AP European History Unit 4 Notes

Scientific Revolution

• This unit explores how European thinkers changed the social, political, and economic landscape.

• The Scientific Revolution emphasized advances in science, particularly in astronomy, medicine, and reasoning, stemming from Renaissance humanism.

Astronomy

• Geocentric Model:

  • Ancient Greeks (Aristotle and Ptolemy) proposed that the Earth was at the center of the universe.

  • All other celestial bodies, including the sun, revolved around the Earth.

  • This view was adopted by the Catholic Church.

• Heliocentric Model:

  • Nicolas Copernicus: Challenged the geocentric view with complex mathematics.

    • Proposed that the sun was at the center of the solar system and that the Earth and other planets revolved around it.

    • Demonstrated that the Earth spins on its axis, causing the perception of the sun rising and setting.

  • Johannes Kepler: Built on Copernicus's model with further mathematical calculations.

    • Affirmed the heliocentric view.

    • Discovered that planets orbit the sun in ellipses, not perfect circles.

  • Galileo Galilei: Used observation through a telescope to support the heliocentric view.

    • Observed the moons of other planets.

    • Proved that these planets were made of the same material as Earth, not celestial light.

• Conflict with the Catholic Church:

  • The Church opposed these scientific advancements as they contradicted their interpretation of the Bible.

  • Genesis 1 states that the Earth is set upon foundations and that a firmament divides the earthly and heavenly realms.

  • The Church believed that the Bible placed the Earth at the center of the created order.

  • Copernicus and Kepler's books were banned by the Church.

  • Galileo was charged with heresy and placed under house arrest for his views.

Medicine and Anatomy

• Ancient Greek understandings of the human body and medicine, particularly those of Galen, were challenged.

• Prevailing View - Galen's Humoral Theory:

  • Galen proposed that the body was composed of four humors: blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm.

  • Health depended on the balance of these humors; imbalance caused sickness and disease.

• New Understandings:

  • Paracelsus:

    • Rejected the humoral theory.

    • Claimed that chemical imbalances caused disease, suggesting chemical remedies.

    • Example: Proposed treating iron deficiency with iron supplements instead of blood draining.

  • William Harvey:

    • Discovered that the circulatory system was one integrated whole.

    • Demonstrated that blood is pumped out of the heart, circulates through the body, and returns to the heart.

New Methods of Reasoning

• Based on mathematics and empirical experimentation.

• Francis Bacon: Pioneer of inductive reasoning based on empirical research.

  • Argued for starting with observations of the smallest parts and moving to general principles.

• René Descartes: Championed deductive reasoning.

  • Started with the largest, indubitable principles and worked down to specific knowledge.

  • Example: Everything is made of matter.

• Both Bacon and Descartes challenged ancient Greek philosophy and developed the basis for the scientific method.

• The scientific method emphasized observation and experimentation to understand the physical world.

Persistence of Older Beliefs

• Despite scientific innovations, older beliefs persisted.

• Many innovators still believed in God and spiritual forces.

• Astrology and alchemy continued to be practiced.

• The scientific view of the world did not immediately replace magical views.

The Enlightenment

Overview

• Built upon the Scientific Revolution, applying new methods of reasoning to politics, society, and human institutions.

• Challenged accepted ideas, especially in France, where absolutism was strong.

• Many Enlightenment ideas began as reactions against French absolutism.

Society and Human Institutions

• Voltaire:

  • Criticized social and religious institutions in France.

  • Observed religious tolerance in England and contrasted it with the oppression of Catholicism in France.

  • Believed in natural rights, free speech, and education reform.

  • Did not trust the masses to govern themselves, advocating for an enlightened monarch.

• Denis Diderot:

  • Edited and published the Encyclopedia, a rational dictionary of sciences, arts, and crafts.

  • Gathered leading thinkers to produce over 72,000 entries.

  • Exalted science and rationalism while criticizing religion.

  • The French government opposed the Encyclopedia due to its challenge to their power.

New Ways of Thinking about God

• Deism:

  • Voltaire and Diderot were deists.

  • Argued that God created the world but does not intervene in human affairs.

  • Viewed God as a cosmic clockmaker who set the world in motion and then left it alone.

  • Rejected miracle stories in the Bible.

  • Believed God ruled by unchanging laws of physics.

• Atheism:

  • Diderot defined atheism in the Encyclopedia as the conscious rejection of God's existence.

  • Atheists believe that knowledge comes from human senses interacting with the material world.

• Skepticism:

  • David Hume argued that ideas only reflect sensory inputs.

  • Reason cannot convince us of anything beyond what our senses interpret.

  • Questioned everything, including religious dogmas.

Impact on Religion

• Religion was increasingly viewed as a private matter rather than a public concern.

• Shift from public belonging to private belief.

• New revival movements like German Pietism emphasized personal conversion and mystical experience.

• Count Nicolas von Zinzendorf:

  • Led German Pietism, reacting against the rationalistic approach to Christ.

  • Emphasized true religious experience and personal connection.

  • He who comprehends god with his mind becomes an atheist.

Politics

• John Locke:

  • Advocated for natural rights: life, liberty, and property, given by God.

  • Argued that these rights could not be taken away by monarchs or governments.

  • Proposed the idea of popular sovereignty: the power of the state originates with the people.

  • Believed people can only be governed by their own consent.

  • His ideas are reflected in the English Bill of Rights, signed by William and Mary.

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau:

  • Associated with the social contract: people surrender some power to the government in exchange for the protection of natural rights.

  • Believed the government should act in accordance with the general will of the people.

  • Argued that people have the right to dissolve the contract and install a new government if the government fails to protect their rights.

