Revolution, the Thermidorian reaction, the "White" terror, and the Directory.
- Key persons: Maximilien Robespierre, Manon Roland, Toussaint L'Ouverture, and Jean-Paul Marat.
- Key questions: How did the revolution become more radical? What were the effects of the revolution?
Day 3: The Causes of the French Revolution
- In-class: Discuss the causes and effects of the French Revolution.
- Homework for Day 4: Read the handout from class on secondary sources about the French Revolution, prepare notes on the arguments and evidence of those secondary sources, and try to synthesize those arguments on the effects of the French Revolution.
- Secondary Source #1: Georges Lefebvre, "The Coming of the French Revolution," pp. 125-126.
- Secondary Source #2: Donald M. G. Sutherland, "The Revolution of the Notables," p. 126.
- Secondary Source #3: Ruth Graham, "Loaves and Liberty: Women in the French Revolution," pp. 127-128.
- Secondary Source #4: William Doyle, "An Evaluation of the French Revolution," pp. 128-129.
Day 4: Quiz#8
- In-class: Discuss the arguments and evidence from the secondary sources, and review for the quiz.
- No homework over the weekend. BEGIN REVIEW for final exams; see Study Blue Flash Card Sets for World History 2.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Week 14: The Old Regime, 1715-1789
Grandparents' Day, Tuesday, 11/25 - Special schedule.
Thanksgiving Break, Wednesday, 11/26 to Sunday, 11/30.
Day 1: Monday, 24, 2014.
Meet in library; sign in at front desk with librarians for attendance; use time for research and work.
Homework for Day 2: Choose one or more of the following options from the textbook, Western Civilization, read, take notes on the following key terms and persons, and prepare for discussion on Grandparents' Day, Day 2.
Option#1: Statebuilding in Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire.
Introduction, p. 251 + pp. 452-460.
Key terms: The Peace of Utrecht, the Partition of Poland, Wahhabism, the Diplomatic Revolution
Key persons: Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa.
Option#2: Changes in Country and City Life, Manufacturing, Health and Middle Class Life.
Introduction, p. 251 + pp. 471-476.
Key terms: The Agricultural Revolution, enclosures, the cottage industry.
Option#3: The Culture of the Elite: The Modern Novel, Art, Architecture, Music, the Grand Tour, and Culture for the Lower Classes.
Introduction, p. 251 + pp. 476-481.
Key authors: Defoe, Richardson and Fielding, Burney, and Goethe.
Key terms: Neo-Classical, Rococo, and Baroque music.
Key artists: Watteau, Greuze, and Hogarth.
Key musicians: Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart.
Day 2: Grandparents' Day and the Ancien Regime.
In-class: Research presentations and discussions of readings on the Old Regime of Europe.
No Homework due over break.
Happy Thanksgiving Break!!!
Friday, November 14, 2014
Week 13 - The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, 1600-1800
Independent research presentations continue.
Rough drafts of independent research papers are DUE by the end of the day on Friday, 11/21.
Book review submissions to the Student Magazine Project are DUE by Friday, 11/21.
Quiz#6: Covers French Absolutism, the English Civil War and Constitutionalism; will go live on Friday afternoon, 11/14 at 3:30 and will remain open until Monday evening, 11/17 at midnight.
Quiz#7: In-class on Monday, 11/17; matching of key terms and persons from the readings on the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution.
Day 1, Monday, 11/11: Review of Constitutionalism.
- In-class: Wrap up discussions of the English Civil War and Constitutionalism.
- In-Class: Begin to read and discuss primary source handouts on the Scientific Revolution, including excerpts from Renee Descartes, "The Discourse on Method," and Galileo Galilei.
- In-class: Discuss current events; pay particular attention to events in Ukraine.
- Homework: Read, "A New World of Reason and Reform," from The West in the World, Vol II., eds. Sherman and Salisbury, pp. 425-436 (up to the section, "Laying the Foundations for the Enlightenment"), and prepare notes on the following question, key terms and persons for a graded discussion in class.
- Key question: What explains why some people in the "West" began to challenge the standard assumptions of their civilization? In other words, why did the scientific revolution emerge in Europe when it did, at a time when Europe was caught up in almost a century of religious wars and other conflicts? Use three examples to illustrate and support your answer.
- Key terms: The Ptolemaic (or geocentric) model of the universe, the Copernican Revolution (and heliocentric model of the universe), the Roman inquisition, Neoplatonism, Hermetic doctrine, alchemy, experimental method (methodology of science/empirical method), inductive reasoning (and empirical investigation), deductive reasoning (and mathematical reasoning), Cartesian dualism.
- Key persons: Blaise Pascal, Galileo Galilei, Aristotle, Ptolemy, Plato, Copernicus, Giordano Bruno, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Paracelsus, Andreas Vesalius, William Harvey, Anton van Leeuwenhoek, Robert Boyle, Francis Bacon, and Rene Descartes.
