Western Civilization- Course Overview

TEXTBOOKS: (Title, Author, Publisher, Edition)

World History: Patterns of Interaction (CD-ROM) McDougal Littell

GOALS: Students will

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the classical and medieval heritage of Western culture
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the major events in the history of Western Civilization from the revival of the West in the later Middle Ages through the crises of the twentieth century world wars
3. Trace four key themes in the development of Western Civilization and understand their impact on the present and their implications for the future:

• Development of representative government, democratic citizenship, and individual rights
• Development of nation-states and nationalism
• Material development of Western Civilization: its economic development and its scientific and technological leadership
• Global impact of Western Civilization

4. Read critically, interpret and apply evidence from primary sources and secondary materials, communicate an understanding of history through oral, written, and technological means.

CONTENT OF COURSE:

FIRST SEMESTER, QUARTER ONE

Unit 1:  Classical and Early Medieval Legacy of the West

1. Athens and the ideal of democracy
2. Roman Republic and Roman law
3. Roman Empire and its fall
4. Early Middle Ages: feudalism and manorialism

Unit 1 Proficiencies: Students will be able to

1. Identify characteristics of democracy; contrast direct and representative democracies, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Athenian democracy.
2. Contrast the republican structure of the Roman government with Athenian direct democracy.
3. Identify and explain aspects of Roman law that influenced modern legal principles.
4. Evaluate the multiple causes of the fall of the Roman Empire in the West.
5. Explain how a feudal society developed to solve political, social, and economic challenges that faced Europeans in the Early Middle Ages.

Unit 2: Rise of the West in the High Middle Ages

1. The economic revival of Europe
2. Islam
3. The Crusades
4. Revival of monarchy
5. Common Law, Magna Carta and Model Parliament

Unit 2 Proficiencies: Students will be able to

1. Discuss the factors that led to a revival of trade, town life, and culture in the high Middle Ages.
2. Explain the importance of cities to the revival of Europe.
3. Understand and explain the relationship that develops between towns and kings in the High Middle Ages.
4. Describe the rise of Islam, understand its basic beliefs, trace its spread, and explain its clash with Western Christendom.
5. Explain the background causes of the Crusades and assess the role of the Crusades in the revival of Europe.
6. Explain the factors that contributed to the revival of royal power and the rise of strong nation states during the later Middle Ages.
7. Evaluate the impact of actions taken by William the Conqueror and Henry II to strengthen royal power in England.
8. Explain the importance of Magna Carta and the Model Parliament in limiting royal power and establishing constitutional government.
9. Trace the impact of ideas in the Magna Carta on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Unit 3:  Age of Exploration                                                             

1.      Background causes and motivations

2.      Role of technology

3.      The English colonies in North America

4.      The slave trade

5.      The Columbian exchange

6.      Commercial revolution

Unit 3 Proficiencies: Students will be able to

1.  Identify and describe economic, religious, and political factors that led to the Age of Exploration.
2. Evaluate the role of technological innovations in exploration.
3. Identify routes explored by the Atlantic Powers and the colonial empires they established around the world.
4. Describe the founding of the first English colonies in North America and identify cultural and economic differences that created regional differences in the British colonies of North America.
5. Evaluate the extent of economic development and political independence that developed in the colonies in the years before the French and Indian Wars.
6. Explain the factors that led to the origins of the Atlantic slave trade and assess its impact on individuals and societies.
7. Assess the impact of disease on conquest and colonization.
8. Explain the concept of the Columbian exchange; give examples, and evaluate its impact on Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
9. Explain the concept of the commercial revolution and describe the system of global trade that placed Europe at the center of things.
10. Discuss the importance of trade and empire as a measure of national power and describe how the policy of mercantilism relates to national goals.

QUARTER TWO

Unit 4:  European Renaissance

1. Beginnings of the Renaissance in Italy
2. Renaissance humanism
3. Renaissance man
4. Renaissance art and artists of the High Renaissance
5. Renaissance Writers
6. Northern Renaissance
7. Technology and Trade and the Renaissance

Unit 4 Proficiencies: Students will be able to

1. Define the term "Renaissance" and describe factors that explain its origins in Italy.
2. Define the concept of "humanism" and explain how the values of the Renaissance gave renewed importance to the individual.
3. Explain the concept of a “Renaissance man” and illustrate the idea using the career of Leonardo da Vinci.
4. Identify characteristics of Renaissance art, comparing and contrasting Renaissance art with the art of the Middle Ages and classical Greece.
5. Illustrate the characteristics of Renaissance art using specific artists and works of art from the High Renaissance.
6. Identify major Renaissance writers and their important works; explain how they reflect the values of the Renaissance and focus on issues of importance to Renaissance thinkers.
7. Describe the focus of the Northern Renaissance; explain and illustrate the concept of “Christian humanism.”
8. Evaluate the impact of technology and trade on the development and spread of the Renaissance in Western Europe.

Unit 5:  Protestant Reformation

1. Background causes of the Reformation
2. Martin Luther
3. The Reformation in England
4. John Calvin
5. The Catholic Counter-Reformation
6. Legacy of the Reformation

Unit 5 Proficiencies: Students will be able to

1. Describe the background causes of the Protestant Reformation, evaluating  impact of  the following factors: 

• Problems within the Catholic Church,
• Political issues that contributed to the split,
• Social and technological factors that played a role in the Reformation,
• Role of individual reformers, especially Martin Luther.

2. Identify the issue that triggered the Reformation in 1517 and explain other areas of difference between Luther and the Catholic Church.
3. Describe the political consequences of the Protestant Revolt for the Holy Roman Empire.
4. Show on a map the geographic division of Christianity that resulted from the Protestant Reformation.
5. Explain the political problems that led Henry VIII to seek a divorce.
6. Describe the political turmoil under Henry VIII’s children.
7. Evaluate the “compromise” Church that emerged under Elizabeth I.
8. Explain the issues, both religious and political, led to tensions with Spain and the consequences of this conflict.
9. Evaluate the social and political impact of Calvinist ideas.

Unit 6: The English Revolution

1.      Background causes of the English Revolution

2.      James I and Parliament

3.      Charles I and the Civil War

4.      Cromwell and the Commonwealth

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