Question 1

In the eighteenth century, a time when European economies were expanding dramatically, why were so many people living on the edge of dire poverty?

Accepted Answer

Answer would ideally include the followi

Question 2

How did some people of this era demonstrate their rejection of the Enlightenment's contention that reason alone ought to govern social systems and individual action?

Accepted Answer

Answer would ideally include the followi

Question 3

Although eighteenth-century food riots were a direct response to the lack of available food, they were also a reaction to

Accepted Answer

A)  the frustrations of the lower classes with their inability to change career paths or gain better access to education. 
B)  the lower classes' lack of access to the political system and their desire for government regulation of the price of grain. 
C)  government-mandated military service for lower-class men for years on end, which left their families without economic resources. 
D)  new agricultural and land-development policies such as the enclosure acts, which kicked peasants off their land and forced many into a homeless, itinerant existence. 
A)  the frustrations of the lower classes with their inability to change career paths or gain better access to education. 
B)  the lower classes' lack of access to the political system and their desire for government regulation of the price of grain. 
C)  government-mandated military service for lower-class men for years on end, which left their families without economic resources. 
D)  new agricultural and land-development policies such as the enclosure acts, which kicked peasants off their land and forced many into a homeless, itinerant existence.

Question 4

What label have historians given to eighteenth-century rulers who aimed to promote Enlightenment reforms without giving up their absolutist powers?

Accepted Answer

A)  Absolutist monarchs 
B)  Enlightened despots 
C)  Benevolent dictators 
D)  Philosopher-kings 
A)  Absolutist monarchs 
B)  Enlightened despots 
C)  Benevolent dictators 
D)  Philosopher-kings

Question 5

The artistic and architectural style known as neoclassicism gained popularity in the eighteenth century thanks to what cultural phenomenon?

Accepted Answer

A)  The reemergence of the toga as a fashionable clothing style 
B)  A new emphasis in universities on the importance of classical education 
C)  A restaging of the works of Homer at theaters in Paris, London, and Amsterdam 
D)  The rise of "grand tours," in which upper-class youths traveled to Greek and Roman ruins 
A)  The reemergence of the toga as a fashionable clothing style 
B)  A new emphasis in universities on the importance of classical education 
C)  A restaging of the works of Homer at theaters in Paris, London, and Amsterdam 
D)  The rise of "grand tours," in which upper-class youths traveled to Greek and Roman ruins

Question 6

Which enlightened absolutist, whose reforms and accomplishments included the abolition of torture and the support of religious toleration, boasted, "I am the first servant of the state"?

Accepted Answer

A)  Frederick the Great of Prussia 
B)  Joseph II of Austria 
C)  Catherine the Great of Russia 
D)  Louis XVI of France 
A)  Frederick the Great of Prussia 
B)  Joseph II of Austria 
C)  Catherine the Great of Russia 
D)  Louis XVI of France

Question 7

Why did the Seven Years' War have such a significant impact on American-British relations?

Accepted Answer

A)  The colonists resented the British government's decision to begin treating the native Americans as full citizens and decided to revolt against the British. 
B)  The Americans had sided with the French during the war, and they resisted resuming their allegiance to Britain in the 1760s. 
C)  The war dramatically expanded the borders of British America, and American colonists became angry when the British encouraged them to leave the East Coast to become settlers in the wilderness of the Ohio River valley. 
D)  The costs incurred by the British during the war raised taxes in the colonies, which the colonists first resisted by protest and then by outright rebellion. 
A)  The colonists resented the British government's decision to begin treating the native Americans as full citizens and decided to revolt against the British. 
B)  The Americans had sided with the French during the war, and they resisted resuming their allegiance to Britain in the 1760s. 
C)  The war dramatically expanded the borders of British America, and American colonists became angry when the British encouraged them to leave the East Coast to become settlers in the wilderness of the Ohio River valley. 
D)  The costs incurred by the British during the war raised taxes in the colonies, which the colonists first resisted by protest and then by outright rebellion.