  • These ideas influenced the American Declaration of Independence.

  • Rousseau also believed in rigid gender roles, with women subordinate to men.

• Mary Wollstonecraft:

  • Opposed rigid gender categories.

  • Argued in A Vindication of the Rights of Women that women are not inherently inferior to men but are disadvantaged due to lack of education and opportunity.

• Adam Smith:

  • Applied Enlightenment thinking to economics in The Wealth of Nations.

  • Attacked mercantilist policies, arguing for minimal government intervention in the economy.

  • Advocated for free markets based on supply and demand, believing that the invisible hand would increase national prosperity.

Spread of Enlightenment Ideas

• The printing press helped spread Enlightenment ideas.

• New institutions like salons were developed to discuss and spread Enlightenment ideas.

• Salons were private meetings in opulent houses where the intelligentsia discussed new ideas.

• Many salons were hosted by women, such as Madame du Deffand.

• The spread of Enlightenment ideas led to dissatisfaction with prevailing political institutions, contributing to the American, French, and Haitian revolutions.

Enlightened Absolutism

• Some monarchs sought to become enlightened absolutists, influenced by Enlightenment thought.

• They acted in enlightened ways when it benefited them and were often short-sighted in their reforms.

• Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great):

  • Made Prussia a leading military power.

  • Considered himself a benefactor of his people and increased freedom of speech and reformed the judicial system.

  • Patronized philosophers like Voltaire.

  • His reforms undermined the nobility, consolidating power under himself.

• Catherine II of Russia (Catherine the Great):

  • Reformed the penal system, outlawed torture and capital punishment, reformed education, and patronized the arts.

  • She grew more conservative later in her reign.

  • Her reforms undermined the nobility, consolidating power under herself.

Religious Toleration

• By 1800, most governments in Western and Central Europe had increased religious toleration to Christian minorities and Jews.

• John Locke's emphasis on the separation of church and state influenced this trend.

• The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789) proclaimed religious freedom for all French citizens.

• Catherine the Great recognized Jews as Russian subjects and extended more civil liberties to them under the Charter of Towns in 1782.

Social Changes

Population and Food

• Dramatic population increase due to rising birth rates and declining death rates.

• Advances in medicine and the end of the bubonic plague contributed to longer lifespans.

• Edward Jenner's vaccine reduced deaths from smallpox.

• Thomas Malthus:

  • Observed that the population rate was increasing, but the food supply was not keeping up.

  • Predicted massive death by starvation unless the population was controlled or the food supply increased.

• Agricultural Revolution:

  • Solved the food problem through various events.

  • More land became available for farming through dikes and drained wetlands.

  • Advances in crop rotation replenished the soil, increasing productivity.

  • Advances in agricultural technology, such as selective breeding of livestock and Jethro Tull's seed drill, increased crop yields.

  • Better transportation systems, including canals, roads, and bridges, made it more efficient to transport food.

• European Marriage Pattern:

  • Emphasis on the nuclear family led people to marry later due to the need for wealth and resources to start an independent family.

  • Women had fewer babies as a result.

  • The rate of illegitimate births spiked, indicating more intimate relations outside of marriage.

Family and Children

• Decreased infant and child mortality led families to dedicate more space and time to children.

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau:

  • Argued that children were a separate kind of being and that their childhood should be elevated by attentive parents.

  • Advocated for play before work.

• Notions of childhood changed, with children seen as distinct from small-sized adults.

• Napoleon established a school system in France in 1802, using a common curriculum to create well-rounded citizens.

Urbanization

• Large-scale migration from rural to urban areas due to technological advances like the steel plow and seed drill.

• Fewer workers were required on farms, leading rural folks to seek work in cities.

• Urbanization led to overcrowding and problems in cities.

• Tenements:

  • Hastily constructed apartment buildings with low rents.

  • Poor ventilation and no indoor plumbing led to the rapid spread of disease.

  • Waste was thrown out the window onto the street, creating unsanitary conditions.

• Poverty and Crime:

  • Authorities passed laws to eradicate problems like crime and prostitution.

  • England's Contagious Disease Act of 1864:

    • Targeted prostitution.

    • Women suspected of prostitution were subjected to forced bodily inspections and treated like prisoners if found to have venereal diseases.

Cultural and Intellectual Life

Reading Revolution

• Due to the increased influence of the printing press, people began reading at a much higher rate.

• The amount and variety of books increased.

• Religious books decreased, while books on history, law, science, and the arts increased.

• Censorship increased, mainly by religious authorities.

• The Catholic Church sanctioned Diderot's Encyclopedia for questioning religious authority.

• The reading revolution took hold despite attempts at censorship.

Newspapers, Periodicals, and Pamphlets

• An explosion of new newspapers, periodicals, and pamphlets occurred.

• Enlightenment thinkers, natural scientists, and explorers traveled the globe and wrote down their observations.

• This exposed literate Europeans to cultures outside their own.

• Some depictions challenged Europeans' accepted social norms.

Art

• The emphasis shifted from religious themes and royal power to private life and the public good.

• Baroque Style:

  • Until about 1750, art in the Baroque style promoted religious feeling and was employed by monarchs to illustrate state power.

  • It sought to awe people with its opulence, detail, and ostentatious features.

  • Examples: Gian Lorenzo Bernini's piazzas and chapels, Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions.

• Neoclassical Style:

  • In the 18th century, art shifted to themes that appealed to bourgeois society (the middle class).

  • Neoclassical artists prized simplicity and symmetry, contrasting with the opulence of Baroque.

  • Examples in literature: Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Jane Austen's novel