AP Euro essay topics – Flashcards

- Glorification of Humans: (Michelangelo's and Donatello's Davids) based on Petrarch (Father of Italian Renaissance Humanism) ideas that the Renaissance was a time to emerge from the darkness of the Middle Ages. People had new hope that they could accomplish anything. - Emphasis on Education: (Raphael's School of Athens with people like Ptolemy, Plato and Aristotle) based on Humanism, the emerging emphasis on the study of Greek and Roman literature. With education, people could rise to new intelligence. - Use of Christianity: (There's a lot here: Da Vinci's Last Supper, Masaccio's Tribute Money, and Botticelli's Primavera...) based on the rise of Neoplatonism, or the emphasis on Plato's ideas of Christianity and a hierarchy of plants to god... which you will notice in Primavera, which not only has the trinity of Christianity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit,) but also has plants at the bottom, people in the middle, and god-like angels on top. (Important: Northern Europe = Details in paintings, Italy = Perspective and Proportions)

- Luther's 95 Theses was the first break from Catholicism, which was a stand against indulgences.Catholics = liked people to pay for guaranteed salvation. Protestantism denounced Pope's authority to give salvation. Catholics liked pope. Belief in consubstantiation, which is bread and wine don't literally turn into body and blood of Jesus. Catholics = transubstantiation. - King Henry VIII: Wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon because she couldn't produce a male heir, so he abolished papal authority in England and married Anne, who also had a baby girl... He had six wives, and one male offspring. Act of Supremacy: declared the King (Henry VIII) was the Supreme head of the church of England. Plus the Treason Act said if you argue against this, we will kill you. Thomas More killed for doing just that. Queen Mary: Burned Protestant "Heretics," creating the name "Bloody Mary." Wanted restoration of Catholicism, but people became more protestant. This is just extra background. Don't use this if you don't need to. - Jesuits helped bring people back to Catholic church. Revival of Catholicism: Jesuits made schools (seen as good), proclaimed their faith to non-christians, and fighting protestantism with the catholic banner. Missionaries succeeded in poland, germany, and east europe. Pope Paul III summoned the council of trent, which was to compromise beliefs with protestants- conservative catholics won, changing nothing but the music in the service. Pope Paul IV was elected, and became the "first true pope of the catholic counter-reformation." Used Spanish Inquisition so even the liberal cardinals were silenced.

- Religiously: French Calvinists (Huguenots) were a dangerous threat to monarchical power b/c 50% of French nobility, but Catholics outnumbered them. Catherine de Medici took over the Catholic Valois monarchy after her husband King Henry II died and wanted religious compromise to defuse tensions between Catholics and Calvinists. The ultra-catholic Guise family favored opposition b/c strong. Loyalty went to religious beliefs. - Socially: Calvinist nobles and towns and provinces resented monarchical centralization, and wanted a revolt. But it was the Catholics who acted (Guise family) and killed Huguenots in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. - Politically: War of the Three Henries. Henry III (Cath.) teamed with Henry of Navarre (Prot.) Navarre boy converted twice, ending with Catholicism. His coronation along with the Edict of Nantes saying Huguenots could live in peace but Cath = official religion of France, ended wars. H's had political privileges. This was all done out of political necessity.

(GUNS (religion), GERMS (smallpox), STEEL (swords)) Money, weapons, the wheel, germs. Europe is the West. Europeans the first to acquire these things because of geographic location. Ex. - Portuguese taking over spice Islands (mass murders? Cutting off hands or something...) - Pizarro taking over Incas (On horses for the first time ever, people frightened) - Cortez taking over Aztecs (Tenochtitlán, quetzalcoatl...) The success of the West was attributed to their techniques, inventions, and illnesses that other non-European countries had not been exposed to. Examples such as the Portuguese's conquest of Malacca, Cortes's conquest of the Aztecs, and Pizarro's conquest of the Incas demonstrated the conquerors' use of these tools to benefit themselves and bring down the powerful forces of those occupying the area. On the downside, the conquered people began with an unfair advantage by not being immune to the European diseases, and not being advanced enough in their inventions because of their geographic locations (as some experts say.) This left them defenseless and vulnerable to being conquered from the beginning. The success of Europe in conquering other areas was because of their unfair advantages, put into use to conqueror other areas by killing and injuring many of the inhabitants in those regions. Par. 1: Alfonso de Albuquerque captured and killed many Arabs in order to reduce the Arab influence in the spice trade. His use of weapons such as heavy guns and remarkable seamanship allowed him an advantage over the Arabs. The effects of this were a cruel and unusual punishment to the Arabs when he cut off the men's hands and the women's noses and ears. Par. 2: Pizarro's conquest of the Incas was one where they were greatly outnumbered, proving they had to have many unfair advantages in order to take down the area. Pizarro and his men numbered 168 while the Inca population numbered 80,000. Their swords used in battle were one of many advantages they had. One could even say that the Spanish's killing techniques of the Inca ruler were an unfair advantage because they scared other natives. Smallpox helped. Par. 3: Cortes's conquest of the Aztecs was one that was also outnumbered, and he only was invited in because of the Aztec belief that he was the Quetzalcoatl god returning to them. (This may also have been because Cortes had blond hair and blue eyes.) Smallpox killed many of the natives in Tenochtitlan, as well as the Spanish men who killed the Cholula people when afraid of the Cholula's growing resistance.

