Bourgeoisie, Proletariat, and Mercantilism

• Bourgeoisie refers to the middle class composed of bankers, factory owners, merchants, professionals, and skilled artisans.
• Some members of the Bourgeoisie were as wealthy as nobles but still paid high taxes.
• Their goal was to grow their business to enjoy wealth which translated to higher social status and political power.
• Proletariat refers to the "have-nots" or workers.
• The wealthy controlled the means of producing goods, while the poor worked under terrible conditions.

Mercantilism

• Mercantilism is a belief that a country's power depends on its wealth, specifically its supply of bullion (gold and silver).
• It is derived from the Latin words "mercans/mercari" which means "to trade."
• According to mercantilist theory, a nation can increase its wealth and power by obtaining more gold and silver and by establishing a Favorable Balance of Trade.
• A mercantilist country seeks gold primarily by establishing and exploiting colonies and establishing a Favorable Balance of Trade (FBT).

Colonies

• Colonies served as a source of raw materials and markets for finished products.
• Mercantilism coincided with colonization, as colonies played a vital role in the new economic venture.
• Colonies provided markets where the home country could sell its goods.

Favorable Balance of Trade

• Favorable Balance of Trade is achieved by exporting more products and avoiding importation.
• It's about selling more goods than buying which promotes an influx of gold and silver payments that increase the amount of bullion.
• Wealth enables countries to build strong navies and purchase vital goods.
• A country's main goal under mercantilism is to be self-sufficient and not rely on other countries for goods.

Magna Carta

• The Magna Carta "Great Charter" is considered one of the foundations of democratic government.
• The document's main principle is that everyone, including the king, must obey the law.
• Nobles wanted to protect their feudal rights and limit the king's power.
• It guaranteed rights such as no taxation without representation, trial by jury, and protection of the law.
• Jury is a group of honest citizens, typically 12 neighbors of the accused, who answer the royal judge's questions about what actually happened in the case.
• Common Law is a unified body of law that became the basis for law in many English-speaking countries.
• Habeas Corpus Act is a court order requiring an explanation as to why someone is being held.

Black Death

• The plague started in Asia.
• In 1347, a fleet of Genoese merchant ships arrived in Sicily carrying the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death.
• The name came from the purplish or blackish spots that developed on the skin.
• Black rats carried fleas infested with Yersinia Pestis.
• Due to infrequent bathing, nearly everyone had fleas and lice.
• People threw their waste and garbage into the streets creating breeding grounds for more rats.
• The Bubonic Plague took roughly 4 years to reach every corner of Europe.
• It killed about 25 million Europeans and millions more in Asia and North Africa.

Effects of Black Death

• Trade declined, and prices rose.
• Serfs left the manor to seek better wages.
• Nobles did not raise peasants' wages, causing revolts in England, France, Italy, and Belgium.
• The church lost prestige because it could not prevent the plague's spread and priests abandoned their duties.
• Jewish people were blamed for causing the plague and were driven from their homes or killed.

Joan of Arc

• Joan of Arc (1412, France)
• Beginning at age 13, Joan began having visions and hearing what she believed were the voices of saints.
• She persuaded the English from France and helped give the French crown to Charles VII, son of Charles VI.
• Joan cut her hair, wore a suit of armor, and carried a sword.
• On May 7, 1429, Joan led the French army to battle at a fort near Orleans.
• The fort blocked the path to Orleans which resulted in a difficult battle.
• When the French retreated in despair, Joan and a few soldiers charged back toward the fort.
• The siege of Orleans was broken, and Joan of Arc guided the French toward victory.
• In 1430, Burgundians arrested Joan in battle and turned her over to the English.
• The English gave her to Church authorities for trial.
• Joan was convicted of heresy and burned at the stake in 1431.
• The war continued for two more decades, with the defeat of English forces in Normandy and Aquitaine leading to French victory in 1453.
• After 1453, a sense of nationalism grew in England and France.

Post 1453

• People began to see the king as a national leader fighting for the country's glory rather than just a feudal lord.
• The French Monarchy's power and prestige increased.
• England endured a period of internal turmoil known as the War of the Roses, where two noble houses fought for the throne.

