World History Unit 1 (Rise, Disappearance, Return of Democracy)

democracy

when people hold and control all the power; vote; either representative or direct democracy

autocracy

when 1 person holds all the power (monarchy, NOT a consitutional monarchy, monarchy sharing power, limited monarchy, etc.)

aristocracy

type of hereditary oligarchy of the upper class

most common types of governments in early civilizations

autocracy and aristocracy

Hammurabi

Mesopotamian king who established first code of laws, around 1750 BCE, to help settle disputes and unify his people

Cleisthenes (how was each system selected? what are the specifics of each system? overall, what is cleisthenes’s legacy to athens?)

the founder of democracy for Athens (moved Athens from a tyranny to a democracy!)

• Athenian nobleman asked to overthrow & banish Hippias, cruel tyrant and his nephew

  • the people in positions of power had grown tired of Hippias; he was too cruel

• successfully overthrew

• Isagoras banished him from Athens to reign for a short people of time

  • Isagoras’s subjects rose against him when they thought he was helping the Spartans take over the Athenians

• the people recalled Cleisthenes to build a new govt

• Cleisthenes’s second chance: 508 BCE; brings reforms and gives all citizens Assembly membership

  • previously, this Assembly was just advisory; now, it can make laws

  • “legislative branch”

• created the Council of 500

  • propose laws and advise the Assembly

  • members chosen randomly

  • “executive” branch

• creates jury system - jurors are chosen by lot

Pericles (good decisions, bad decisions, what did he like)

• former actor

• didn’t hold an elected position, simply persuaded citizens and the Assembly

• convinced Assembly to pay jurors

• wanted to encourage greater govt participation and not favor the rich

• proud of Athenian democracy and people

  • convinced people to build the Parthenon! a great accomplishment

• made a terrible decision to go to war with Sparta - Athens lost after 27 years of fighting

Socrates

• got into trouble for questioning customs, traditions, and values of Athens (Socratic Method: knowledge thru questions)

• Loss to Sparta/frustration with him puts Socrates on trial

Plato

• average democratic citizens cannot govern wisely

• after death of Socrates began quest to find govt best for people

  • roles based on talent

  • strong education

  • philosopher king

Aristotle

• thought people are lawless beasts without organized govt/society

• liked democracy, thought was unrealistic

  • settled on kings advised by philosophers

What was the Athenian Assembly?

• established by Cleisthenes!

• a direct democracy where citizens could show up in the determined location to engage in debate and vote on laws

• like Athens’s legislative branch

• convinced by Pericles to pay the jurors, allowing poorer citizens to also participate

What ended the Athenian democracy experiment?*

Alexander the Great, after 185 years

Greek concept of a citizen

1. Qualifications: male, born to Athenian parents, 18+

2. Ability: All citizens can participate well in politics (no concept of only seasoned politicians)

3. Obligation: All citizens should participate in politics

Ostracism

Concept in Athens where the Assembly could vote if an ostracism was necessary, and if so, a special vote would be held about whether a prominent individual in athenian politics should be banished for 10 years for being “too powerful”

Roman Republic structure (who is elected? who is chosen by the consuls? how long are the terms?)

i. 2 consuls - elected to 1 year turns, can’t be reelected for the next ten years, like kings that have to agree

ii. Senate - most powerful body, membership for life (consuls often became Senators)

iii. Dictator - leader with absolute power for use only in times of crisis

How was Roman society divided? (Patricians vs Plebeians)

Patricians:

• smaller group

• claimed ancestors founded Rome

• landowning class

Plebeians:

• majority group

• common people

How did the Plebeians gain more rights?

• Originally, only Patricians could vote

• One of the first changes gives them the right to vote (for the consul, only directly democratically voted position)

• Plebeians push to establish Tribune (in 471 BCE): 10 men who’d been elected by the Plebeians against political oppression by the Plebeians

• Plebeians argued that because of rules not yet written down, Patricians could manipulate them

• Push to write down the Twelve Tables (in 449 BCE) as a transparent measure of law

What ended the Roman Republic? How long did it and the Empire last?

Republic lasts ~500 years

In 27 BCE, Augustus, or Octavian, ends it

Western part of Roman Empire continues for ~500 more years, Eastern for ~1000 more years

Who was Justinian?

Roman emperor around 500 CE that codified messy Roman laws into one single Code of Justinian

What happened when the Western Roman Empire collapsed?

It fell to Germanic conquerors who made kingdoms out of the provinces, launching Europe in feudalism and the Middle Ages

Describe the feudal system (who struggled for power?)

