Ch. 3 A Humanist Approach
What is Humanism?
a system of values and beliefs that is based on the idea that people are basically good and that problems can be solved using reason instead of religion
How did attitudes change towards science during the Renaissance?
Renaissance as thinkers dramatically expanded the range of texts they read.
In addition, the new importance that humanism placed on human beings and their experiences encouraged people to question and experiment.
Define Expansionism
Expansionism refers to the actions and attitudes of a state or country whose goal is to increase its power and territory.
Who was Francis Drake?
Francis Drake was an English explore, supported by Queen Elizabeth, who pirated and filled his ships with gold and silver stolen from Spanish treasure ships.
Who was the first explorer to circumnavigate the globe?
Ferdinand Magellan sailed south along the coast of South America and on to the Pacific Ocean. Eventually, he landed in the Philippines, as the first person to successfully circumnavigate the globe.
What were the impacts of Humanism?
Renaissance humanism challenged the worldview of the Middle Ages. Although humanists still maintained their faith and believed in an afterlife, they also felt their lives on earth should be rich and fulfilled.
People began to see the possibilities of what they could achieve in life.
Humanism led to new attitudes toward art, philosophy, and government.
What happened to Martin Luther as a result of his actions and beliefs?
In 1521, Luther was called before the emperor and told to give up his ideas. Luther refused and as a result, was excommunicated.
When Charles V declared Luther an outlaw who could be killed, Luther went into hiding.
What were the 3 main reasons Europeans began to explore?
To expand trade
Expand gold supply/economy
To spread Christianity
What invention made books about Indigenous peoples that was available to readers across Europe?
The invention of printing made illustrated books about Indigenous peoples available to eager readers across Europe.
What was considered the “New World” and “Old World?”
Soon after Europeans arrived in the Americas, they began calling it the “New World.” They had accidentally run into it while they were looking for Asia. Europeans thought of the continents that they knew about before the Age of Exploration—Europe, Asia and Africa—as the “Old World.”
___________________, _______________, and _________________ were the ancient Greek philosophers who were most influential on the development of humanism:
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
Explain the Protestant Reformation
Luther translated the New Testament and eventually the complete Bible into German so more people would be able to interpret the word of God for themselves.
When he left the church, many Germans followed him and began a new church, the Lutheran church.
Before long, Luther’s ideas spread across Europe. Luther and his people began to be known as Protestants, and this time period became known as the Protestant Reformation as the people “protested” against the Church’s refusal to allow “reform” which eventually led to a “reformation”.
What were the issues with trading with the East?
In the Silk Road, goods from Asia were expensive because they were moved over great distances and passed through so many hands on their way to European consumers. Every step between Asia and Europe, the prices went up - sometimes up to 2000 times their original price.
Another problem was the security of the trade routes. Over the centuries, trade had been affected by conflicts and power shifts among the peoples of the East.
Explain the The Treaty of Tordesillas
At the beginning of the Age of Exploration, Portugal and Spain sent out expeditions to find trade routes to Asia.
After Christopher Columbus had discovered what he thought was a sea route to Asia for Spain, Portugal wanted to make sure that it got its share of the Asian trade.
The two countries could not come to an agreement, so in 1494, the pope proposed a secret treaty that would divide the new world between the Spanish and the Portuguese.
Spain would have all the land west of an imaginary line running north and south through the Atlantic and Portugal would have any land east of the line.
Other European rulers were angry when they heard about the Treaty of Tordesillas. England and France ignored its terms and sent out explorers across the North Atlantic to find new territories.
What gave Europeans the idea that they had the right to divide up the world among themselves? Why did they think their explorers could simply arrive somewhere and claim the territory?
Imperialism
What are the 4 main Humanist beliefs?
Human beings can use the power of reason (thinking) to find truth for themselves
It is important for a person to have an open, curious and questioning mind
3. People can achieve great things through learning
4. Individuals should be skilled in many different areas. They should develop not just their minds but also their bodies and spirits.
Who was Martin Luther? What did he believe?
Luther, a German monk influenced by the ideas of humanism, began to carefully study the Bible for himself. He came to the conclusion that the Bible, not the Church, should be a Christian's true spiritual guide.
Luther was upset by the wealth of the Church and the way it was obtained, specifically the selling of indulgences.
Luther believed:
Following the rituals of the Church was not enough to get into heaven.
Individuals should seek personal religious understanding.
Individuals should not pay indulgences to the Church to receive forgiveness for their sins.
What was the Europeans solution to their issues with trading with the East? How would this solution help?
Europeans believed that a sea route to the East was the solution to their trade problems. A sea route would give them control over their supply of goods. And they hoped to get rich by bringing in spices and other trade goods to sell on the European market.
What did Columbus name the new territory he found? What happened to the indigenous peoples already living there?
The territories in Central and South America claimed by Columbus and other Spanish explorers became known as New Spain.
The Spanish government granted land to people who wanted to settle in New Spain to mine for precious metals and set up plantations to grow crops for export to Spain.
Indigenous people were enslaved by Spanish landowners and forced to work in terrible conditions.
Millions of people were literally worked to death in the silver mines and fields.
Explain Civic Humanism
Civic comes from the Latin word civis which means citizen
Renaissance humanists were interested in what classical authors had written about good government.
Civic humanists believed that being a responsible citizen meant educating yourself about history and political issues and working to improve society. It focused on how people could be good members of their society.
What was the significance of literature during this time?
Writers focused on translating the works of Roman and Greek writers and copying their styles
Rise of books or texts written in the vernacular became more accessible
Humanism influenced writers to focus on expressing their thoughts and emotions
Explain the Catholic Counter Reformation
The Catholic Church lost much of its authority and membership as a result of the Reformation. Pope Paul III called a series of meetings (the Council of Trent) where the church examined its policies. As a result of these meetings, corruption among the higher clergy was repaired and priests
were given a better education.
New religious orders came about during this time, that focused on converting people to Catholicism. The most important one, founded by Ignatius Loyola, called the Society of Jesus; the followers were called Jesuits.
Who is Christopher Columbus? Where did he discover? What monarchs sponsored him?
Christopher Columbus was convinced that a shorter route to Asia could be found by going west across the Atlantic Ocean. He was sponsored by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, and promised to claim whatever he found for Spain. He ended up in the Americas, and made four trips back and forth with goods.
What were the impacts of Imperialism?
◆ By 1600 less than one-tenth of the original population of the Americas remained.
◆ Perhaps 90 million Indigenous people died during that time.
◆ Most died of diseases, such as smallpox, measles, influenza, bubonic plague, yellow fever, cholera, and malaria brought by the Europeans. These diseases were unknown in the Americas, so Indigenous peoples had no immunity, or resistance, to them.
◆ Many Indigenous peoples in the Americas completely died out, among them the Beothuk of Newfoundland and the Ona of Tierra del Fuego.
What did Martin Luther do that got him condemned, banned, and forced to burn his works publicly?
In 1517, Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door. In it, he criticized the church for selling indulgences as well as ideas that he felt were against the Bible. In addition to this, he encouraged other scholars to question these ideas.
Pope Leo X issued an official order condemning Luther and banning his works, which Luther burned publically.