Thesis

3. The War of Spanish Succession, the Treaty of Utrecht, and the European Balance of Power

The War of the Spanish Succession lead to the Treaty of Utrecht which was meant to create a balance of power, consequently it gave England more power than was intended by giving it more influence in the New World through trading and colonization, making it a more dominant force in Europe.

Dutch Republic Essay

Discuss ways that the 17-century Dutch Republic differed from its neighbors, telling how these differences contributed to the country’s success.

The Dutch are seen as one of the most prosperous and having the best quality of life during the 1600s. This is due to their Golden Age and being the “island of plenty in a sea of want”. Other nations like France and England have a monarchy that controls much of the everyday life. However, the Dutch have a strong middle class where the power was concentrated, they had an extremely powerful shipping empire, and they were focused on trade which improved their standard of living.

Unlike most nations the middle class held most of the power in the Netherlands. They consisted of wealthy merchants who focused on trade, banking, and storage facilities. The Dutch had nearly 10,000 vessels that sailed the seas. They boasted of having ships sailing every seas and controlling most of the shipping in Northern Europe. Places like England and France had merchants, but they were not has dedicated or proficient as those of the Netherlands. Because of the strong financial empire, the gold florin became the international monetary exchange and Amsterdam became the center of world banking. Everyone had faith in the Dutch and showed this by trading with them and everyone flourished from this, mainly the Dutch. The middle class also encouraged reclaiming the land which was extremely beneficial for agriculture. This allowed the Dutch to sustain themselves with food grown by themselves along with trade from other countries. The middle class created their own system in which there were seven provinces with each having a chief executive. This allowed a form of political structure but the people in charge were never given enough power to take over the entire nation. Because the Dutch were mainly controlled by wealthy middle class merchants, they were able to have equality and everyone was able to live general well off.

One of the single most important reasons for the Dutch’s success is due to their shipping empire. This brought in much cash for the individual merchants and their families. The Dutch created canals which enabled them to transport goods more efficiently and build windmills for power. They were smart and the Dutch East India Company monopolized trade in the Far East with India and other countries over there. This brought in huge trade and because it was monopolized was only used by the Dutch. Once Japan shut itself from outside world it only let one nation trade with it: the Dutch. Not only was the Dutch trading with countries of Europe and Asia but also the Americas. They set up a new colony called New Amsterdam in the Americas and monopolized the fur trade with the Indians. However, the British were interested in this new colony and was able to annex it because of the lack of military by the Dutch. The Dutch were excellent merchants who were able to trade in places where other countries could only dream of. This allowed them to trade and make huge sums of money from each shipment. If it wasn’t for trade the Dutch would have not been nearly as successful.

As seen before the Dutch have to give credit to shipping as one of the most prominent reasons for their success. They did not have a strong agriculture or a strong military from which to be successful. They became successful on shipping. Because of all the monopolies, merchants brought home goods from all over the world. They could choose any price they wanted to sell the goods at. The Dutch were able to have a high standard of living because of their standards and morals. They believed in hard work and living extensively was sinful and related it to the French. These people had religious freedom and a somewhat free press. This country can be seen as the United States of its time. It was not too strict in religion and people could have freedom to say what they wanted to some extent. The Dutch, from working hard and living relatively secular, were able to make the majority of the people happy. This enabled them to flourish and to continue making the Dutch a strong nation.

The Dutch had a relatively short golden age. This was due to their lack of military and reluctance to colonize other countries. However, the shipping empire enabled the Dutch to prosper and have high standards of living. With a strong middle class who was focused on shipping and being merchants, the Dutch were able to stay away from political fights and wars which could bring about their demise. However, the golden age could not last forever, and in fact it didn’t, but for the short amount of time, the Netherlands was the place to be.

My Map

View Great Fire of London in a larger map

Free Response Question 1 ( final draft)

Why are the trials and tribulations of Galileo often considered both predicative of the future of Western Civilization as well as a perfect encapsulation of the context of his own time?

Galileo Galilei was an extremely famous Italian scientist who was born in 1564 and died in 1642. This talented man was gifted in many ways which caused much debate during his life time. Galileo is considered by many to be the father of modern science. Because of this title, he had almost single handedly created the division between the Catholic Church and Science. With his help in the creation of modern science, Galileo faced many trials and tribulations in the form of the Catholic Church by sticking to his beliefs like the heliocentric system, but his advances were limited to what he could do with the instruments available to him, the small freedoms given to him by the catholic church, and his own ingenuity which showed what was to come for the future of Europe and the realities of his own time.

Galileo was a man of discovery. He went to a university but never actually finished before continuing on with another college. Galileo was an inventor of many devices that helped to create what is now modern science. He was known for creating the microscope, a compass used to measure polygons as well as the amount of gunpowder to use in certain size cannonballs, and the telescope. His invention of the telescope was maybe his most popular since it was one of the main instruments that caused his debate with the Catholic Church. He used it to view the moon and other celestial objects. One of which was Jupiter and its moons. He studied it for a while and observed that it had moons, which were not always in the same position the night before. Along with observing Jupiter, Galileo looked at the moon and saw that it was filled with craters and mountains. This went against the catholic belief that the moon was smooth. One of the beginning events that lead to a tribulation for Galileo was his belief in the Copernican system which stated that the Earth revolved around the Sun, not the other way around. This is also known as the Heliocentric system. Not only was Galileo an astronomer but a physicist and mathematician as well. In fact, one of the reasons he did not finish his first university was because he went to learn math instead. Galileo was interested in gravity and the laws of motion as well. However, even with all of his inventions they were not as advanced as they are today. Because of this limitation, he couldn’t go on to study more in depth of the solar system and other planets. He wrote many books during his time on math, physics, and many more important subjects. With all of his knowledge, Galileo may be the single most important person of his era. His discoveries and inventions started the world in the area of modern science in which it is still based off of his findings to this day.

