Directions: Look through the following DBQ question and documents. Using the form linked on teams organize an answer to the question. Time yourself as you organize the documents. You should be able to read and organize the documents in under 10 minutes. For this question you must pick an argument and clearly state it in your thesis statement.
Historical Context: During the 1500s and 1600s, Western Europe experienced a period of governments ruled by absolute monarchs. Absolutism is a monarchial form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government; their powers are not limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch wields unrestricted political power over the sovereign state and its people. Absolute monarchies are often hereditary but other means of transmission of power are attested. Absolute monarchy differs from limited monarchy, in which the monarch’s authority is legally bound or restricted by a constitution; consequently, an absolute monarch is an autocrat. In theory, the absolute monarch exercises total power over the land and its subject people, yet in practice the monarchy is counterbalanced by political groups from among the social classes.
Question: Was absolutism a period of prosperity or tyranny in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries?
Document 1: The Prince,
Niccolo Machiavelli, 1513 |
...For all men in general this observation may be made: they are ungrateful, fickle, and deceitful, eager to avoid dangers, and avid for gain, and while you are useful to them they are all with you, but when it [danger] approaches they turn on you. Any prince, trusting only in their works and having no other preparations made, will fall to ruin, for friendships that are bought at a price and not by greatness and nobility of soul are paid for indeed, but they are not owned and cannot be called upon in time of need. Men have less hesitation in offending a man who is loved than one who is feared, for love is held by a bond of obligation which, as men are wicked, is broken whenever personal advantage suggests it, but fear is accompanied by the dread of punishment, which never relaxes.
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Document 2: King James I of England, 1609
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The state of monarchy is the supreme thing upon earth; for kings are not only God’s lieutenants on earth, and sit upon God’s throne, but even by God Himself they are called gods… Kings are justly called gods, for that they exercise a… divine power upon earth… God hath power to create and destroy, make or unmake at His pleasure, to give life or sent death, to judge all and to be judged nor accountable to none, to raise low things and to make high things low at His pleasure… And the like power have kings…
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Document 3: King Louis XIV of France, 1660
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The head alone has the right to deliberate and decide, and the functions of all the other members consist only in carrying out the commands given to them… The more you grant… [to the assembled people], the more it claims.. The interest of the state must come first.
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Document 4: Bishop Jacques Bossuet, Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture, 1709
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…Kings should tremble then as they use the power God has granted them; and let them think how horrible is the sacrilege if they use for evil a power which comes from God. We behold kings seated upon the throne of the Lord, bearing in their hand the sword which God himself has given them. What profanation, what arrogance, for the unjust king to sit on God's throne to render decrees contrary to his laws and to use the sword which God has put in his hand for deeds of violence and to slay his children! . .
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Document 5: General Alexander Gordon, History of Peter the Great, 1718
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This great emperor came in a few years to know to a farthing the amount of all his revenues, as also how they were laid out. He was at little or no expense about his person, and by living rather like a private gentleman than a prince he saved wholly that great expense which other monarchs are at in supporting the grandeur of their courts. …He had no letters; he could only read and write, but had a great regard for learning and was at much pains to introduce it into the country. He rose early; the morning he gave to business till ten or eleven o'clock at the farthest; all the rest of the day, and a great part of the night, to diversion and pleasure
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DBQ Sample
In Europe during the Middle Ages political power was concentrated in small feudal kingdoms. The leaders of these small holdings strove to increase their control over a larger areas and hold greater influence over the population. In order to build such states kings had to convey a sense of grandeur and power. The eventual outcome of such projects was the establishment of what historians termed absolutism. During the 1500 and 1600’s monarchs throughout Europe attempted to create states ruled by their supreme dictates. In order to do so these kings had to increase the amount of taxes collect so they could then field large professional armies. The increase in taxes could only be funded by growing prosperity. While this time period was a point of relative prosperity in actuality monarchs acted in a tyrannical fashion as seen in the reigns of James I of England, Louis XIV of France and Peter the Great of Russia.
Elizabeth I was a beloved monarch in England, so much so that the nations’ identity was connected closely with her. When she died without an heir the crown passed to her closest relative, her nephew James IV of Scotland. Upon his ascension to the thrown of England James attempted to rule with absolute authority. To justify this absolutism James turned to religion and a claim that his power was given to him by God, this became known as rule through Divine Right. In document 2 James writes that kings exercise a divine power given to them by God. This would seem to justify any tyrannical decision that James would make. In support of this idea James could have read the political theories of Machiavelli. In Document 1 Machiavelli describes how monarchs would be wise to rule through fear rather than love. Both of these ideas would support a monarch who wished to rule through nothing more than personal power. The ideas of Machiavelli have been questioned throughout history because they seem to ignore serious moral and ethical questions. Although James attempted to rule in an absolute fashion his successor would find that the English Parliament would not allow for such a tyrannical government. James’ son Charles I also tried to establish Divine Right, however, he would be taken from power after the English Civil War. While absolutism never took root in England, the king of France Louis XIV was able to establish a form of absolutism.
Louis XIV – Doc 3
Responsibility of power rests on the state
Bishop Bossuet – Doc 4
Kings must be responsible to God with their power
Tyranny ends with French Revolution
Peter the Great
General Gordon – Doc 5
The balance of power and responsibility in Russia
Revolts and rebellions in Russia
How did absolutism create prosperity?
Elizabeth I was a beloved monarch in England, so much so that the nations’ identity was connected closely with her. When she died without an heir the crown passed to her closest relative, her nephew James IV of Scotland. Upon his ascension to the thrown of England James attempted to rule with absolute authority. To justify this absolutism James turned to religion and a claim that his power was given to him by God, this became known as rule through Divine Right. In document 2 James writes that kings exercise a divine power given to them by God. This would seem to justify any tyrannical decision that James would make. In support of this idea James could have read the political theories of Machiavelli. In Document 1 Machiavelli describes how monarchs would be wise to rule through fear rather than love. Both of these ideas would support a monarch who wished to rule through nothing more than personal power. The ideas of Machiavelli have been questioned throughout history because they seem to ignore serious moral and ethical questions. Although James attempted to rule in an absolute fashion his successor would find that the English Parliament would not allow for such a tyrannical government. James’ son Charles I also tried to establish Divine Right, however, he would be taken from power after the English Civil War. While absolutism never took root in England, the king of France Louis XIV was able to establish a form of absolutism.
Louis XIV – Doc 3
Responsibility of power rests on the state
Bishop Bossuet – Doc 4
Kings must be responsible to God with their power
Tyranny ends with French Revolution
Peter the Great
General Gordon – Doc 5
The balance of power and responsibility in Russia
Revolts and rebellions in Russia
How did absolutism create prosperity?