Question 8

How were the spread of Enlightenment ideals and the emergence of a more prosperous middle class in Europe reflected in music?

Accepted Answer

A)  In the founding of music academies and scholarships, which for the first time enabled the young sons of the middle classes to pursue musical careers 
B)  In the transition from commissioned works to larger professional orchestras playing more popular older music in concert halls 
C)  In the establishment of open-air concerts for paying audiences, which freed musicians from financial concerns and thus from dependency on royal patronage 
D)  In a rejection of the baroque and all older styles of musical composition in favor of continuous innovation and experimentation 
A)  In the founding of music academies and scholarships, which for the first time enabled the young sons of the middle classes to pursue musical careers 
B)  In the transition from commissioned works to larger professional orchestras playing more popular older music in concert halls 
C)  In the establishment of open-air concerts for paying audiences, which freed musicians from financial concerns and thus from dependency on royal patronage 
D)  In a rejection of the baroque and all older styles of musical composition in favor of continuous innovation and experimentation

Question 9

The militarization of Prussian society in the late eighteenth century led to which of the following effects?

Accepted Answer

A)  It kept the peasants enserfed to their lords and blocked the middle classes from access to estates or high government positions. 
B)  It endowed the peasants and the middle classes with greater social mobility, as they could rise through the ranks of the military, something they could not do in normal society. 
C)  Many fewer children were born in these decades, as Prussian men stayed away from home on campaign for years on end. 
D)  It inadvertently led to the growth of local militias and grassroots movements that organized against the authority of Prussian leader Frederick II. 
A)  It kept the peasants enserfed to their lords and blocked the middle classes from access to estates or high government positions. 
B)  It endowed the peasants and the middle classes with greater social mobility, as they could rise through the ranks of the military, something they could not do in normal society. 
C)  Many fewer children were born in these decades, as Prussian men stayed away from home on campaign for years on end. 
D)  It inadvertently led to the growth of local militias and grassroots movements that organized against the authority of Prussian leader Frederick II.

Question 10

Why did the Enlightenment flourish in France?

Accepted Answer

A)  Paris was a geographically convenient point on the continent for European intellectuals to gather. 
B)  French was a common language for aristocrats, artists, scientists, and intellectuals in eighteenth-century Europe, so France became the epicenter of the movement. 
C)  The political atmosphere in France was ripe, as the French monarchy alternated between encouraging ideas for reform and harshly censuring criticisms. 
D)  France was a more secular country than most others in Europe, so French society was more tolerant of Enlightenment ideas. 
A)  Paris was a geographically convenient point on the continent for European intellectuals to gather. 
B)  French was a common language for aristocrats, artists, scientists, and intellectuals in eighteenth-century Europe, so France became the epicenter of the movement. 
C)  The political atmosphere in France was ripe, as the French monarchy alternated between encouraging ideas for reform and harshly censuring criticisms. 
D)  France was a more secular country than most others in Europe, so French society was more tolerant of Enlightenment ideas.

Question 11

What main critique of organized Christianity did Voltaire include in his influential Philosophical Dictionary (1764)?

Accepted Answer

A)  That Christianity had been the prime source of fanaticism and brutality among humans 
B)  That Protestants and Catholics were intolerant toward Jews and Black people 
C)  That leaders of Protestant and Catholic churches had too much influence over European governments 
D)  That priests and pastors had too much influence over women and were inhibiting the spread of Enlightenment ideas 
A)  That Christianity had been the prime source of fanaticism and brutality among humans 
B)  That Protestants and Catholics were intolerant toward Jews and Black people 
C)  That leaders of Protestant and Catholic churches had too much influence over European governments 
D)  That priests and pastors had too much influence over women and were inhibiting the spread of Enlightenment ideas

Question 12

How did local governments respond to the growing numbers of urban poor in the eighteenth century?

