Early Modern Europe
Which best describes absolutism under Louis XIV?
Rule justified by divine right
During the Reformation, this German monk challenged papal authority by posting his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517.
Who is Martin Luther?
“Center of the Universe” – This theory placed the Sun, not Earth, at the center.
What is heliocentrism?
Rights of Man” – This document declared liberty and equality as natural rights.
What is The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen?
“New Working World” – The factory system centralized labor and discipline under this class.
Who are industrial capitalists (the bourgeoisie)?
Capital of Empire” – This British entrepreneur embodied imperial ambition in Africa.
Who is Cecil Rhoades?
The Peace of Westphalia (1648) is significant because it.
Ended religious wars and recognized state sovereignty.
This English monarch broke from the Catholic Church, creating the Church of England to secure an annulment from Catherine of Aragon.
Who is Henry VIII?
“Trial of the Stars” – His 1633 trial symbolized conflict between faith and reason.
Who is Galileo Galilei?
Liberty & Limits” – Groups most excluded from revolutionary equality.
Who are women and enslaved people?
Class Conflict” – Karl Marx’s opposing classes.
Who are the proletariat and the bourgeoisie?
These technologies made imperial conquest possible.
What are machine guns and steamships?
Which of the following was most excluded from “the West” as defined in the 17th century?
Women and peasants
The Peace of Westphalia (1648) ended Europe’s religious wars by recognizing state sovereignty and establishing this principle that rulers could choose their state’s faith.
What is “cuius regio, eius religio” (“whose realm, his religion”)?
“Testing Truth” – The Scientific Method relied on these two steps.
What are observation and experimentation?
“Atlantic Echoes” – The Revolution that inspired Haitian independence.
What is the French Revolution?
Hidden Hands” – Women’s industrial work meant long hour
What is low wages?
The Enlightenment celebrated reason and equality, yet many thinkers justified slavery and colonialism. This contradiction reflects the limits of what idea?
What is universal human rights (as defined by Enlightenment-era Europeans)?
Which of the following was most excluded from “the West” as defined in the 17th century?
Women and peasants
Industrialization and scientific progress challenged religious authority, giving rise to this 19th-century intellectual movement that emphasized human progress without divine intervention.
What is secular humanism or positivism?
“Gravity of Ideas” – He unified heaven and earth under natural law.
Who is Isaac Newton?
Voices of Equality” – This Enlightenment woman demanded equal education for women.
Who is Mary Wollstonecraft?
“Urban Plague” – Rapid city growth led to these conditions.
What are overcrowding and disease?
The 19th-century “Scramble for Africa” redrew borders without regard for ethnic or cultural groups. One modern consequence of this imperial practice has been what?
What is ongoing political instability and postcolonial conflict?
This Enlightenment philosopher proposed separating legislative, executive, and judicial powers to prevent tyranny.
Who is Montesquieu?
In the 19th century, Christian missions often paralleled imperial expansion into Africa and Asia, echoing earlier religious motives for conquest such as these three G’s.
What are God, Gold, and Glory?
“Power & Knowledge” – Scientific progress intertwined with this political expansion.
What is imperialism?
“Modern Echoes” – Revolutionary ideals persist today in these movements.
What are pro-democracy protests worldwide?
“New Ideologies” – This belief system emerged to challenge capitalist inequality
What is socialism?
If Enlightenment thinkers were alive today, this social media platform would likely host their fiery debates about liberty, reason, and government—though Voltaire would probably end up banned for sarcasm.
What is X (formerly Twitter)?
Across Early Modern and Modern Europe, thinkers and leaders claimed to pursue “progress” — from the Scientific Revolution’s reason to the Industrial Revolution’s machines and the imperial “civilizing mission.”
Yet, every age also produced new forms of inequality and control.
👉 In one or two sentences, explain what this reveals about the relationship between progress and power in Western history.
What is that progress in the West has often been inseparable from power — each major advance (scientific, industrial, or imperial) expanded freedom for some while reinforcing domination over others?