4. What do historians mean when they argue that there was a “Military Revolution” in early modern Europe? Are you persuaded by this argument? If so, why? If not, why not?

5. During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, many factors influenced the scope and character European expansion into the non-European world. What were they? Which do you think were the most important, and why?

1. Is it accurate to say that Rachel Speght is an advocate of equality between the sexes? Why or why not, in your view? Be sure to give evidence, wherever possible, from her text. Also, be sure to consider Speght's thoughts on what distinguishes female from male.

2. The question of private property and its relationship to political and social rights lay at the very heart of the Putney Debates (1647). What were the various opinions about this relationship? What was the position of the “Grandees”? How did the views of the “Levellers” differ from those of the “Grandees”?

3. In his account of social life at the court of Versailles, Saint-Simon focuses on the constraints ritual imposed on courtiers. Is it accurate or inaccurate to argue, as Saint-Simon did, that Louis' elaborate court ceremonial effectively “enslaved” members of the French nobility who participated in its rituals?

4. What do republicanism and democracy look like in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's The Social Contract? His concept of "the general will" is especially hostile to the idea of factions (or "partial" associations within society). Why is he so hostile to factions?

5. Do you think a republic organized along the lines of Rousseau's The Social Contract might or could have involved women as active participants? Is it fair to say that Rousseau's idea of the republic is inherently masculine? Why or why not, in your view?

6. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, like several royal absolutist philosophers before him, uses a patriarchal family as a model of society. But the model of society that he builds on that foundation in The Social Contract could hardly differ more. How do the conclusions that Rousseau draws from the patriarchal family differ from those of royal absolutists'?

1. The relationship between Europe and the wider world underwent profound transformations between 1400 and 1800. How would characterize the nature of these changes and their impact on European society, politics, and culture? Make sure you support your argument with evidence drawn from the course readings.

2. From the late Middle Ages to the end of the eighteenth century, Europeans justified the existence and necessity of power and authority in a great variety of ways. What were some of these justifications and how, in your view, did they change over the centuries between 1400 and 1800? Make sure you support your argument with evidence drawn from the course readings.

3. The role of women in European society changed a great deal from the late Middle Ages down to the end of the eighteenth century. In what ways did ideas about gender change over the centuries between 1400 and 1800, and how would you summarize their significance? Make sure you support your argument with evidence drawn from the course readings.