Day 2: The Scientific Revolution
- In-class: Discuss the homework reading and question about the reasons behind the scientific revolution.
- Homework: Read about the Enlightenment in The West in the World, Vol II., eds. Sherman and Salisbury, pp. 436-446, and prepare notes on the following question, key terms and persons for a graded discussion in class.
- Key question: How did the scientific revolution lay the foundation for the Enlightenment?
- Key terms: Enlightenment, salon, orrery, skepticism, the philosophes, the Encyclopedia, Deism, separation of powers, checks and balances, enlightened absolutism (enlightened monarchs), physiocrats, laissez-faire, criminology/penology, and the "woman question".
- Key persons: Pierre Bayle, David Hume, Voltaire, Emilie du Chatelet, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Adam Smith, Cesare Beccaria, Mary Wollstonecraft, Madame Geoffrin, and Condorcet.
Day 3: The Enlightenment.
- In-class: Read the primary source handout by Immanuel Kant, "What is the Enlightenment?" and discuss the influence of the scientific revolution on the Enlightenment.
- Homework: Work on independent research paper drafts.
Day 4: Independent Research.
- In-class: Sign in at the front desk in the library, and work on independent research paper drafts.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Week 12: The English Civil War and Constitutionalism
Research presentations begin in classes this week.
Long periods: Research presentations, discussions of primary sources and remaining time for independent research, writing, and discussion with the instructor.
Quiz#6: Covers French Absolutism, the English Civil War and Constitutionalism; will go live on Friday afternoon, 11/14 at 3:30 and will remain open until Monday evening, 11/17 at midnight.
Day 1: Monday, 11/10: Absolutism in Eastern Europe
- In-class: Discuss the homework reading, "The Struggle for Sovereignty in Eastern Europe," from The West in the World, Vol II., eds. Sherman and Salisbury, pp.403-409 (up until the section, "The Triumph of Constitutionalism").
Question#1: How did the struggles in everyday life and issues of sovereignty compare between Western and Eastern Europe, based on the examples of Brandenburg-Prussia, Austria, Russia and Poland?
Key Terms: sovereignty, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the (French) Wars of Aggression, the Peace of Utrecht, estates, serfs, Brandenburg-Prussia, the Hohenzollerns, Austria, the Hapsburgs, the Ottomans, the Tsars, and the Romanovs.
Key Persons: The Great Elector Frederick William, Leopold I, Jan Sobieski, Ivan IV (the "Terrible"), and Peter I (the "Great").
- Homework for Day 3: Read "The Triumph of Constitutionalism in England," from The West in the World, Vol II., eds. Sherman and Salisbury, pp. 409-419 (up until the section, "The Netherlands Maintains a Republic," and prepare notes on the following key terms, persons, and questions for discussion in class:
1. What were the causes of the English Civil War?
2. What were the effects?
3. Why did constitutionalism emerge in England and not at the same time on the continent of Europe?
Key terms: Divine rule, Lèse-majesté, constitutionalism, sumptuary laws, "gunpowder plot", Puritans, Cavaliers, Roundheads, Levellers, the Rump Parliament, two theories of government, the social contract, natural law, "military revolution," the Commonwealth, the Glorious Revolution, the English Bill of Rights, and the Hanover Dynasty.
Key Persons: James I (the Stuart Dynasty), Charles I, Jane Whorwood, Oliver Cromwell, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Samuel Pepys.
Day 2 (Long periods): The English Civil War
- In-class: First research presentations.
- In-class: Read and discuss the following primary sources from the reading packet:
- Primary source#1: James I, "The Powers of the Monarch in England".
- Primary source#2: The House of Commons, "The Powers of Parliament in England".
- In-class: Use remaining time to work on research papers and meet with instructor.
Day 3: The Emergence of Constitutionalism.
- In-class: Read and discuss the following primary sources:
- Primary source#3: Thomas Hobbes, "Leviathan: Political Order and Political Theory".
- Primary source#4: John Locke, "Second Treatise of Civil Government: Legislative Power".
- In-class: Discuss the homework questions:
1. What were the causes of the English Civil War?
2. What were the effects?
3. Why did constitutionalism emerge in England and not at the same time on the continent of Europe?
- Homework: Read the handout packet on the following secondary sources on the English Civil War, and identify the arguments and evidence of the secondary sources.
- Secondary source#1: Conrad Russell, "The Causes of the English Civil War".
- Secondary source#2: G. Durand, "Absolutism: Myth and Reality".
- Secondary source#3: George Macaulay Trevelyan, "The English Revolution, 1688-1689".
Day 4: The Historiography on the English Civil War and Constitutionalism.
- In-class: Discuss the secondary sources and review the materials on the English Civil War and the emergence of constitutionalism.
- Homework: Continue to work on independent research, outlining and drafting of independent research papers.