Accepted Answer

A)  They attempted to round up beggars and the unemployed and send them to rural areas to work on farms and other agricultural projects. 
B)  They relied almost entirely on religious charities and hospitals to house and feed the growing urban poor. 
C)  They created institutions called beggar houses or workhouses that were part workshop, part hospital, and part prison. 
D)  They locked all beggars, vagrants, and loiterers in prison in the belief that they were criminals and had no place in open society. 
A)  They attempted to round up beggars and the unemployed and send them to rural areas to work on farms and other agricultural projects. 
B)  They relied almost entirely on religious charities and hospitals to house and feed the growing urban poor. 
C)  They created institutions called beggar houses or workhouses that were part workshop, part hospital, and part prison. 
D)  They locked all beggars, vagrants, and loiterers in prison in the belief that they were criminals and had no place in open society.

Question 13

Oxford-educated John Wesley (1703-1791) was the founder of which of the following reform movements?

Accepted Answer

A)  Methodism 
B)  Pietism 
C)  Congregationalism 
D)  Idealism 
A)  Methodism 
B)  Pietism 
C)  Congregationalism 
D)  Idealism

Question 14

What was "enlightened" about the reforms put into place by the so-called enlightened absolutists (or enlightened despots) of the eighteenth century? How did they draw on Enlightenment ideals in their conception of rule and governance? What principles remained "absolutist" under their reign?

Accepted Answer

Answer would ideally include the followi

Question 15

What new artistic movement developed in the eighteenth century in reaction to what some saw as the Enlightenment's excessive reliance on the authority of human reason?

Accepted Answer

A)  Neorealism 
B)  Romanticism 
C)  Rococo 
D)  Impressionism 
A)  Neorealism 
B)  Romanticism 
C)  Rococo 
D)  Impressionism

Question 16

In 1772, the territory of Poland-Lithuania was divided among Prussia, Russia, and which other European nation?

Accepted Answer

A)  France 
B)  Britain 
C)  The Ottoman Empire 
D)  Austria 
A)  France 
B)  Britain 
C)  The Ottoman Empire 
D)  Austria

Question 17

The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), by the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), is considered to be a reaction against the Enlightenment because its hero

Accepted Answer

A)  criticizes Rousseau's ideas about individual rights and democracy. 
B)  marries the Catholic Thérèse instead of the deist Jeanne. 
C)  is driven insane by his obsessive quest for knowledge. 
D)  indulges in intense love, intense melancholy, and suicide. 
A)  criticizes Rousseau's ideas about individual rights and democracy. 
B)  marries the Catholic Thérèse instead of the deist Jeanne. 
C)  is driven insane by his obsessive quest for knowledge. 
D)  indulges in intense love, intense melancholy, and suicide.

Question 18

Monarchs in many Catholic states used the spread of Enlightenment thought to

Accepted Answer

A)  increase their control over the church by suppressing the influential Jesuit order. 
B)  reject religious toleration on the grounds that it would lead to the spread of Protestantism. 
C)  strengthen their own power by rejecting all "atheistic" reform. 
D)  form closer diplomatic alliances with the pope in order to limit the influence of reform. 
A)  increase their control over the church by suppressing the influential Jesuit order. 
B)  reject religious toleration on the grounds that it would lead to the spread of Protestantism. 
C)  strengthen their own power by rejecting all "atheistic" reform. 
D)  form closer diplomatic alliances with the pope in order to limit the influence of reform.

Question 19

In his 1755 book The Natural History of Religion, the Scottish philosopher David Hume made what argument about religion?

Accepted Answer

A)  That there was a god who was caring and concerned with humanity 
B)  That religion was useful for promoting science 
C)  That belief in God was rooted in fear and superstition 
D)  That churches needed to recognize the importance of more emotional forms of worship 
A)  That there was a god who was caring and concerned with humanity 
B)  That religion was useful for promoting science 
C)  That belief in God was rooted in fear and superstition 
D)  That churches needed to recognize the importance of more emotional forms of worship

Question 20

Over the course of the eighteenth century, what was the trend in the number of out-of-wedlock births?

