History questions | History homework help

1.     Why was Great Britain the first state to have an Industrial Revolution? Why did it happen in Britain when it did? What were the basic features of the new industrial system created by the Industrial Revolution?

2.     How did the Industrial Revolution spread from Britain to the continent and the United States, and how did industrialization in these areas differ from Great Britain’s industrialization?

3.     In what ways does Twain’s Life on the Mississippi illustrate the impact of the transportation revolution on the daily life in the United States?

4.     What effects did the Industrial Revolution have on urban life, social classes, family life and standards of living? What were working conditions like in the opening decades of the Industrial Revolution, and what efforts were made to address these conditions and improve them?

5.     What are the major similarities and differences between the attitudes toward business of Samuel Smiles and Shibuzawa Elichi? How do you explain the differences, and what are their implications?

6.     What kind of working conditions did children face in the textile mills during the early Industrial Revolution? Why were they beaten? What kind of working conditions did children face in the mines during the early Industrial Revolution? Why did entrepreneurs permit such conditions and such treatment of children?

1.     What were the goals of the Congress of Vienna and the Concert of Europe? How successful were the characters gathered at Vienna in achieving those goals?

2.     Based on Metternich’s discussion in his Memoirs, how would you define conservatism? What experiences conditioned Metternich’s ideas? Based on the selection provided, what policies do you think Metternich would have wanted his government to pursue?

3.     Based on Mill’s discussion in On Liberty, how would you define liberalism? How do Mill’s ideas fit into the concept of democracy? Which is more important in his thought, the individual or the society?

4.     What regions saw a great deal of revolutionary activity in 1848-1849 and which regions did not? What are the reasons behind this distribution?

5.     Based on the principles outlined in Mazzini’s Young Italy Oath, define nationalism. Why have some called nationalism a “secular religion?”

6.     What were the characteristics of Romanticism, and how were they reflected in literature, art, and music?

1.     Why did Louis Napoleon’s argument to the French people have such a strong popular appeal? What are the similarities in the practice of Realpolitik by Louis Napoleon and Otto von Bismarck? What are the noticeable differences in their two approaches? What can you learn about Realpolitik from the two selections?

2.     Why did Garibaldi become such a national hero to the Italian people? How does Garibaldi’s comportment as a political and military leader prefigure the conduct of later revolutionary leaders and military activists?

3.     What changes did Tsar Alexander II’s emancipation of the serfs initiate in Russia? What effect did Lincoln’s “Emancipation Proclamation” have on the Southern “armed rebellion?” What reason did each leader give for his action?

4.     How did Marx and Engels define the proletariat? The bourgeoisie? Why did Marxists come to believe that this distinction was paramount for the understanding of history? What stepds did Marx and Engels believe would lead to a classless society?

5.     How did Realism differ from Romanticism, and how did Realism reflect the economic and social realities of Europe during the middle decades of the nineteenth century?