HIST 102: LECTURE OUTLINES
THE PUZZLE OF EARLY MODERN WORLD HISTORY
I.
Why Study History?
The dangers of presentism, propaganda, universalism,
relativism
II.
What is History?
Toynbee: “One damn thing after another.”
Shakespeare: “A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and
fury, signifying nothing.”
Our definition: "The interpretation of the accumulated
experience of the human species, based on the surviving
evidence."
Change, continuity, and multiple causation
Revisionism
History and objectivity
Chart of human experience (below)
Gottschalk on history (below)
III.
Why World History?
The dangers of ethnocentrism
Cultural diffusion
IV.
HIST 102: The Big Picture
What does “early modern” mean?
What do “modern “and “premodern” mean, for that
matter?
"Only a part of what was observed in the past was remembered by those
who observed it; only a part of what was remembered was recorded; only a
part of what was recorded has survived; only a part of what has survived
has come to historians’ attention; only a part of what has come to their
attention is credible; only a part of what is credible has been grasped; and
only a part of what has been grasped can be expounded upon or narrated by
the historian."---Historian Louis Gottschalk HIST 102
PARAMETERS OF THE EARLY MODERN WORLD
I.
Stages in the Development of Civilization
Civilization defined
Paleolithic Era
Neolithic Era
Dawn of civilization
The Classical Age (Roman Empire, Han China, Gupta
India, Persian Empire, Classic Maya, African Axum)
End of the classical world (types of cultural zones)
II.
The Early Modern World
Traditional societies and early modern transitions
Uneasiness and tension
Contact, conflict, adaptation
Portrait of the world in 1450
INTRODUCTION TO EARLY MODERN EUROPE
I.
Western Europe in Transition
Overview of structural changes, 1450 to 1750
Change markers: Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific
Revolution, Enlightenment
Overlapping processes of political absolutism,
commercialization, global contact
II.
Structures of Medieval Europe
Tripartite system of social hierarchy: those who work,
fight, and pray
Manorialism and Feudalism
The Church
Trade
CHART OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE IN HISTORY
8. EVENTS. Journalism.
7. INDIVIDUALS. Biography.
6. CULTURE. Philosophy, theology, science, art, law, custom
5. INSTITUTIONS. Formal economy, political systems, military,
education, organized church
4. DIFFERENTIATION. Gender, age, class, kinship, ethnicity
3. MEANS. Work, family, sex, violence, enforcement, religion
2. NEEDS. Food, shelter, reproduction, physical safety, affection
1. ENVIRONMENT. Abundance and scarcity, constancy of weather, size
of community
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III..
Waning of the Medieval Period
Problems after 1300
The early modern period
III.
THE END OF UNITED CHRISTENDOM: THE PROTESTANT
REFORMATION
HOW TO LIVE WISELY AND WELL: THE ITALIAN
RENAISSANCE
I.
Introduction
Marsilio Ficino on the Renaissance
Overview of Renaissance ideology
The meaning of "Renaissance"
II.
Why Italy?
The competitive city-state
Wealth and leisure
Italian social structure: patricians and merchants
Three levels of instability
III.
Humanism
Secularism, the individual, civic action
Renaissance art
IV.
Counter-examples: A Renaissance for Whom?
Class, gender, ethnicity
I.
Introduction and overview
The meaning of "reformation"
The Reformation as a political and social movement
II.
The Church in Crisis
The Catholic Church's monopoly
Erosion of the monopoly: secularization, luxury,
immorality, ritualism and distance, new power of the laity
Calls for reform
III.
Martin Luther
Anguish and self-doubt
The 95 Theses
Justification by faith alone
Scriptural primacy
Priesthood of all believers
IV.
Political Impact of the Reformation
Printing and word-of-mouth
Willing ears
Luther between anarchy and conformity
Spread of Protestantism: Calvin and others
V.
The Catholic Counter-Reformation
Traditional appeal of the Catholic Church
Ignatius Loyola and the Jesuits
The Council of Trent (1545)
VI.
Impact of the Reformation Era
SYNTHESIS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH: CHRISTIAN HUMANISM
I.
II.
The Spread of the Italian Renaissance
Court society in Italy and Northern Europe
Overview of the Renaissance, Northern Europeanstyle
Late medieval religious thought and piety
(confraternities, Wycliffe, and Huss)
Erasmus and the Philosophia Christi
Thomas More on greed and cruelty
The Next Generation
Erasmus' egg--that Luther hatched
The Growth of Prosperity and Literacy
Centralized governments, peace, and waning of the
plague
Education and the origins of printing
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ASPECTS OF CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN EARLY MODERN
EUROPE
I.
Introduction
Traditional subjects of historical study
Rediscovery of women and the "folk"
II.
Renaissance Views of Women
Humanists and Aristotle
The development of Biblical views of women
Women and early modern medicine
III.