Galileo faced the harsh realities of his own time due to the fact that he was interested in science. Many of his ideas went against the Catholic Church and their belief system. Due to this, he was forced under house arrest and later excommunicated for his beliefs in science. Many people think of Galileo as a leader of the disparities between the Catholic Church and science. There are two main subjects that went against the catholic belief that caused problems for Galileo. The first is that he used his telescope to prove that the moon was not smooth. This was a crushing blow to Catholics because it was in their religion that it was a smooth object. The second was the fact that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not vice versa. Both of these ideas forced the Catholics to protect their beliefs and they did this by refuting Galileo and forcing him to be under house arrest. As time went on, the Catholic Church took action and Galileo had to face several trials in which he was convicted of heresy. Even though Galileo was warned of what would happen if he continued to defend heliocentrisism, he stayed focused and did not let the worries of the Catholic Church get in his way. He was not given much room and freedom to continue his work to the best of his abilities knowing that his actions could cause his death. Galileo saw the stark reality of his own era in which the people were steadfast in their religion and unwilling to believe in something new. However, his ideas prevailed and even though he died, many of his ideas are still alive today and in much use.

Galileo was an extremely smart man. He created many devices to help with his experiments and to think in new ways. He was a pioneer of science which helped paved the way for the science of today. Galileo wrote several books that explained his ideas and expanded on what other scientists of his era were doing. Some of which showed people how to accurately weigh objects and what was actually up in space. Because of his ingenuity, he caught the eye of the Catholic Church and brought this mighty beast upon himself. He, along with the other scientists of his time, enabled the evidence of science to get out to the public and to open their eyes. However, they can only do so much and the rest is up to the people.

Galileo went through many trials and tribulations to get to where he was in his day. He was forced to refute religion and stand steadfast in his beliefs about science. Even with threats to his life, Galileo never hesitated in doing what he wanted. Galileo continued to experiment and write books to prove his point even though it was not consistent with Catholic belief. Without Galileo, modern science would never be where it is today and religion may be a more dominant force in people’s lives.

Free Response Question 1

Why are the trials and tribulations of Galileo often considered both predicative of the future of Western Civilization as well as a perfect encapsulation of the context of his own time?

Galileo Galilei was an extremely famous Italian scientist who was born in 1564 and died in 1642. This talented man was gifted in many ways which caused much debate during his life time. Galileo is considered by many to be the father of modern science. Because of this title, he had essentially created the division between the Church and Science. With his creation of modern science, Galileo showed what was to come for the future of Europe and the realities of his own time.

Galileo was a man of discovery. He went to a university but never actually finished before continuing on with another college. Galileo was an inventor of many devices that help to create what is now modern science. He was one of the first people to create a telescope in which to view the moon and other celestial objects. One of which was Jupiter and its moons. He studied it for a while and observed that it had moons, which were not always in the same position the night before. Along with observing Jupiter, Galileo looked at the moon and saw that it was filled with craters and mountainous. This went against the catholic belief that the moon was smooth. One of the beginning events that lead to a tribulation for Galileo was his belief in the Copernican system which stated that the Earth revolved around the Sun, not the other way around. Not only was Galileo an astronomer but a physicist and mathematician as well. In fact, one of the reasons he did not finish his first university was because he went to learn math instead. Galileo was interested in gravity and the laws of motion as well. He wrote many books during his time on math, physics, and many more important subjects. With all of his knowledge, Galileo may be the single most important person of his era. His discoveries and inventions started the world in the area of modern science in which it is still based off of his findings.

Galileo faced the harsh realities of his own time due to the fact that he was interested in science. Many of his ideas went against the Catholic Church and their belief system. Due to this, he was forced under house arrest and later executed for his beliefs in science. Many people think of Galileo as a leader of the disparities between the Catholic Church and science. There are two main subjects that went against the catholic belief that caused problems for Galileo. The first is that he used his telescope to prove that the moon was not smooth. This was a crushing blow to Catholics because it was in their religion that it was a smooth object. The second was the fact that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not vice versa. Both of these ideas forced the Catholics to protect their beliefs and they did this by refuting Galileo and forcing him to be under house arrest. Galileo saw the stark reality of his own era in which the people were steadfast in their religion and unwilling to believe in something new. However, his ideas prevailed and even though he was killed, many of his ideas are still alive today and in much use.

Galileo went through many trials and tribulations to get to where he was in his day. He was forced to refute religion and stand steadfast in his beliefs about science. Even with threats to his life, Galileo never hesitated in doing what he wanted. Galileo continued to experiment and write books to prove his point even though it was not consistent with Catholic belief. Without Galileo, modern science would never be where it is today and religion may be a more dominant force in people’s lives.