Friday, January 21, 2011

Midterm Exam

3. Describe and analyze how overseas expansion by European states affected global trade and international relations from 1600 to 1715. 

Outline:
Thesis - Improvements in ship building during the 15th century allowed European states to expand their territories to places such as North America, South America, Africa, and Asia; and it also allowed them to develop trade with countries all over the world, importing new products and making ties with people of different lands.

new types of ships that could sail for longer over farther distances allowed states to travel to new places, setting up colonies and also developing trade.

improved global trade because it allowed people to spread and combine ideas, learn new techniques, and receive new products. brought people closer together.

Essay:

 During the period from 1600-1715 there was a rise in global trade and new acquaintances were made between countries.  Improvements in ship building during the 15th century allowed European states to expand their territories to places such as North America, South America, Africa, and Asia, and it allowed them to develop trade with countries all over the world; importing new products and making ties with people of different lands.

The Dutch developed a new type of ship that could sail for longer and over further distances.  This new ship allowed states to send people to new places, to set up colonies in some and trade in others.  For example, the English sent people over to North America to create colonies.  Some of the first colonies to be established were Plymouth in modern day Massachusetts and Jamestown in what would soon become Virginia.  The English gained many new resources from the colonies, like cotton, corn, and tobacco.  They colonies would export these resources to England and then the English would make products out of them and sell them back to the colonies and to other European states.  This allowed the English to become richer and gain more power.

The Spanish, Dutch, and French were some other states that expanded their territories.  The Spanish claimed territory in Florida, Central America, and South America.  The French had territory in Louisiana.  The Dutch had claimed territory in what is now southern Canada and the northern United States. The English, Spanish, Dutch, and French also traded with other countries in other parts of the world.  They sailed to Africa where and India where trading companies were made, such as the East India Trading Company.  This helped to promote globalization.  The Europeans were traveling to new places all over the world and meeting new people with different lifestyles.  Likewise, the people of the countries that Europeans were coming to many times saw technology that they had never seen before, such as guns and printing presses, and they also met people who had different lifestyles.  The traveling Europeans spread new ideas and resources to the countries they traveled to and in return, they also received many.

Expansion and trade helped create new international relations between European states and the "exotic" countries they were trading with.  It also created competition between the European states.  They all wanted to have the best things and the most power.  They wanted to have the best territories with the best resources This eventually caused conflict between some of the European states.

Overall, expansion helped to greatly improve trade and international relations.  The European states formed new relations with countries and found many new resources.  This caused them to become more knowledgeable and to also develop even more technology.  The globalization that occurred during the 15th century was enormous and it changed history.

4. Discuss the political and social consequences of the Protestant Reformation in the first half of the sixteenth century.  

Outline:
Thesis - The 95 Thesis of Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation, changing history. Martin Luther had introduced a new religion, which would soon develop many followers, causing tension between states and leading to war between them. T.

Martin Luther started the reformation with his 95 Thesis.
printing press allowed him to print pamphlets and spread his ideas about Protestantism.
King Henry VIII reformed the Church of England and made it Protestant because he wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon.
Brought a sense of nationalism to England.  Religion united them.
Reformation created much tension between countries.
There was now war between Catholics and Protestants.
Holy Roman Empire became divided between Catholics and Protestants.

Essay:

The Protestant Reformation was a turning point in history.  Everyone was no longer Catholic. There was now diversity between religion. Much tension between states came from this because religion and government were many times intertwined. The 95 Thesis of Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation, changing history. Martin Luther had introduced a new religion of Protestantism, which would soon develop many followers, causing tension between states and leading to war between them, but also changing the future of Europe for the better.

Martin Luther created Lutheranism, which was a form of Protestantism.  He wrote a 95 Thesis, which was a list of his complaints against the Catholic Church.  Pamphlets were made and sent out all over Europe, spreading his ideas to the people.  Many people liked these ideas and supported Luther.  Rulers of states took notice of these new ideas and started to institute them.  For example, King Henry VIII reformed religious beliefs in England from Catholic to Protestant.  He did this because he needed a male heir to his thrown. His wife at the time, Catherine of Aragon, could not provide him one, so he wanted to divorce her and marry Anne Boleyn.  The Pope would not allow him to divorce Catherine.  He decided to sever ties between England and the Catholic Church.  He took Protestantism and created the Church of England.  Catholicism was no longer allowed to be practiced.  Only Protestantism was accepted.  While some people did not like this, many did.  The new Church of England made them feel unified because it was their church.  This promoted a sense of nationalism in the people.  No longer would they call themselves "John from London" or "William from Hampshire."  They now said "John from England" and "William from England."

While the Protestant Reformation promoted nationalism in England and helped to unify it, making it a more powerful state, caused some empires to crumble.  For example there was now tension in the Holy Roman Empire.   There was a divide between Catholics and Protestants, which eventually caused war to occur. War pulled the Holy Roman Empire apart, causing them to lose much of the power they had over people.  States became more individualized and were not united.

There was also much prejudice and prosecution of Protestants.  When Henry VIII died and his daughter Mary, who was Catholic, eventually took over, she burned thousands of Protestants and destroyed Protestant churches.  This persecution of Protestant people also occurred in other countries.