Women in the Reformation
Empowerment of women through priesthood of all
believers, justification by faith alone, and scriptural
primacy
Nuns and women's sexuality
IV.
The Early Modern Family
Extended family and the importance of marriage
The household economy
Infant mortality
V.
Witchcraft
The "otherness" of popular culture
Blending of folk and elite attitudes
The witch hunts and vulnerable people
VI.
Mother Goose
Popular culture and daily life of the folk
The "fairy tale" as social lesson and symbols
Examples from folklore
II.
Politics, the Economy, and Discovery
Exploration, capitalism, and the nation-state
III.
Why Europe? God, Gold, Glory
What drove Europeans across the oceans
IV.
Portuguese Exploration
Favorable factors
Sponsorship of Henry the Navigator
Search for routes to the east: Diaz, DeGama, et. al
V.
Spanish Exploration
The voyages of Columbus
Voyages to Mexico and South America: Cortes and
Pisarro
Types of charters from the crown: encomienda, estancia
VI.
The Dutch, English, and French Explorations
The Dutch East India Company, Cabot, Cartier
CULTURAL HEARTHS IN THE AMERICAS
I.
What Columbus et al. "Discovered"
Cultural isolation
Definitions of "civilization"
American prehistory
Cultural hearths: Mesoamerican, Peruvian, Mississippian,
North American Southwestern
II.
Mesoamerica
The Olmecs and unclear origins
The city-state of Teotihuacan
The Maya
The Toltecs and the legend of Quetzacoatl
The Aztecs: Military social organization, animistic
religion, kinship administration, market economy, gender
roles
III.
The Peruvian World
The Incas: religion, bureaucracy, a paternalist and
imperialist state, parallel descent
OVERSEAS "DISCOVERIES" AND THE COLUMBIAN
EXCHANGE
I.
Introduction
The parameters of the early modern world
Global integration
Cultural tumult
Progress or ethnocentrism?
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IV.
North American Cultural Hearths
Agricultural vs. nomadic societies
Hopewell and the Mississippi Valley
The city of Cahokia
The Anasazis
V.
The Impact of Contact
Immediate impact
The Columbian Exchange
The "other" in European culture
VI.
THE TRANSATLANTIC ECONOMY AND THE SLAVE TRADE
I.
The Modern World System
World systems theory: core and periphery
Europe's economic explosion
International capitalism
Settlement and trading empires
The Trans-Atlantic economy
European competition
II.
The Slave Trade
Periodization
The spread of slavery in the Americas
Sugar and slaves
Slavery in premodern times
The "oriental" slave trade
Sugar and the Americas
Demographic consequences
Slavery and the African economy
The American slave corridor
Duration
III.
Slavery on the Plantations
Characteristics of plantation societies
Working conditions
Daily life
Slavery and race
IV.
Impact of the Slave Trade
Production and devastation
CLANS, KINGDOMS, AND CITY-STATES IN AFRICA
I.
Introduction
The north-south cultural divide
Problems of historical evidence
II.
Geography and Early Development
Size and population density
Geographic regions
Early hunter-gatherers
Principal human types
Iron and the migration of the Bantu
Diversification of food supply
III.
Africa in the Orbit of World Trade
The Arabic and Mediterranean trade
Expansion of Islam
IV.
Two strands of development
City-states and kingdoms
"Stateless" societies
Common elements
V.
The Great City-States and Kingdoms
Kush and Axum (Ethiopia)
Trading Empires of West Africa: Ghana, Mali (under
Sundiata), Songhai
Kingdom of Kanem-Bornu and Hausa City-States
West African Forest Cities: Ife (Yoruba) and Benin
East African Swahili Cities
The Arrival of Europeans
The trans-Saharan trade
Reorientation of trade to European needs
Political implications
The Portuguese influence
The origins of the slave trade
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THE MUSLIM EMPIRES
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Early Islam
Mohammed and revelations from Allah
The Koran and Islam
The ulema and shar'iah
Five Pillars of the Faith: creed, prayer, almsgiving,
fasting, pilgrimage to Mecca (informal: jihad)
Caliphates and imams: Sunni and Shi'ite Islam
Military successes: God, gold, and glory
The Ottoman Empire
A transcontinental empire
Osman and Ottoman origins
Military expansion under Mehmed I
The Ottoman military state
The Janissaries
Court of the sultans
Succession crises
Cultural flowering
The slow decline
The Ottoman achievement
Safavid Persia
Shah Ismail and origins
Multiethnicity
Theocracy
Trade and Safavid culture
Social structure
Isolation
The status of Muslim women
Safavid collapse
Mughal India
Babur and origins of the dynasty
Lack of cultural unity: Hinduism and Buddhism
Akbar the Great
The tolerant state
The "Four Great Moguls"
Corruption and decay
Aurangzeb's purification of Islam
The Sikhs and rising fragmentation
V.
