HIST 101 Final, Fall 2007

History 101 Fall 2007-08 FINAL EXAM To complete this exam, you must answer TWO short answer questions and TWO long answer questions. The exam is designed to take you two hours to complete, although you may stay for the full three hours. Make sure to “ground” your answers by identifying when (time period - e.g., early 1600s; 18th century; late 1700s) an event/development occurred; who was involved (e.g., King X, aristocrats in Spain); where it took place, what the event/ development was, and why it happened or what consequences it had, depending on the particular question. SHORT ANSWER SECTION Answer TWO of the following questions (20-25 minutes for each question). 1. During the 1600s, European culture divided more distinctly into an “elite” and a “low” culture. Explain what characterized elite culture, in terms of language, behavior, leisure activities, education level, and material culture (the clothing they wore, the household goods they purchased, their transportation, e.g.), and contrast this with low culture. How did army service and national cuisines bring the two groups closer? 2. The first government of the French Revolution, the Constituent Assembly, wrote France’s first constitution. One of its biggest issues was the position (and the power) of the executive. Explain why this was such an issue, and how the Constituent Assembly resolved it. Compare this with the newly independent American colonies. How did the Articles of Confederation deal with the executive branch? How did the Constitution of the United States deal with it? 3. Trace the history of the rise of Spain from the late 1400s through the early 1600s. In what ways did the discovery of the New World help Spain become a powerful European country? What factors (economic, political, social) caused Spain to begin to decline by the mid 1600s, and how did other European powers move in to try to claim Spain (or at least influence over Spain) for themselves in the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713)? 4. Explain what the Enlightenment was: when did it arise, what influenced it, what were its characteristics, and who were some of its main thinkers? Compare the Enlightenment with Romanticism: when did Romanticism arise, what were its characteristics, and how was it a reaction against the Enlightenment? LONG ANSWER SECTION Answer TWO of the following questions (30-40 minutes for each question). 1. Define the term “universal monarch” and explain why Louis the 14th aroused fears among other European rulers that he was trying to become a universal monarch. How did other European powers try to contain him and keep him from getting too strong, and how did this relate to the 17th-19th idea of the “balance of power”? Compare Louis with Napoleon. In what ways was Napoleon like a universal monarch? How did other European powers attempt to contain him? 2. Trace the history of the Commercial Revolution, explaining some of the contributing factors, the main players, and how the medieval model of a town-centered economy to the modern idea of a national economy. What role did the middle classes play in the Commercial Revolution? What role did rural and urban workers play? What role did the aristocracy play? How did European governments support the Commercial Revolution – what policies did they adopt to support trade and commercial activity both at home and around the world? 3. Explain the Columbian Exchange, in terms of the three primary exchanges. Use the Columbian Exchange to explain the growth of the two secondary exchanges: the Atlantic slave trade and the plantation system. How did the three primary exchanges make slaving and plantation agriculture more appealing? How does the idea of “exchange” explain how slaving and plantation agriculture were brought by European powers to the New World, starting with the Portuguese? Finally, what was the “fallout”: how did European countries’ involvement in slaving and plantations impact their economies, their merchants, and their political relations with other European states?