Renaissance

• Italy is considered the Birthplace of the Renaissance.
• Renaissance means rebirth.
• It was the revitalization of learning resulted in great works of art and literature, dating from the 14th-17th centuries.
• Italy had three advantages including thriving cities, a wealthy merchant class, and the classical heritage of Greece and Rome.
• Northern Italy was urban while the rest of Europe was mostly rural.
• People in cities exchanged ideas, making it easier for intellectual revolutions to spread.
• The study of classical texts led to humanism, an intellectual movement focused on human potential and achievement.
• Humanists wanted to understand ancient Greek values.
• Humanists suggested that people could enjoy life without offending God.
• Renaissance transformed art.

Famous Artists

Leonardo Da Vinci

• Leonardo Da Vinci, a painter, sculptor, inventor, and scientist.
• He studied how muscles move and how veins are arranged in a leaf and filled his notebooks with observations and sketches.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

• Michelangelo Buonarroti, a painter, sculptor, architect, and poet.
• He was renowned for his portrayal of the human body in painting and sculpture, creating figures showing heroic grandeur.
• Some of his works include St. Peter’s, the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and the statue of David.

Niccolo Machiavelli

• Niccolo Machiavelli is quoted “To succeed in a wicked world, a prince must be strong as a lion and shrewd as a fox".
• It is easier to be feared than loved.
• The prince is for a ruler and the ends justify the means.

The Reformation

• Martin Luther started a movement to reform practices in the Catholic Church that he believed were wrong.
• The Reformation led to the founding of non-Catholic churches.

Martin Luther & The Reformation

• The forces that fostered the Reformation's rise in Europe in the 1500s included a decline in Church power due to the renaissance's secularism, the printing press's spread, and leaders objecting to Church authority.
• Merchants in the north were also unhappy with paying taxes to Rome.
• Due to these social, political, and economic forces, the Reformation started in Germany and spread through Europe.
• The Renaissance's emphasis on the secular and individual challenged Church authority.
• The printing press spread secular ideas.
• Merchants in the north were unhappy because they felt the taxes were unfair since they received no direct benefit. instead, their money went to Rome and supported lavish lifestyles which they saw as abuse.
• Martin Luther's 95 Theses was a statement that voiced his opposition to the sale of indulgences.
• As those ideas spread, many people questioned the Catholic Church, which led to the Reformation.
• The Reformation resulted in a split in the church as some separated from the pope's authority to become Protestants which weakened the pope's influence and led to the formation of new churches.
• Martin Luther believed that faith in Christ alone was needed for salvation known as Sola Fide whereas the Catholic Church taught that good works and adherence to sacraments were also necessary.
• Luther expressed his belief that all people with faith were equal with the "Priesthood of all believers".
• Anyone who believed in Christ could approach God directly so priests and the pope were not the sole mediators and all were equal before God.
• Church officials in Rome opposed Luther's teachings, excommunicated him, and declared him a heretic.
• Luther continued to advocate for his ideas.
• After the Edict of Worms, Luther was declared an outlaw and was sheltered by Prince Frederick the Wise at Wartburg Castle where he translated the Bible into German.
• The main branches of Protestantism are Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism.

Theories on Enlightenment

Thomas Hobbes - Social Contract Theory

• He believed that giving rights to a strong leader would ensure law and order.
• He believed that people were naturally evil.
• Without governments to keep order, there would be a war of every man against every man, and life would be solitary, poor, short, and brutal.
• People act in their own self-interest.
• Hobbes said that a ruler needed immense power to keep citizens under control.
• The best government has the awesome power of a leviathan (sea monster).
• He believed in absolute monarchy which could enforce order and demand obedience.

John Locke - Natural Rights Theory

• All people are born free and equal, with three natural rights: life, liberty, and property.
• The government's role is to protect these rights and if it fails, citizens have the right to overthrow it.
• Humans have a natural ability to manage their affairs and look after society's welfare.
• John Locke criticized absolute monarchy and favored self-government.
• The belief that the power of government comes from the consent of people is the foundation of modern democracy.

François Marie Arouet “Voiltaire” - Philosophy / Freedom of thought and expression

• He believed in freedom of expression and religion and accepting different faiths.
• He was a proponent for secularism and opposed fanaticism in the church and government.
• He printed over 70 books of political essays, philosophy, and drama.
• He frequently used satire against his opponents and was imprisoned twice due to his sharp tongue.

