History Essay 10

(1) What was the Ptolemaic-Aristotelian view of the universe, and how did Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton undermine it and institute an alternative?

The Ptolemaic Aristotelian view was that the earth was motionless, was in one position, it did not orbit, and was in the center surrounded by different planets. At this time people thought that planets were perfect spheres that all circled around the earth at the same speeds. Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton all did not agree with this. From research, study and relying on new information instead of looking at old texts they were able to find new facts that did not support this theory.

 

(2) Recent historians of science have revisited the traditional version of the Scientific Revolution and have disputed the standard claim that religion and science were locked in a titanic struggle. What is some of the evidence these scholars have brought forth?

The Enlightenment was a time where people began relying on science rather than God for facts about our world and around it. This was a time of curiosity and many people, including prominent figures of the Enlightenment were still Christians. Some of the evidence that scholars have pointed out was the fact that people began to in a way create their own beliefs. There was anti-supernaturalism, there was deism which was the belief that although there was a God, he did not intervene with our world. People began doubting the Bible because it was full of miracles and this time period was about factual and physical truths that could be explained.

 

(3) Describe the main ideas we associated with the Enlightenment.

The Enlightenment was based on reason, it was to use science in a way that helped us gain more knowledge about our world and around our world. As people became more interested in science they began to see religion as separate from science. Many people still believed that there was a God but that he did not interfere with the world after he had set everything in motion. When the Enlightenment started people began to lead themselves instead of following.

English 3 Essay 9

“How important is the idea of covenant sanctions in the week’s readings?”

The King James Bible was started in 1604 and was first published in 1611. The King James Bible was a great writing of poetry while also not sacrificing the accuracy of previous Bibles. This was probably due to the fact that it was written in a span of seven years and was written by biblical scholars and preachers. The King James Bible was written for the existing King of England, King James, who was the head of the church and was written in dedication to him.

Covenant sanctions is very important from the reading. The negative and positive sanctions of man and God are prominent in the reading. Man can implicate negative and positive sanctions to other men, while we cannot implicate sanctions onto God. God can and he does, every decision that we make will have a positive or negative sanction. Men are supposed to follow the law of the Bible, or in the case of the Hebrews, the law of God and the ten commandments. Men are not just supposed to act like they are holy but are to accept and hold God’s word in their heart. You cannot just go though the motions, you must put God’s holiness out into the world. Whatever you keep in your heart will also pour out into the world, your character traits, values, and beliefs.

History Essay 9

According to your reading and the examples in the slides, what are some of the characteristic features of (a) Mannerism and (b) the Baroque?

Mannerism was an art style that was popularized in the Italian High Renaissance around 1520 that lasted until 1530. Mannerism was replaced with the art style Baroque which lasted into the early seventeenth century. Baroque was used to show motion and emotions.

Describe Peter the Great’s program for Russia.

Peter the Great was very taken by the West and Modernization and found it very pressing to modernize Russia. He took in as much as he could about the West and brought it back to Russia. Russia was previously ruled by Peter’s father who completely hated and shunned the West. Peter was the complete opposite and transformed Russia to become more modern, he told the people to dress more modernly. He told men to shave their beards and had to pay a hefty tax if they wanted to keep their beards. Peter also saw a great need for a better army that had been controlled by Lord’s and was not very professional. They had previously been defeated which was the tipping point for Peter.

What did Frederick William accomplish?

Frederick William inherited Brandenburg and Prussia, Brandenburg was a very poor area which was controlled by Junkers and had no central government. Frederick created an army which was used to protect lands that needed extra support. In return for the Junkers supporting him and paying him taxes he would make the peasants, serfs, who would be under complete control of the Junkers.

English 3 Essay 8

“How was Don Quixote’s knight-errant oath in conflict with his deathbed oath?”

Don Quixote was written by Miguel de Cervantes in the seventeenth century. It follows the adventures of Don Quixote as a mad-man who was so enthralled by a series of novels about knights and chivalry that he went insane. Don Quixote was so immersed in his world of fiction that he believed windmills were giants, women at inns were ladyships and he believed that he was fighting for his lady, Dulcinea de Toboso who is a woman made up from his mind. Don Quixote even led a farmer to believe that his world of fiction was real, Sancho Panza, who left his family to go assist Don Quixote on his quests.

This was a very popular book in the seventeenth century and became a famous ballet choreographed by Marius Petipa. It was at the time the only Spanish book that had gained popularity in the West and the ballet is still preformed in Russia.

Don Quixote believes that as a Knight it is his duty to swear an oath to become a legitimate Knight. Don Quixote swore to be chivalrous and to protect the weak and uphold justice, which was his own justice. After swearing this oath Don Quixote starts to harm people, he attacks blindly, because of his world of fiction and him seeing things as they were not, Don Quixote no longer really knows what is real. Because Don Quixote attacked people they attack him back and he is most times harmed because he is an old man pretending to be a knight. After a while of attacking and being a knight, Don Quixote decides to go back home to be a farmer for a year to take a break. Don Quixote is greeted by his niece and housekeeper and the rest of the village hopes that he will get his senses back and no longer be insane. Don Quixote eventually does leave his fictitious world and come back to the real world where on his deathbed he repents and takes back his oath as a knight.