• nobles were granted use of land belonging to king, in exchange for loyalty, military service, & protection of peasants living on their land

• kings were often struggling to deal with their nobles, who had lots of power

How did European kings respond to the power struggle between them and the people?

Emphasizing Divine Right

King John and Magna Carta (what protections did it contain? taxes? who did it protect?)

King John:

• during his reign, England lost a lot of battles with the French and land

• kept asking lords/barons to fund wars they lost

• these people begin to view him as a tyrant

Magna Carta

• lords/barons put together Magna Carta

• King John signed it at swordpoint

• no prison without charge & trial, king is not above law, no taxes without consent of Great Council (made up lords/nobles)

  • if king disobeys, their possessions will be seized

• originally, only protected wealthy but grew to include all English people

• heavily inspired American Bill of Rights

Relationship between kings and Magna Carta

• kings would deny laws stated in the Magna Carta

• critics of the king would cite the Magna Carta

Edward I and Model Parliament (WHY did he create Model Parliament? WHY did he want the middle class there? what became the structure of Parliament?)

Edward I:

• obsessed with defeating the Scots

• didn’t want to dependent on nobility & Great Council for money

• decided to tax growing middle class (knights/burgesses)

• added middle class to Great Council - they’ll listen to him more and push back against the nobles

• this creates 2 houses: House of Lords (upper class, hereditary), House of Commons (middle class, election)

• personally, Edward HATED democracy

Charles I & Petition of Right

• divine right, absolute monarchy

• felt it was beneath him to ask Parliament for money

• Charles did not like it when Parliament refused to fund a war

• began to raise money through “forced loans” - imprison if say no (without charge! without trial!)

• began to house troops in private homes at their expense

Petition of Right:

• in 1628, he was really desperate for money & turned to Parliament

• Parliament agreed to say yes only if he signed Petition of Right (no imprisoning without charge & trial, no taxes without Parliament, no quartering soldiers)

  • quartering soldiers is only new clause

• went back to his old ways after signing; everyone else is exhausted of him

English Civil War, & Charles I again (for what cause did they war?)

• pressure against Charles I splits country into civil war

  • Roundheads: supported Parliament

  • Cavaliers: supported Charles I

  • should the king be an absolute monarch or share power with Parliament?

• eventually Roundheads win, Charles I is put on trial for treason and beheaded

  • first time a people prosecute own king

Charles II — what kind of power arrangement did he agree to? what famous act did Parliament now pass?

1660: (cromwell passes) Charles II is asked to bring back monarchy - republic ends (he’s Charles I’s eldest son)

He brings back monarchy, and agrees to limits on his powers, but still arbitrarily imprisons - gets along with Parliament, except when they passed habeas corpus act

James II & Glorious Revolution

James II

• king after Charles II

• divine right, which angers Parliament

• Catholic king in primarily Protestant nation, angering Protestants

Glorious Revolution/Bloodless Revolution:

• Members of Parliament, fearing more Catholicism, asked Mary (James’s daughter) and William (her husband of the Netherlands), to take over

  • bloodless because when William arrives in England with his army, James’s army deserts him

English Bill of Rights (1689) (who passed it? what did it do?)

• William and Mary recognize Parliament as a leading partner

• agreed to limit powers and work together with Parliament - constitutional monarchy!

• no more monarchs will claim divine right

Thomas Hobbes

• grew up during English Civil War

• thought all people are inherently evil

  • should relinquish their power to a leviathan that saves them from each other

• did not believe in Divine Right

John Locke (views on women?)

• also grew up during English Civil War

• wanted a government for the people, protecting people’s rights and with people’s consent

• did not believe in Divine Right

  • unpopular opinion that women could reason

Mary Wollstonecraft (view on marriage?)

• one of first women during late eighteenth century to advocate for female rights

• did not believe in the instituion of marriage

• believed all people are equal

• hated all oppressive systems - they corrupted both oppressed and oppresser and therefore society would benefit from equality

• opposed monarchy

Baron de Montesquieu (religion? oppression? govt?)

• wanted religious tolerance

• approved of slavery, thought women were naturally weaker (but could still be valuable because they had a certain gentleness)

• 3 types of govt: monarchy, aristocracy, republicanism

• preferred limited monarchy & separation of powers

Jean Jacques Rousseau

• people are good, independent, compassionate

• luxury, corruption, and greed of modern nations, as well as societal institutions, harm the individual

• trusted a direct democracy

• inspired by traditional Swiss villages where he grew up

Louis XIV (religion? war?)

• absolute power - controlled everything, stripped his nobles of power & approved each local mayor

• divine right - he owes responsibility to God, not his people; prosecuted Protestants because he thought religious unity is better

• extravagant lifestyle, fought too many wars