AP World History With Steve

Page 494 mentions (but does not show pictures of) a number of impressive structures that the Mughals built, such as:

Akbar's Tomb

The Red Fort at Delhi

Here's a general powerpoint of Mughal Art and Architecture that includes Itimad al-Dowleh's tomb:

students.cup.edu/lac0045/Presentation%20Links/Heim--Mughals.ppt

And of course, there's the Taj Mahal.

You can take a panoramic tour.

Here's where the tombs are inside the Taj.

The following quote comes from this source (emphasis added by Steve)

The origins of this Papal doctrine [legalizaing slavery] may be traced to the conflicts between Christians and Moslems in the 15th century. King Alfonso of Portugal had caused his armies to do battle with the "Saracens" in Africa, and extended his operations to Guinea. Pope Nicholas V, in the Bull Romanus Pontifex (January 8, 1455) acknowledged the contributions of Alfonso and his son Prince Henry to the "cause": "...many Guineamen and other negroes, taken by force, and some by barter of unprohibited articles, or by other lawful contract of purchase, have been sent to the kingdoms. A large number of these have been converted to the Catholic faith, and it is hoped, by the help of divine mercy, that if such progress be continued with them, either those peoples will be converted to the faith or at least the souls of many of them will be gained for Christ." Such was the ideology of the birth of the infamous Slave Trade.

Pope Nicholas then directed his attention to the rest of the world, authorizing King Alfonso "to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to slavery."

Immediately upon hearing of Columbus' "discoveries," King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain dispatched the news to Pope Alexander VI (a notable reprobate), who issued a Bull, Inter Caetera (May 3, 1493), greeting their recent victory over the Moslems in the siege of Granada, but also noting the prospects for New World "gold, spices, and very many other precious things of divers kinds and qualities. Wherefore, after earnest consideration of all matters, as becomes Catholic kings and princes, and especially of the rise and spread of the Catholic faith, as was the fashion of your ancestors, kings of renowned memory, you have purposed with the favor of divine clemency to bring under your sway the said countries and islands with their residents and inhabitants, and to bring them to the Catholic faith." Alexander then "gave" the new territories to the Spanish king and queen, with the sole condition that no other Christian monarchs had previously held such a dominion. For anyone who might happen to oppose this authorization, Alexander stated: "Should anyone presume to do so, be it known to him that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul."

The slaughter of Native Americans that then commenced was chronicled by Father Bartholomé de las Casas, in his Destruction of the Indies, and other works. Entire peoples were exterminated; literally millions were slain in conquests of Peru, Mexico and so on. Many who were not butchered by the sword died of appalling epidemics. All of this rapidly grew into the "Black Legend" of Spanish and Portugese atrocities, and was made much of in British propaganda, cheap editions of Las Casas, including gruesome illustrations, were widely distributed.

From a legal standpoint, these Papal documents were important because they fit into a theory of the fight of Discovery. A distinction was made between Discovery and Occupancy, as if these lands had been inhabited by wild animals instead of human beings. That is, a bear or a lion might be said to occupy or live in a territory, but did not and could not have title to it. That indigenous tribes occupied territory could not be denied, but they had no rights, which could be authorized only by papal authority.

In Chapter 19, we learned that the Jesuits were expelled from Spain and Portugal in the late 1750s and 1760s. I wondered "where did they go?"

Here's a partial answer, from Wikipedia.

I grew up not far from Boston College, but at the time, I did not realize its full importance as a Jesuit institution.

In no particular order...

The Columbian Exchange (pp. 430-431) was a very big deal.

Here's what manioc (also known as cassava) looks like (mentioned on p. 431 upper right).

Tenochtitlan is fun to say. It was an impressive place, located in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

Today, Mexico City is built on the site of the old city of Tenochtitlan.

This is a useful map showing Castile and Aragon, circa 1200

Here's a definition of an ecomienda. It says the maximum size would be 300 natives.

Two main themes: 1. Expansion; 2. How much will Russia be like the West and how much will it remain apart from the West?

On p. 409 of your text, the shorthand explanation for Peter III is that "He was retarded..."

This characterization struck me as offensive and overly simplistic . So I did some research:

Peter III, czar of Russia

1728–62, czar of Russia (1762), son of Charles Frederick, dispossessed duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his aunt, Czarina Elizabeth. One of his first acts was to take Russia out of the Seven Years War and to conclude an alliance with Frederick II of Prussia, whom he passionately admired. He thus saved Prussia from almost certain defeat and sacrificed all the advantages Russian arms had gained in the conflict. In 1744, Peter had married Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who was to become Czarina Catherine II. Although he was dissolute and, it is alleged, mentally unbalanced, Peter’s domestic policy was in some respects liberal. He abolished the secret police and granted greater religious freedom, and he virtually ended the nobles’ obligation to give service to the state. He aroused hostility, however, by his contempt for the Orthodox Church and by his concern with gaining Holstein. In the summer of 1762 a conspiracy against Peter, headed by Catherine’s lover Grigori Orlov and his brother Aleksey, was set in motion. Catherine was proclaimed sole ruler, and the imperial guards, led by Catherine in person (who had donned the guards’ uniform), set out for Peterhof, where they forced Peter to sign his abdication. A few days later he was assassinated by his guards, probably led by Aleksey Orlov. Catherine’s role in this is uncertain. Peter’s claim to ducal Holstein passed to his son Paul (later Czar Paul I), in whose name Catherine ceded it to Denmark in exchange for Oldenburg in 1773.

source: http://www.bartleby.com/65/pe/Peter3-Rus.html

I started thinking about how Catherine could carry out this coup and how it would be packaged to the Russian people. These pictures from the Hermitage might help explain some of her P.R. strategy.

On p. 410, our book discusses how Russian explorers made it down the Pacific coast of what is now the U.S. That line made me think of this Restaurant and B&B in California where my wife and I stayed in California a few years ago. It's called St. Orres and with its onion-shaped domes, it looks quite a bit like St. Basil's Cathedral, located near the Kremlin and Moscow's Red Square.

* * *

This is less directly related to Russia (though Russia was a participant), but here's a brief description of the Seven Years War, which came up in one of our classes last week.

Here's a great collection of pictures to look at.

And here's a fine intro essay about Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael, arguably "the premier artists of the Italian High Renaissance".

Here's a site to look at to discuss the question about why Enlightement thinkers were less opposed than thinkers during the Scientific Revolution.

And here's another good site (though it over-uses CAPITAL LETTERS) from a professor at William Patterson Univeristy in New Jersey.

On p. 23 of this document, there are 26 sample Multiple Choice Questions.

We looked at these in class on Tuesday.

Here are links to the released free-response questions from 2002-06, along with the scoring guidelines for 2004-06.