The Spice Trade
Islam and the Spice Trade
European interest
Arrival of the Portuguese
Portugal's advantages
New rivals and the company trade
Net effect of European competition
VI.
The Islamic Empires in Perspective
Outmoded warrior aristocracy
Succession disputes
Economic dependence on expansion
Decline in trade
Subordination of religion to politics
FOUNDATIONS OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION
I.
Historical Context
Dynastic history
Development of literacy (Shang)
Clans and ancestor worship
"Feudalism" in China
Reunification--and absolutism (Chin)
II.
Principles of Legalism
Shang Yang and the politics of centralization
The Han and classical China
III.
Tenets of Confucianism
Kung Fu-Tzu and social ethics
The Five Relationships
Classes of society
The emperor
Paternalism
Importance of ceremony
The Gentleman Scholar (Shi)
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IV.
V.
The Taoist Challenge
Self-enlightenment and cosmic harmony
Renunciation of self and the world
Class absorption
Yin and yang
Popular religion and Buddhism
Conclusions
The durability of Chinese traditions
On the road to unity
The "Middle Kingdom"
CHINA UNDER MANCHU (CHING) RULE, TO 1795
I.
Ming Stresses and Successes
Court opulence
Weakening tax base
Foreign pressures
Commercial achievements
Commercial inhibitors
II.
Manchu Rule
Manchu ascendancy
Assimilation and expansion
The rule of Kang-Xi (1662-1722)
Social patterns
External pressures: isolation and arrogance
III.
Elements of Ching Culture
The Family
Medicine
Popular religion
Changing stsaus of women
CHINA UNDER THE MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
I.
Beginnings of the Ming Era
Chinese isolation and a missed opportunity
Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu) and Chinese Restoration
Revival and Expansion of the Examination System
II.
Measures against Imperial Corruption
Centralized Rule under the Emperor
Reform of Inheritance and Eunuch Administration
III.
Family, Class, and Gender under the Ming
Reforms for the Peasantry
Continued Scholar-Gentry Dominance
Neo-Confucianism
Women: Wives, Workers, Mothers, and Courtesans
THE SPREAD OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION: JAPAN, TO 1600
I.
The Rise of Japan
Geography and settlement
Indigenous culture and Shintoism
Origins of the imperial dynasties: The Yamato clan
IV.
Economic Growth
New Food Crops
Commercial Growth and the Canton System
Overseas Expansion
Ambivalence and Retreat
II.
The Chinese Model
Creation of a Chinese bureaucracy
Introduction of Buddhism
Politics and society
Wholesale adaptation of Chinese culture (Taika)
V.
Ming Decline
Importance of Leadership
Corruption in the Bureaucracy
Natural Disasters, Banditry, and Rebellion
Internal and External Threats
III.
Erosion of Imperial Authority
Popular resentment and the Heian Age
The military elite
The emergence of the samurai
Zen Buddhism
Japan's Feudal Age (bakufu, shogun, daimyos)
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IV.
National Unification
Nobunaga and military unification
Hideyoshi and the survey of Japan
V.
The Tokugawa Peace
Ieyasu and the foundation of the Tokugawa shogunate
Domesticating the daimyo
Martial law in peacetime?
The fruits of peace
VI.
Contact with Europeans
Early contact with Europe
Jesuit missionaries
Isolation
VII.
Daily Life in Early Modern Japan
Life of the gentleman—and gentlewoman
Urban middle-class life (geishas, kabuki theater)
The peasantry
EUROPE ON THE EVE OF MODERNITY
I. Intellectual Crisis and Modern Resolution
New intellectual challenges
Reason as the path to progress
The secular world
Scientific explosion
II. Origins of the Mechanical Universe
The core of science
Medieval science
Renaissance contributions
The revival of Platonic mathematics
Practical science
III. The Revolution in Astronomy and Physics
Copernicus and the heliocentric universe
Brahe and the changeable universe
Galileo and astronomical observation
Newton and the laws of motion
The scientific revolution
IV. A New View of Humankind: The Early Enlightenment
The scientific method: induction (Bacon) and deduction
(Descartes)
Science and human institutions
Premises of the Enlightenment
Hobbes and the social contract
Locke and the perfectibility of society
Smith and the laws of economy
Impact of the Scientific Revolution and early Enlightenment
V. Revolution in Politics: Absolutism and the Origins of the Nation-State
Politics catches up
Centralized nation-states
The nation-state and global power
Absolutism defined
Absolutism vs. despotism
Absolutism and the other revolutions
The appeal
Centralized functions of state
Divine right of kings
The example of Louis XIV
Challenges in Eastern and Central Europe
Absolutism’s relative failures
Parliamentary monarchy in England
Enlightened absolutism
The impact of revolutions in ideas and politics
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