Gender and the Renaissance

Gender and the Renaissance (CCSS.10. RH.2; CCSS.10.RH.6)

The number of women who devoted themselves to scholarship was by no means as large as the number of men… but in the 15th century and early 16th century many Italian women displayed the highest technical competence… Some of them could hold their own in matters of scholarship with the best of their male contemporaries and were accepted and even acclaimed everywhere… Women took an active part in the great educational movement… and won the highest honors…in every department of science, art, and learning. In nearly every great intellectual center of Italy women were lecturing on literature and philosophy… They were studying medicine and natural science… It was not only as scholars, tutors, lecturers… that Italian women led and cooperated in … humanist learning. The education of the woman of rank, just as well as that of the man, sought the development of a well-rounded personality in every respect. The same development of mind and heart that perfected the man was necessary for perfecting woman. Adapted from Beard, Mary. Women as Force in History: A Study in Traditions and Realities. (Collier Books, 1946).

…New division between personal and public life made itself felt as the state came to organize Renaissance society, and with that division the modern relation of the sexes made its appearance, even among the Renaissance nobility. Noblewomen, too, were increasingly removed from public concerns—economic, political and cultural—and although they did not disappear into a private realm of family and domestic concerns… their loss of public power made itself felt. Renaissance ideas on love and manners… expressed this new subordination of women to the interests of husbands and male dominated kin groups and served to justify the removal of women from an “unladylike” position. All of the advances of Renaissance Italy… worked to mold the noblewoman into an aesthetic object: dependent on her husband. Adapted from Kelly-Gadol, J. “Did Women Have a Renaissance?” in Becoming Visible: Women in European History. (Houghton Mifflin, 1987).

After reading the excerpts above, discuss the following question with a partner. “Did women have a Renaissance?”

Contrasting Viewpoint Details for Emphasis Central Idea How do the sources What evidence do the What is each author’s examine the same topic authors use to emphasize central idea? Differently? their point of view?

EXCERPT 1

EXCERPT 2

After researching this topic further, write a paragraph that examines to what extent women experienced the European Renaissance. Be sure to use evidence from these sources, as well as information from your textbook.

The Columbian Exchange (CCSS.10. RH.7)

AMERICAN FOODSTUFFS AND PLANTS EXPORTED TO THE WORLD

Corn Papaya Pumpkin Medicinal Herbs Beans Guava Tobacco Vanilla Peanuts Avocado Coca Blueberry Potatoes Pineapple Dyes Tapioca Sweet Tomato Cocoa Chile Pepper Potatoes Squash

©Paul Philp

VARIETIES OF OLD AND NEW WORLD STAPLE CROPS COMPARED (In millions of calories produced per hectare)

Chief American Crops Exchanged Chief Old World Crops Exchanged Maize (Corn) 7.3 Rice 7.3 Potatoes 7.5 Wheat 4.2 Sweet Potatoes and yams 7.1 Barley 5.1 Manioc 9.9 Oats 5.5 Note: After 1500, American plants were transplanted and grown the world over ©Paul Philp

DIRECTIONS: Examine the sources above and discuss the following with a partner: A) What topic does each visual represent? B) What is happening in the visuals? C) How do the visuals link together? The Columbian Exchange (CCSS.10. RH.2) Source: Nathan Nunn and Nancy Qian, “The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives , Vol. 24, No. 2 (Spring 2010), pp. 163-188 DIRECTIONS: (1) Using your excerpt, determine the main idea of the text and use evidence to substantiate that claim as supporting details. (2) Once you have determined the main idea and supporting evidence, write a paragraph that assesses the authors’ ability to support their claim. Be sure to note evidence from the visual sources in your position.

Zheng He and the Ming Treasure Expeditions (CCSS.10. RH.3) The illustration to the right shows a Chinese Treasure ship or junk compared to a European caravel. Junks were used extensively for long distance travel and trade by the Ming dynasty in the 15th century. These ships were capable of carrying 2,500 tons of supplies and 28,000 men, and were able to carry four hundred times more cargo than their largest European counterparts. Admiral Zheng He is most well known for leading the Chinese trade expeditions during this time. Zheng He was a Chinese Muslim who had previously served the emperor as a eunuch. He was chosen to explore the A Chinese Treasure ship is shown towering over a European Caravel. During the 1400s Chinese naval oceans, establish tribute payments and technology far surpassed European capabilities. demonstrate to the world the power and wealth of the Chinese empire. In addition to the 28,000 soldiers, military officers and political officials on board the ships, vast amounts of wealth also were stored on board. Instead of plundering or conquering the areas to which they travelled, the Chinese carried symbolic gifts which were presented to the leaders of the diverse areas. After only 30 years of expeditions, the Ming government suspended all further voyages and the official records of Zheng He’s expeditions were destroyed. In her book Day of Empire, historian Amy Chua highlighted the influence of Confucianism on the demise of the long-distance trade routes. “The Confucian mandarins who locked away the treasure ships asserted that the expeditions were too expensive… the Confucian bureaucrats were also conservative, hostile to commerce, and resistant to social change, including overseas expansion.” According to The World That Trade Created, historians Kenneth Pomeranz and Steven Topik noted that, “the government’s policy shift began when a new faction gained influence in China’s Ming court. Its members advocated a greater focus on domestic and continental matters, emphasizing agricultural production, internal stability, a military buildup… and refurbishment of the Great Wall, designed to repel invaders.” The historians also pointed to a more economic factor that shifted Chinese policy: “Timber for big boats was expensive… large populations meant heavy use of firewood and building wood. China wasn’t alone in the wood shortage.” Essentially, China could no longer use its limited timber resources to build and maintain the massive ships, focusing instead on building smaller, faster ships which accomplished regional trade, but forced them out of the long-distance trade they had once enjoyed. By the mid-1420s, China was no longer the leader in long-distance expeditions. The Europeans quickly assumed control of that role and never looked back. By the end of the century, the European caravels which had once been over-shadowed by the impressive Chinese junks, were sailing over the Atlantic to conquer millions of Native Americas, enslave Africans and prosper from the fruit of China’s seclusion.

