Unit Theme/Focus

European Intellectual History in the 19^th Century

Grade Level

10^th

Duration

This will be the final unit of the semester.

Description

This unit covers the intellectual ferment in Europe from the fall of Napoleon until the unification of Germany.

Essential Learnings

1. Socialism and the labor movement.
2. Anarchism.
3. Utopians.
4. Communism: in Sparta and Plato.
5. Communism: The Manifesto of 1848.
6. Marx.
7. The Economists: Ricardo and Malthus.
8. Darwin.
9. Evolution since Darwin.

Course Outline

1. Labor conditions under early capitalism.
2. Socialism as a cure for these conditions.
3. The beginning of unionism.
4. The reasons for anarchist theory.
5. Anarchists in action.
6. Utopia: No Where.
7. Early utopias: The Republic; Sparta; Thomas More.
8. The failure of Robert Owen.
9. Ricardo’s Iron Law of Wages and Surplus Theory of Value.
10. Marx and Engles.
11. Development of The Manifesto.
12. Communism as religion.
13. Evolution v. Creation.
14. Science and Evolution.
15. Arguments against evolution.
16. Development of Social Darwinism.

Primary Goals

1. All students must master the elements of historical essay writing.

2. All students must be familiar with the analysis of historical data.

3. All students must be able to critically analyze the intellectual developments of this period. 

Technology Integration

1. All quizzes and exams must have an Internet component; that is, all  essays must show evidence of research done outside of the class and the text.

Materials

1. The Pageant of World History.
2. The Communist Manifesto.
3. The Origin of Species.

Teacher Reflections

1. Weekly in-class essay quizzes and exams have proved to be invaluable to improve students’ writing and understanding of the subject. 

2. Having all students show evidence of Internet research improves markedly the quality of information written on in-class essays.