Evaluate the extent to which revolutionary ideologies, rather than material grievances, drove political change in the period circa 1750 to 1900.
Excerpts from historical sources. Cuts are marked with ellipses, and words in brackets were added for clarity.
Document 1
Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Second Continental Congress, Philadelphia, 1776.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed . . . .
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. . . . He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. . . . He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: . . . For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent . . . .
Document 2
Arthur Young, English writer on agriculture, account of a conversation with a peasant woman in eastern France on July 12, 1789, from his Travels in France, published in 1792.
Walking up a long hill, to ease my mare, I was joined by a poor woman, who complained of the times, and that it was a sad country; demanding her reasons, she said her husband had but a morsel of land, one cow, and a poor little horse, yet they had a franchar (42 lb.) of wheat, and three chickens, to pay as a quit-rent to one Seigneur; and four franchar of oats . . . to pay to another, besides very heavy tailles [royal taxes on commoners] and other taxes. She had seven children, and the cow's milk helped to make the soup. . . . It was said, at present, that something was to be done by some great folks for such poor ones, but she did not know who nor how, but God send us better, car les tailles & les droits nous écrasent [for the taxes and the dues are crushing us]. . . . To what are we to attribute this difference in the manners of the lower people in the two kingdoms? To Government.
Document 3
Cahier (list of grievances and demands) of the Third Estate of the district of Carcassonne, southern France, drawn up for the Estates-General, 1789.
The third estate of the electoral district of Carcassonne . . . declares that the happiness of the nation must, in their opinion, depend upon that of its king, upon the stability of the monarchy . . . .
8. Among these rights the following should be especially noted: the nation should hereafter be subject only to such laws and taxes as it shall itself freely ratify. . . .
10. In order to assure to the third estate the influence to which it is entitled in view of the number of its members, the amount of its contributions to the public treasury . . . its votes in the assembly should be taken and counted by head.
11. No order, corporation, or individual citizen may lay claim to any pecuniary exemptions. . . . All taxes should be assessed on the same system throughout the nation.
12. The due exacted from commoners holding fiefs should be abolished, and also the general or particular regulations which exclude members of the third estate from certain positions, offices, and ranks which have hitherto been bestowed on nobles . . . .
Document 4
Toussaint Louverture, formerly enslaved commander in chief of the French republican army in Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti), letter to the Directory, the executive government of France, 1798.
The laborers, who began to taste the sweets of repose in the midst of security, were surprised at the impure sounds which struck their ear and wounded their heart. . . . even at the table of the General Agent [the French government's representative] they were denounced as unworthy the liberty they enjoy, and which they have derived from the equity of France. . . .
The discontent of the laborers had increased by the compulsion of an engagement for three years. That seemed to them a step back to slavery. . . . on the departure of the English, it was declared that all the black forces ought to be disbanded in order to be sent back to agriculture, and that European soldiers only should be employed in the defence of the coasts. Then distrust entered the soldiers' hearts, and while previously a part of them had taken the hoe without a murmur, they showed aversion toward a measure which they regarded as an attack on liberty.
Document 5
Simón Bolívar, leader of the wars of independence against Spain in northern South America, address to the Congress of Venezuela at Angostura, 1819.
Atrocious, godless slavery covered with its sable mantle the land of Venezuela and our skies were overcast with storm clouds threatening a deluge of fire. . . . Slavery broke its chains and Venezuela has found herself surrounded by her new children, grateful children who have turned their instruments of captivity into arms of liberty. Yea, those who were slaves are now free; those who were the enemies of their foster mother are now the defenders of a country. To emphasize the justice, the necessity, the beneficent results of this measure, is superfluous, when you know the history of the Helots, Spartacus and Haiti; when you know that one can not be free and enslaved at the same time, unless in violation of the laws of nature and the civil and political laws. I leave to your sovereign decision the reform or abrogation of all my statutes and decrees; but I implore of you the confirmation of the absolute freedom of the slaves, as I would beg for my life and the life of the Republic.
Document 6
Proclamation issued in the name of a grandson of the Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II during the Indian Rebellion, northern India, 1857.
It is well known to all, that in this age the people of Hindostan, both Hindoos and Mohammedans, are being ruined under the tyranny and oppression of the infidel and treacherous English. . . .
Regarding Public Servants.—It is not a secret thing, that under the British government, natives employed in the civil and military services, have little respect, low pay, and no manner of influence; and all the posts of dignity and emolument in both the departments, are exclusively bestowed on Englishmen . . . .
Regarding Artisans.—It is evident that the Europeans, by the introduction of English articles into India, have thrown the weavers, the cotton-dressers, the carpenters, the blacksmiths, and the shoemakers, &c., out of employ, and have engrossed their occupations, so that every description of native artisan has been reduced to beggary. . . .
. . . as at present a war is raging against the English on account of religion, the pundits and fakirs are bound to present themselves to me, and take their share in the holy war . . . .
Document 7
Visual source
Utagawa Kunisada III, Japanese artist, color woodblock print titled Illustration of the Ceremony for the Promulgation of the Constitution of Great Japan, 1889.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, via Wikimedia Commons, public domainDescribe the image
A three-panel color print of a ceremony in an ornate hall. On a raised platform at the right sits the emperor in a European-style military uniform with epaulettes, a sash and a plumed hat. In the center, women of the court in European-style gowns, one in a large pink dress with a bustle, sit beside officials in gold-embroidered Western court uniforms. At the left, a mustached official in uniform holds open a long document before rows of seated officials, all in Western dress uniforms. Gold fan-shaped canopies, peonies and chrysanthemums decorate the hall, and the title is written in a red cartouche at the upper right.
How it's scored
1 ptThesis or claim. A historically defensible thesis that establishes a line of reasoning, in one or more consecutive sentences in the intro or conclusion.
1 ptContextualization. Describe a broader historical context relevant to the prompt: events, developments, or processes before, during, or after the prompt's time frame.
2 ptsEvidence from the documents. One point for accurately describing the content of three documents. Two points for using the content of at least four documents to support the argument.
1 ptEvidence beyond the documents. Use one specific, relevant piece of historical evidence that appears in none of the documents, and explain how it supports the argument.
1 ptAnalysis and reasoning: sourcing. For at least two documents, explain how or why the point of view, purpose, historical situation, or intended audience is relevant to the argument.
1 ptAnalysis and reasoning: complexity. Demonstrate a complex understanding: explain nuance, consider multiple variables, analyze both similarity and difference, or qualify the argument with evidence that cuts against it.
