Matters of Education

Learning Happens Everywhere

Enlightenment, Revolution and Repression

Length of Time:   6-8 Class Periods

Description

This unit will cover the European arena from the beginning of the eighteenth century until the Congress of Vienna in 1815. All of the ideas about God, humanity,science, politics, economics, and philosophy will come to a head in the entity of the French Revolution, but the scope is much wider than the events of the 1790s and affect every area of Western Europe. It marks Europe’s entrance into the Modern period, and serves as the true line of demarcation into the global era from which our own times have been shaped.

In this unit, students will begin their acquaintance with secondary scholarly literature written by historians for historians. The hope is to become familiar with the style and approach, and as odd as it may sound, learn how to read this very specific type of literature. Expectations are not for mastery but for a beginning understanding of the form.

Essential Questions

How were the ideas of the Enlightenment the source of great change and ultimate repression?

Common Core Standards

Content Standards