WHAT were the motives? God, so Catholicism expanding because they fought against protestant reform. (Jesuits building schools) Gold, to gain more wealth both individually and for their country... when both weren't happening, they fought. (Pizarro and Incas- tied up the leader and killed him, just for gold. Glory, to gain more land for their area and be the first ones to do this (as to have more power and gain more land.... it repeats itself as a pattern.) (Portuguese and Spanish Empires Treaty of Tordesillas.) (Columbus and america) The motives for European expansion were, put simply, gold, glory, and god. Examples such as Pizarro's conquest of the Incas, Columbus's travels to America, and the Jesuit people's expansion of Catholicism demonstrate the "god, glory, and gold" motives for expansion. The "God" motive, being the Jesuit expansion in the Americas, demonstrates one of the few examples that is without a "Gold" involvement. The other two, representing the "Gold" and "Glory" motives, both have wealth to gain by expanding the European empire. Gold (Magellan and Silver in mines, Portuguese and Incas), God (mostly catholicism- end of ch. w/ Jesuits, converting natives) & Glory (Columbus for seeing island first... also in GOLD category) Portuguese and Incas- Incas had not encountered smallpox b/c were not around domestic animals- 20 million Native Americans in New World before smallpox, 95% died when Portuguese arrived

- King James I (of Scotland) ruled England, and exploited Parliament through his use of the Divine right of Kings. Parliament angered so did not give him financial backing to meet the increased cost of the government. He refused to support the Puritan gentry's plan to use Calvin's Presbyterian model because he realized the Church of England as it currently was made him more powerful. He alienated the gentry. - Charles I went around the Parliament not giving him financial aide with ship money, a way to tax behind their back - Cromwell fought this, but he too had trouble with the debate on the authority of parliament and soon the country was restored to...

- Absolutism was one ruler ruling everything, whereas in reality it was just the King's input and others' input when the king was bribed. - Money not spent very well, used to keep King's power rather than help the community. (At least #1, 2, and 4 are there, so at least 3/4 of an absolute monarchy. - highly centralized gov't in Versailles, didn't want other leaders or intendants to have power. - Made huge army and started 4 wars- wars were incessant during his reign -In summary, France had every characteristic of an Absolutist gov. except for increased revenue, so in your essay, you could argue each way Four Features of Absolutism: 1. Centralized political power 2. Pacified nobility- NO COMPLAINERS 3. Increased revenue 4. New army of conscripts: drafted standing army - No reliance on nobles and crush them if the nobles try stuff

- Copernicus's heliocentric view angered people because they liked to believe they were "god's gift to the world." It also proved false the idea of a tangible heaven, because it no longer allowed heaven to be in the tenth sphere, as it once had been in Plato's religious conception. -People began to question the church, as it did not have a good reputation following the great Schism and the Scientific rev. only made it worse, until the reformation happened.

Intro P: before the enlightenment, people were either protestant (specifically Calvinist or Lutheran), mercantilism dominated Europe, and education was scarce at best. Thesis: When the Enlightenment swept through Europe, it brought new ideas that revolutionized the areas of politics, etc, and etc. Politics: Diderot, Voltaire and Rousseau - Respectively for the following philosophes: they were against divine right, absolute gov't, and monarchs; they agreed with tabula rasa and democracy, freedom of press and speech, and democratic republic/aristocracy plus society makes rules as a common will. R believed Rousseau's political beliefs were presented in two major works. In his Discourse on the Origins of the In-equality of Mankind, - Montesquieu essentially developed the US gov: representative democracy with three branches, executive, judicial, and legislative. - I think that they also developed balance of power, but you might want to double check -Enlightened rulers: allow religious toleration, freedom of speech and press, and the right to hold private property. They must foster the arts, sciences, and educations (humanism). Above all, they must not be arbitrary in their rules; they must obey the laws and enforce them fairly for all subjects. Education: Rousseau believing that education should be based on instincts, be more available, and be specific -Humanism was promoted during this time also Religion: Deism (Voltaire is deist) The Historical and Critical dictionary Peter Bayle, and the encyclopedia by diderot, also James cooks travel book. Reason and mind. - Pantheism: God is part of everything/everything is part of God