A1. Before the Reformation, in Europe, the Roman Catholic Church dominated all the countries. People were treated like scum unless they were in the upper class. Usually it was impossible for anyone to move up the social ladder, they could only go down it.
The Reformation started in Germany, when a priest named Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Church, where everyone could see. These theses criticized many of the Church's policies. One was the sale of indulgences. The local people would pay money to the lord of their village and the lord would "talk to God" and tell him to forgive the certain person's sins. They also paid money for their dead relatives. The paper also said that the only way to salvation was by faith alone, not doing good deeds. Luther was soon excommunicated from the Church and had to go into hiding. In hiding he wrote the Bible in German so everyone could read it and find out what it really meant to them. He then formed the Lutheran religion which held mass in the vernacular and preached Luther's beliefs like justification by faith. The Christian church tried to stop Lutheranism by reforming and spreading Catholicism through the Jesuits. This did give them more popularity, but Lutheranism still remained.
The Reformation caused the split of Europe into a Lutheran north and a Catholic south. This separation caused many wars, but weakened the Church's stranglehold on Europe.
Q2. Discuss the navigational developments that explorers made that allowed them to reach the new worlds and routes.
A2. Before the Age of Exploration the lands beyond Europe were greatly feared. If you lost sight of land you were likely to be eaten by sea monsters or you would just sail right off the edge of the world, since the Church said it was flat. If you landed on an island you'd be eaten by cannibals.
The main cause for exploration is that land travel to Asia was slow, dangerous, expensive, and the load you brought wasn't very big. In 1488 Bartholemeu Dias first reached the Cape of Good Hope on the Southern tip of Africa. He led the way for Vasco de Gama who sailed down to the Cape of Good Hope, but also went all the way to India. This opened the first water route to Asia. Since de Gama sailed for Portugal, it was Portugal's route. In 1492 Columbus set sail to find a western route to Asia, for Spain. What he ended up finding was America. If not for improved maps and the astrolabe, a navigational device, he might have sailed down to Africa, and not the Carribean. From 1519-1522 Magellan sailed all the way around the world, for the first circumnavigation.
Many of these discoveries might not have been possible if it weren't for the compass, the astrolabe, improved maps, and Prince Henry the Navigator, who got a lot of people together to study geography.
Q3. Choose three Enlightenment philosophers and describe their general ideas on government, society, and religion.
A3. Before the Enlightenment there was the Scientific Revolution. This revolution was full of discoveries. The discoveries had to do with natural laws that never change, like plants never grow away from the sun, they grow towards it. These natural laws got philosophers and politicians thinking if there were laws like that in politics as well.
Baron de Montisqeu was a philosopher, a person who spread the Enlightenment ideas, who believed in people's rights as individuals. He also believed that the separation of powers, equally, was important in gov't. The executive, judicial and legislative all had to have equal power. His writings influenced the constitutions of many countries, including the United States'.
John Locke in another philosopher. He believed in that individuals have certain rights like life, liberty, and property, and that the government has a social contract with the people in which they pay money and help the country grow, and the leader protects them. He also believed that without order, a government couldn't function. His writings were the basis of the Declaration of Independence.
Voltaire was a French philosopher who wrote plays, books, poetry, essays, and satires. One satire mocked the Church so he got punished and had to move to England. In England he saw religious freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of of press. He soon started writing about these and told people how good they were.
These people, and other philosophers, showed people that there could be other ways to govern, and people began to voice their opinions more. Some monarchs, called enlightened despots, tried to put culture into everybody's lives to make their people happier and their country better.
Q4. Identify the three colonial regions in America and discuss their social, political, and economic differences.
A4. The three colonial regions are New England, the Middle, and the Southern colonies. New England is made up of Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. The Middle Colonies are made up of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. The Southern colonies are made up of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
New England's social make-up is mostly upper- and middle-class whites with a few free blacks. Politically, there are Puritans, Pilgrims, but not much else. Their economics are the fur trade, fishing, foresting, ship building materials, and trade with other countries, due to many ports.
The Middle colonies social classes are white upper- and middle-class whites with a few free blacks. Politically, there are Protestants, Jews, Roman Catholics, Swedes, Dutch, English, Scottish, Irish, and Quakers. Their economics are sale of land, foreign trade, grain sales (they're the breadbasket of the colonies), and a little other stuff.
The Southern colonies social class is all three - upper, middle, and lower. Politically there are blacks, whites, lots of former Virginians, and mostly English. Their economice are large-scale farming (plantations), sale of land, and trade.