The Protestant Reformation had good consequences and bad ones as well.  It promoted nationalism in England, but it also caused tension in the Holy Roman Empire, and many Protestants were killed for their beliefs.  The Protestant Reformation did completely change the future of Europe.  People started to fight for what they believed in and there was more diversity, and eventually they would become more accepting of each other.


DBQ: 

Outline: 

Thesis: The marchers that were a part of the Pilgrimage of Grace felt that Thomas Cromwell had too much power in the government.  They were angry that their religion of Catholicism was not allowed and they were also  their rulers were not protecting them properly and that

religion - were strong believers of Catholic faith (doc. 1), (doc. 3)

protection of people - (doc. 4) (doc. 2) (doc. 8) (doc. 10)

Cromwell has too much power - (doc. 6) (doc. 11)
 
Essay: 

The Pilgrimage of Grace was  a series of protests and armed demonstrations by people who did not agree with the new government policies, the rise and expansion of royal power in northern England, and the taking of Catholic Church lands that Thomas Cromwell had instituted.  The marchers protested against Thomas Cromwell and his institutions because they were angry that he was not allowing them to practice their religion and they were not being properly protected from the Scots (Catholicism), but more importantly they were afraid that he had too much power in government; however, like the marchers, Cromwell and other people in opposition of the Pilgrimage were concerned, except for the reason that the marchers protests might actually enact change.


The marchers were strong believers of the Catholic faith.  Many of their proclamations, oaths, and songs, were made in the name of God.  For example in the "Oath of Honorable Men," which was taken by marchers at York in 1536, they say "You shall not enter into our Pilgrimage of Grace for worldly gain. Do so only for your love of God, for the Holy Catholic Church militant...." (Doc. 1).  They also showed their Catholic faith through banners they waved at their protests, such as the re-creation of a banner called "Wounds of Christ" pictured in document three.  On the banner is a communion chalice, a plow, a cattle horn, and a bleeding heart with two bleeding hands and two bleeding feet coming out of it. The heart with the hands and feet symbolize Jesus Christ and his suffering on the cross, showing that the marchers were believers in Christ and the Catholic faith. Cromwell was taking away the religion they loved.  They were no longer being allowed to practice their religion and Catholic monasteries and lands were being taken by the government.  This greatly angered them, so they petitioned to "have the supreme head of the Church be the pope in Rome as before" and to "have the monasteries' houses, lands, and goods restored to them" (Doc. 5).

The marchers also felt that the government was not protecting the people to the best of it's ability.  In a marcher's proclamation from October 1536 the people said, "Because the rulers of this country do not defend us from being robbed by thieves and Scots, we have to rely on charity, faith, poverty, and pity" (Doc. 2) The fact that the people are afraid of attackers shows that the government was not protecting them properly.  Marcher's made reference to this fear of being attacked in a marcher's ballad, singing "Robbed, spoiled, and shorn, of cattle and corn, houses and land" (Doc. 4). The government also did not try to protect the people from breaking the law.  Marchers were accused of treason because of their protests, but they had never been informed that they were breaking the law.  In a testimony given by Nicholas Leche, a Catholic parish priest, he says "During the whole insurrection, not one gentleman tried to warn the commoners of Lincoln that it was treason. The gentlemen could have stopped the rebellion then, but did not, never believing their actions to be offensive to the King. In fact, they had waged the rebellion against the Privy Council in the name of the King" (Doc. 8).  The marchers had not been warned that what they were doing could cause them to go to prison.  However, the government did not care.  They tried 223 people from January to March 1537 and convicted 144 of treason (Doc. 10).

The people believed that Cromwell was the man behind their suffering.  They said that he had too much power in government.  For instance, in a pamphlet from 1536 it reads, "We have a Parliament where men may not speak of the King’s vices but only say what Cromwell says is right" (Doc. 6).  The Parliament was practically completely under Cromwell's control.  With Cromwell in power no change could occur and things would continue the way they were.  

Cromwell and others opposed to the Pilgrimage of Grace were annoyed with the marchers and most likely concerned that the protests would turn to violent rebellions.  They felt that the marchers did not know what they were talking about and that they should just let the government rule without causing any trouble.  In a pamphlet called "A Remedy for Sedition" written by Richard Morrison, a writer hired by Thomas Cromwell, it says, "When every man rules, who shall obey? Those that are of the worser sort must be content that the wiser rule and govern them. An order must be had and a way found so that the better rule the rest. This arrangement is not only expedient, but also most necessary in a commonwealth" (Doc. 7).  Morrison, who is expressing Cromwell's opinion, is saying that it was the governments job to rule, not the peoples, so the people should stay out of it.  Cromwell wanted to send the message that the peopled needed to accept the fact that they were beneath the government.  

In conclusion, the Catholic marchers were unhappy with the government that Cromwell was controlling.  Their religion was being taken away, they felt unprotected, and they believed that Cromwell had too much power. They made an effort to cause change through protesting, but their power was so little in comparison to the government that they could not really enact change. 


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