These two oaths that Don Quixote makes are very different in context because one oath he swore when he was not right in his mind. This oath was about a time that had past and was no longer regarded as very important. The second oath that Don Quixote takes is on his deathbed, which was very different from him running around as a madman. He is also no longer insane when he takes this oath. Don Quixote’s last oath was a repentance from his previous oath and they are in conflict because the first oath that Don Quixote makes, he no longer regards a valid oath.

History Essay 8

What were the key ideas of mercantilism?

Mercantilism was the idea that a country could gain more wealth from limiting imported goods and rising the number of exports. The thought behind this was that if we don’t buy imported goods then our country keeps more gold and silver, while if we buy more imported goods then we will have to give more of our currency away. The ulterior motive and the real reason for this was enriching certain businesses and the government.

What were the causes and outcomes of the wars involving France in the latter half of the seventeenth century?

Throughout Louis XIV’s reign as King he made France very powerful and wealthy, France was at the top in Europe in the late sixteenth century. However when the seventeenth century came France was hit with obstacles. In 1704 Louis was defeated at Blenheim which tarnished his reputation of being undefeated. This defeat lead to the invasion of France in 1708-1709 and France became exhausted. People were being forced out of their homes due to the taxes increasing, famine, starvation and illnesses.

What was at stake in the War of the Spanish Succession?

In the War of the Spanish Succession the Dynasty was at risk along with all of it’s territories. In the end Spain had to give up it’s territories, and France lost territory east of the Rhine. The Dutch got fortresses against French attacks (Now the Austrian controlled Netherlands). England got Gibraltar, Minorca, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, the Hudson’s Bay and other permits. Austria got a hold of Milan, Naples, Sicily and Belgium, along with the Spanish Netherlands and it’s Italian holding’s. While this war was a great victory for England, it exhausted France and the Dutch who never truly regained it’s military power.

English 3 Essay 7

“Was Lady Macbeth correct? ‘What’s done is done.'”

In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth the main character Macbeth alongside his wife murders the King and several of the King’s men who were drunk after a night of partying. As the play continues we see Macbeth go through his struggles after killing the King, his cousin Banquo and the consequences he faces afterward. Macbeth starts to see ghosts which terrifies him, he becomes paranoid and afraid of seemingly everything. Macbeth also can no longer sleep due to the trauma and paranoia. At the end of the play Macbeth has seen so many terrors that he is no longer disturbed at night and no longer cares about the crimes he has committed. Macbeth ends up committing suicide in a tent during a battle because it is a less shameful way to die.

Macbeth was a murderer and through committing the murder Macbeth gains the throne but looses something that is one of the bases of humanity, sanity. Macbeth went off the rocker after he murdered the King and Banquo. He saw their ghosts, he did not sleep and after a while Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth, could not sleep either and she was the one who constructed the murder. Lady Macbeth pushed Macbeth to commit the murder and when Macbeth murdered the King she took care of the guards.

Lady Macbeth had a saying to try and make herself and Macbeth feel better about the series of events which was, “What’s done is done.” The question is, is this phrase really true? So technically speaking yes, what’s done is done. You cannot turn back time to change what has happened, it is like the phrase “Don’t cry over spilled milk.” You cannot get back what you had. But if we are to look at this before the murder happened you will see that this murder never needed to happen. Lady Macbeth and her husband committed treason which was punishable by death, the thing that outraged the people was that the previous King wasn’t a dictator, he was a fair ruler that they admired. Lady Macbeth uses this phrase as a way to justify her and her husband’s actions against the King, instead of using this phrase to look on the bright side on a stormy day, which is what this phrase is most commonly used for.

In conclusion Lady Macbeth was technically right because what has happened has happened, you cannot change time. How she uses the phrase is what matters, Lady Macbeth clearly did not care about others or how her actions would effect others around her. Even when her husband is seeing ghosts and is traumatized she is not there to help him, she is concerned about getting caught and tells him to get his act together. “What’s done is done”. She uses this phrase to justify her actions and this phrase even admits that she committed the deed. So yes, what’s done is done but whatever was done doesn’t mean that it should have been done.

History Essay 7

What were Cardinal Richelieu’s primary aims?

Cardinal Richelieu was the chief minister of France, which he acquired in 1624. There was religious conflict in France between the Huguenots, the Catholic church and Richelieu. As a result of this the sale of offices became more prevalent to give the royal family more power. Richelieu’s main goals to accomplish was the centralization of France and and to have France become more powerful than the Habsburg dynasty which ruled Austria and Spain.

What factors contributed to the decline of Spain?

Spain was very wealthy at the time but the economic activity that was controlled by monopolies and state favorites did not bring back reinvestments. The Catalonian Revolt began with the Court of Olivares but ended when it turned into a riot against privilege and the nobles abandoned the revolt.

What is constitutionalism? Discuss the views of Juan de Mariana, as laid out in the reading for lesson 33.

Constitutionalism means that there are limits to a rulers power. The ruler is not above the law, the ruler is not the law, the ruler is there to enforce a set of fundamental laws that had been put in place already.

With the video of lesson 34 to help you, what do you think Hobbes’ main arguments are in the excerpts you read?

Thomas Hobbes based his arguments from the human nature, he believed that people are completely selfish and that everyone only goes after their own passions. He believed that everyone was everyone’s potential murderer and therefore no-one could be trusted. He believed that as humans we seek after our own power and will fight for it endlessly which makes other fear us. We cannot have peace because we do not want it, to get out of this cycle we need to have an absolute government who will force us to stop behaving like barbaric animals.