Baron de Montesquieu - Separation of Powers

• He believed Britain was the best-governed and most politically balanced country of his time.
• His ideas about separation of powers and checks and balances became the basis for the United States Constitution.
• The idea became part of his most famous book, “On the Spirit of Laws (1748)."
• He suggested that separation of powers would prevent any individual or group from gaining total control of the government.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Direct Democracy

• He believed people should actively participate in making laws and decisions.
• The "general will" or collective will of the citizens should determine laws and government.
• Rousseau’s view of the social contract differed greatly from that of Hobbes.
• Hobbes thought it was an agreement between society and its government.
• Rousseau thought it was an agreement among free individuals to create a society and government.
• All people are equal and titles should be abolished.

Denis Diderot - Encyclopedia

• Diderot created a large set of books to which European scholars contributed articles and essays.
• He called it Encyclopedia and began publishing volumes in 1751.
• The Enlightenment views expressed in the articles angered the French government and the Catholic Church who claimed that it undermined royal authority.

Industrial Revolution

• The Industrial Revolution refers to a large increase in machine-made goods that began in England in the mid-1700s.
• The Industrial Revolution started in Britain.
• In the 1700s, small farms dotted the English landscape until wealthy landowners began buying up large portions of land previously worked by farmers.
• These landowners improved farming methods.
• The Industrial Revolution was spurred by inventions that transformed industries, especially Britain's textile industry.
• Textile merchants boosted profits by speeding up cloth production.
• Factories were dirty, unsafe, and dangerous, however, industry created jobs.
• Factory bosses imposed harsh discipline.
• Factory workers were overworked and underpaid.
• Supervisors and skilled workers rose to the lower middle class.
• Factory owners and merchants formed the upper middle class.
• Factories brought job seekers to cities.
• Urban areas doubled, tripled, or quadrupled in size.
• Many cities specialized in certain industries.
• It increased competition between industrialized and less-developed nations.
• Industrialization widened the wealth gap between industrialized and non-industrialized countries
• Countries needed a constant supply of raw materials from less developed lands.
• Developed countries viewed poor countries as markets for manufactured goods.

Sepoy Rebellion

• The British East India Company used the Sepoy army, comprised of Indian soldiers, to conquer and control India.
• Since the soldiers were local, it was easier for the British to expand their power.
• The British government did not immediately interfere with the British East India Company's administration in India because it was highly profitable and as long as the company managed the business, the government did not intervene.
• India was important to Britain during industrialization because it served as a source for raw materials for their factories, such as cotton for textiles.
• Besides, India was also a large market for British products, which made Britain wealthier.
• When Britain banned competition from Indian products, local industries collapsed, mainly textile production.
• Many Indians lost their livelihoods because British products were favored.
• The Sepoy Rebellion was caused by the new Enfield rifle because its cartridge was greased with beef and pork fat, which was against the beliefs of Hindu and Muslim soldiers.
• The sepoys also felt that the British were demeaning them, and they also did not have any real unity.
• Due to disagreements between Hindus and Muslims, they did not collaborate against the British.
• India and the Philippines share similarities as they were both colonized and used as sources of raw materials.
• Both places saw attempts to spread foreign religions, and the economy was altered to benefit the colonizer.

Napoleon Bonaparte

• Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
• Born in Corsica, France on August 15, 1769.
• At age nine, he was sent to military school.
• In 1785, at 16, he finished his studies and became a lieutenant in the artillery.
• He had interests in history, geography, and mathematics (like Alexander The Great).
• In 1794, at age 25, he was made brigadier general by the Committee of Public Safety.
• In 1795, he defended the National Convention against royalist rebels.
• In 1796, Napoleon was appointed to protect France's trade interests and aimed at disrupting British trade with India.
• From his expedition to Egypt, he returned to Paris and participated in a coup that gave him control of France at the age of 30.
• In 1799, he became Consul. Napoleon, as first consul, controlled all executive authority of the government.
• Coup D’etat or Pagbugso sa Estado meaning a sudden seizure of power.
• In 1799, after the coup, a new form of Republic called the Consulate was established and Napoleon was declared first consul.
• In 1802, he became Consul for life.
• In 1804, he restored the monarchy of France by crowning himself Emperor Napoleon I.
• One of Napoleon's first policies was to establish peace with the Revolution's oldest and strongest enemy, the Catholic Church.
• He established a system of tax collection and created a national banking system.