Accepted Answer

A)  They slowly declined as the working classes became better educated. 
B)  They increased slowly, because living conditions for the urban poor kept birthrates low. 
C)  They doubled, as sexual mores began to shift in European society. 
D)  They quadrupled, as more women began to move to cities and out of the control of their families. 
A)  They slowly declined as the working classes became better educated. 
B)  They increased slowly, because living conditions for the urban poor kept birthrates low. 
C)  They doubled, as sexual mores began to shift in European society. 
D)  They quadrupled, as more women began to move to cities and out of the control of their families.

Exam 18: The Promise of Enlightenment, 1750-1789

In the eighteenth century, a time when European economies were expanding dramatically, why were so many people living on the edge of dire poverty?

How did some people of this era demonstrate their rejection of the Enlightenment's contention that reason alone ought to govern social systems and individual action?

Although eighteenth-century food riots were a direct response to the lack of available food, they were also a reaction to

What label have historians given to eighteenth-century rulers who aimed to promote Enlightenment reforms without giving up their absolutist powers?

The artistic and architectural style known as neoclassicism gained popularity in the eighteenth century thanks to what cultural phenomenon?

Which enlightened absolutist, whose reforms and accomplishments included the abolition of torture and the support of religious toleration, boasted, "I am the first servant of the state"?

Why did the Seven Years' War have such a significant impact on American-British relations?

How were the spread of Enlightenment ideals and the emergence of a more prosperous middle class in Europe reflected in music?

The militarization of Prussian society in the late eighteenth century led to which of the following effects?

Why did the Enlightenment flourish in France?

What main critique of organized Christianity did Voltaire include in his influential Philosophical Dictionary (1764)?

How did local governments respond to the growing numbers of urban poor in the eighteenth century?

Oxford-educated John Wesley (1703-1791) was the founder of which of the following reform movements?

What was "enlightened" about the reforms put into place by the so-called enlightened absolutists (or enlightened despots) of the eighteenth century? How did they draw on Enlightenment ideals in their conception of rule and governance? What principles remained "absolutist" under their reign?

What new artistic movement developed in the eighteenth century in reaction to what some saw as the Enlightenment's excessive reliance on the authority of human reason?

In 1772, the territory of Poland-Lithuania was divided among Prussia, Russia, and which other European nation?

The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), by the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), is considered to be a reaction against the Enlightenment because its hero

Monarchs in many Catholic states used the spread of Enlightenment thought to

In his 1755 book The Natural History of Religion, the Scottish philosopher David Hume made what argument about religion?

Over the course of the eighteenth century, what was the trend in the number of out-of-wedlock births?

Early Western Civilization, 400,000-1000 B.C.E

Near East Empires and the Reemergence of Civilization in Greece, 1000-500 B.C.E

The Greek Golden Age, C 500-C 400 B.C.E

From the Classical to the Hellenistic World, 400-30 B.C.E

The Rise of Rome and Its Republic, 753-44 B.C.E

The Creation of the Roman Empire, 44 B.C.E-284 C.E

The Transformation of the Roman Empire, 284-600 C.E

The Heirs of Rome: Islam, Byzantium, and Europe, 600-750

From Centralization to Fragmentation, 750-1050

Commercial Quickening and Religious Reform, 1050-1150

The Flowering of the Middle Ages, 1150-1215

The Medieval Synthesis and Its Cracks, 1215-1340

Crisis and Renaissance, 1340-1492

Global Encounters and the Shock of the Reformation, 1492-1560

Wars of Religion and the Clash of Worldviews, 1560-1648

Absolutism, Constitutionalism, and the Search for Order, 1640-1700

The Atlantic System and Its Consequences, 1700-1750

The Cataclysm of Revolution, 1789-1799

Napoleon and the Revolutionary Legacy, 1800-1830

Industrialization and Social Ferment, 1830-1850

Politics and Culture of the Nation-State, 1850-1870

Empire, Industry, and Everyday Life, 1870-1890

Modernity and the Road to War, 1890-1914

World War I and Its Aftermath, 1914-1929

The Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945

The Cold War and the Remaking of Europe, 1945-1960s

Postindustrial Society and the End of the Cold War Order, 1960s-1989

A New Globalism, 1989 to the Present

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