Europe Before Transatlantic Travel U.S. History: Beginnings to 1877 Chapter 1 Section 4 Mr. WC

Greek Philosophers & Government Greeks valued human reason and the power of human mind to think, explain and understand life. Greatest Greek thinkers, or philosophers, were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Plato wrote a work The Republic, which describes an ideal society based on justice and fairness for everyone. Aristotle taught that people should live lives based on reason (clear and ordered thinking) Greek scientists and mathematicians are famed for their contributions to geometry and for accurately calculating the size of the Earth. Much of what is taught in schools today come from mathematician Euclid.

Greek Philosophers & Government Doctors studied the human body to understand how it works. Many doctors today recite the Hippocratic Oath,, named after the Greek doctor Hippocrates. What the history book don’t tell you is that much of the information the Greeks are credited for, they learned from Egyptians and other Africans. Created the world’s first democracy. It was a direct democracy where every citizen votes on every issue. We have a representative democracy in the U.S. today, where we elect representatives to vote on issues on our behalf.

Middle Ages Middle Ages was a time period after the fall of the Roman empire, and Europe was divided into many small kingdoms. Feudalism was established during this time. Nobles grew more powerful, and kings grew less powerful. Nobles remained loyal to the king, but ruled their lands as independent territories. Nobles gave land to knights in exchange for military services; these noble were called lords, and the knight Peasants owned no land, so they were not part of the feudal system, but they need to grow food to live. Knights allowed peasants to grow food on their large estates called manors, and the peasants had to give food and other goods for payment.

The Crusades In the late 1000s, a series of wars called the Crusades began between European Christians and Southwest Asian Muslims. The Turks captured Palestine, the Holy Land where Jesus lived; and Christians no longer felt safe to take pilgrimages. This is the reason why Christians were called to go to war with the Turks.

The Black Death Due to the Silk Road, more trade routes opened up and many more people began to travel more. This led to the Black Death which killed an estimated 25 million people. This caused a huge decline in workers; leftover people demanded wages for their work. This led to a middle class of artisans and merchants emerging; and trade cities became commercial centers. This period is also known as the Dark Ages, as it was a dark time for Europeans. While the middle class emerged, there still wasn’t much going on in most of Europe.

Renaissance Following the dark ages, there were Muslim people that came from North Africa known as the Moors. The Moors brought new ideas and concepts to Europe by way of Spain, Portugal and parts of Southern France. They brought the concepts of daily baths (hygiene), universal education, fashionable clothing, agricultural techniques, etc. These people are often left out of history books when talking about the emergence of the Renaissance.

Renaissance With the arrival of the Moors in combination with people fleeing to Italy from the Byzantine Empire after the Turks overthrew it led to an enlightenment period. Renaissance period was about the search of knowledge. The main concept was the love of art and education. Most famous people from this period are Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Raphael. Most significant invention was the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg, which help the spread of literacy and education throughout the world.

Renaissance Economic Changes Growth in trade sparked commercial revolution Rise in Mercantilism, an economic system that unifies and increases the power and wealth of a nation. Trade and growth led to the need for banks. Made money by charging interest on funds loaned to merchants Merchants created joint-stock companies, businesses in which a group of people invest together. Investors shared the profits and losses