Deck 3: Origins of Western Society

Question 1

The Moors were armies of what group?

A) Rome.
B) England.
C) European descent.
D) Muslims.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Why were Egypt and Mesopotamia important in the development of early civilization? Why are these regions called the cradle of modern civilization?

Answer 2

Egypt and Mesopotamia were important in the development of early civilization because in these regions we see the development of the basic political institution. As people began to live in larger clusters, they needed to protect themselves from constant warfare and likely submitted to a powerful leader. These units worked together and recognized a form of leadership that is found in nearly all modern civilizations following this era. Since this idea was "born" in Egypt and Mesopotamia, these regions are called the "cradle."

Question 3

How does globalization affect the potential for a modern plague? Note some recent events that suggest this potential threat is a possibility. Discuss at least one measure that we could employ to stop a plague if it were to present itself.

Answer 3

Globalization makes it more likely that there will be a global plague. Since countries are becoming more and more interconnected it is difficult to keep illnesses contained to one geographic location. SARS and the swine flu, or H1N1, are recent examples of global plague scares in which serious diseases spread across the planet quickly. If a plague were to take effect, counties could mandate travel limits. By restricting people from entering and/or leaving the country, we might slow the spread of disease.

Question 4

Feudal estates are associated with which kind of authority?

A) A president.
B) A lord.
C) A democracy.
D) A citizens' communal government.

Question 5

The French Revolution changed the political and economic organization of society and embodied the:

A) ideal of a completely nonviolent revolution.
B) return to medieval institutions.
C) ideas of the emerging social sciences.
D) triumph of the divine rights doctrine.

Question 6

The two motives that interacted to begin the end of Europe's isolation were religion and:

A) decentralization.
B) serfdom.
C) commerce.
D) castle building.

Question 7

The Crusades sped up and significantly increased the breakdown of the:

A) nation-state.
B) manorial system.
C) trade with North America.
D) information about other peoples.

Question 8

Throughout the Renaissance, values such as education, religion, and obedience to God were:

A) eliminated.
B) maintained.
C) discovered for the first time.
D) unknown.

Question 9

How was the domestication of plants and animals important in changing human societies?

Question 10

In 1453 Constantinople fell to the:

A) Turks.
B) Russians.
C) Greeks.
D) Italians.

Question 11

How and why were the Age of Revolutions and the Industrial Revolution related?

Question 12

The expansion of Renaissance trade and the creation of a new urban merchant class helped make possible:

A) the emergence of feudalism.
B) the elimination of competition.
C) the emergence of wheeled vehicles.
D) the modern state.

Question 13

Increased interconnections among countries that occur with globalization make it:

A) easier to detect health problems and diseases with long incubation periods.
B) possible to completely contain disease outbreaks in one locality.
C) easier to eliminate global diseases.
D) increasingly possible for a worldwide modern plague to occur.

Question 14

Leonard da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello were artists during the:

A) Hellenistic Age.
B) time of the Caesars.
C) Industrial Revolution.
D) Renaissance.

Question 15

Striking features in Roman history include engineering, political administration, and:

A) lack of military undertakings.
B) law.
C) music.
D) abolition of slavery.

Question 16

Erasmus was a Renaissance philosopher who advocated:

A) thought control.
B) free thinking and rationality.
C) a return to feudal values and life.
D) the elimination of critical thinking.

Question 17

In general, life in Europe after the Fall of Rome came to be centered around an agricultural manor called a:

A) urban metropolis.
B) factory town.
C) coastal city.
D) feudal estate.

Question 18

The Hundred Years' War from 1337 to 1453 was fought between:

A) Spain and Italy.
B) Germany and Denmark.
C) England and France.
D) Poland and Russia.

Question 19

Beginning in the late 1980s the countries of Eastern Europe become independent of the Soviet Union
(USSR), which:

A) itself broke up.
B) then reconquered these countries by 1995.
C) did not change in political structure.
D) returned the Tsar to power in 1996.

Question 20

Describe and discuss the major social, political, and economic developments of the Middle Ages. Why were the church, serfs, merchants, nobles, and monarchs important?

Question 21

The Roman Empire remained static for four centuries.

Question 22

As a nation-state, Pakistan has been around for less than a century, but it has origins that predate Islam.

Question 23

The landed nobility lost power as the city merchants gained power during the Middle Ages.

Question 24

Aristotle argued that the polis was a natural outgrowth of the human being's nature.

Question 25

Early civilizations often become organized into a military aristocracy, a priesthood, and landless peasants.

Question 26

Individuals in Rome fell into two categories: patricians and publicans.

Question 27

In 1215, King John was forced to agree that free people had rights and liberties in a document called the:

A) social contract.
B) constitution.
C) Declaration of Human Rights.
D) Magna Carta.

Question 28

What effort broadened Western development around the world during the Renaissance?

A) The voyages in search of better routes to India.
B) The growth of feudalism during the Middle Ages.
C) The Spanish Inquisition.
D) The development of the printing press.

Question 29

The Industrial Revolution further strengthened the power of the merchants, who at first allied themselves with the:

A) feudal nobility.
B) lower class.
C) scientific elite.
D) monarchy.

Question 30

The leaders of early kingdoms in Egypt and Mesopotamia became:

A) elected officials.
B) more democratic over time.
C) less concerned with owning more land.
D) king-gods.

Question 31

James Watt's steam engine and James Hargreave's spinning jenny helped make it possible to produce more output and to:

A) reorganize the types of work people did.
B) eliminate further inventions.
C) maintain work relationships.
D) keep serfdom as the dominant system.

Question 32

The "Code of Hammurabi" is an early collection of mathematical equations applied to architectural construction which originated in Egypt.

Question 33

The gathering of people into a spatially and ethnically defined unit organized and run by a small group who will maintain order and defend the unit is:

A) the basic biological unit.
B) the basic political institution.
C) the lineage council.
D) the core group.

Question 34

The Age of Revolutions
(1750-1850) is referred to as such because:

A) some of the bloodiest wars in history occurred during this period.
B) there were enormous economic and political changes occurring during this time.
C) communism took hold of the Western world.
D) Great Britain lost the Industrial Revolution.

Question 35

During the Middle Ages, religion began to lose its influence in people's lives.

Question 36

Western political organizations have their foundations in the:

A) Persian Empire.
B) development of Chinese science.
C) Aztec Alliance.
D) Greek polis.

Question 37

Edward Gibbon studied the question of, "Why did Rome last so long?"

Question 38

Throughout the Renaissance, the influence of religion remained strong.

Question 39

Today, Latin forms the basis of only a few words in the English language.

Question 40

The bubonic plague or Black Death was carried to Europe by sick rats from ships in the Near East trade.

Question 41

One of the important changes that took place during the Industrial Revolution was a migration into cities.

Question 42

The Magna Carta is said to be the basis for many of the rights we take for granted today.

Question 43

Marco Polo reached Japan in 1290 and remained there for ten years.

Question 44

Throughout the Renaissance the middle class continued to decline.

Question 45

The Age of Revolutions from about 1750 to 1850 led to the emergence of our modern economic and government systems.

Question 46

One of the ways in which the West learned about the culture of the East was through the tales of explorers.

Question 47

In the 1750s, once again technological changes slowed down and became less important.

Question 48

Serfdom was formally abolished in France in 1789.

Question 49

The phenomenon known as the Inquisition was exclusively medieval and restricted to one time period.

Question 50

Mercantilism was an early phase of capitalism.

Question 51

The bow and arrow:

A) did not change the basics of people's daily lives.
B) fundamentally changed society.
C) was more important than plant domestication in changing people's lives.
D) led to a significant population growth.

Question 52

The emergence of nation-states in the seventeenth century led to numerous wars both within and among nations.

Question 53

The Fall of Constantinople in 1453 prevented Greek scholars from influencing the development of the European Renaissance.

Question 54

Chronologically, the Middle Ages falls approximately 1,000 years after the Renaissance.