MULTIPLE CAUSES FOR AN EFFECT DIRECTIONS: Analyze your reading. Identify two major events and highlight two CAUSES for that end event or effect. In the third box below each event, write a sentence summing up how your two causes led to the effect

Write a paragraph that determines if the earlier events in this reading caused later ones or simply preceded them. Be sure to use the ideas highlighted the chart above, as well as evidence from the reading.

The Americas after Europeans (CCSS.10. RH.7) Governor Pizarro now sent Friar Vicente de Valverde to go speak to Atahuallpa (the Inca emperor) and to require him in the name of God and of the King of Spain that Atahuallpa subject himself to the law of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the service of His Majesty the King of Spain. Advancing with a cross in one hand and the Bible in the other hand, and going among the Indian troops up to the place where Atahuallpa was, the Friar this addressed him: “I am a Priest of God, and I teach Christians the things of God, and in like manner I come to teach you. What I teach is that which God says to us in this Book. Therefore, on the part of God and of the Christians, I beseech you to be their friend, for such is God’s will, and it will be for your good.” Atahuallpa asked for the Book, that he might look at it, and the Friar gave it to him closed. Atahuallpa did not know how to open the Book, and the Friar was extending his arm to do so, when Atahuallpa, in great anger, gave him a blow on the arm, not wishing that it should be opened. Then he opened it himself, and without any astonishment at the letters and paper, he threw it away from him five or six paces, his face a deep crimson. The Friar returned to Pizarro, shouting, “Come out! Come out Christians! Come at these enemy dogs who reject the things of God. That tyrant has thrown my book of holy law to the ground. Did you not see what happened? Why remain polite and servile toward this over-proud dog when the plains are full of Indians? March out against him, for I absolve you.” The governor then gave the signal to Candia, who began to fire off the guns… Diamond, J. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. (Norton Publishing, 1999); Pgs. 71-72.

These illustrations are taken from the Aztec Codex, a collection of pictograms and paintings which was the traditional Aztec manner of writing history.

TEXTUAL RELATIONSHIPS What can you see in the first What can you see in the visual? second visual?

1. 1. 2. 2.

What relationship(s) exists between the text source and the visual sources?

COMBINING THE SOURCES Write a brief paragraph explaining the relationship between the information indicated in the text source with that of the visual source? Do the sources concur, or do they differ in their interpretations?

The Transatlantic Slave Trade and Indentured Servitude (CCSS.10.RH.7; CCSS.10.RH.9) The Economics of the African Slave Trade By: Anika Francis The African slave trade played an important role in the stabilization of Europe's economy, its transition to capitalism, the development of the nation state, and the establishment of their imperial empires. The opening of the Atlantic led to the development of Europe's commercial empire and industrial revolution. The continuing demand for African slaves' labor arose from the development of plantation agriculture, the long-term rise in prices and consumption of sugar, and the demand for miners. Not only did Africans represent skilled laborers, but they were also experts in tropical agriculture. Consequently, they were well-suited for plantation agriculture. The high immunity of Africans to malaria and yellow fever compared with Europeans and the indigenous peoples made them more suitable for tropical labor. While white and red labor was used initially, Africans were the final solution to the acute labor problem in the New World. The economic systems which dominated the African slave trade reflected the transitions in Europe's economic systems. The slave trade was one of the most important business enterprises of the 17th century. The nation states of Europe stabilized themselves and developed their economy mainly at the expense of African people. During the latter half of the century; Colbert, a Frenchman, stated that, "no commerce in the world produces as many advantages as that of the slave trade"(Williams, From Columbus to Castro, 144). The wealth of the New World in the form of sugar, tobacco, metals, gold, cotton, etc. was extracted by African labor and then exported from the colonies through the capitalistic enterprise of Western Europe. Western Europe drew profits from the trade in slaves, commodities produced, service of shipping, the development of new industries based on processing raw materials, financing, and insurance. According to Eric Williams, no other commerce required so large a capital as the slave trade which kept the wheels of metropolitan industry turning. Cities such as Liverpool, Amsterdam, and Bristol were built upon slave labor. The capital and raw materials derived from the African slave trade contributed significantly to the Commercial and Industrial revolution. According to James Rawley, the "black slavery was essential to the carrying on of commerce, which in turn was fundamental to the making of the modern world"(Trans- Atlantic Slave Trade, 4). In other words, the modern world was built upon the blood, sweat, and tears of our African ancestors.

MULTIPLE SOURCES: MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES – Slavery and Indentured Servitude

Sources Type of Document Factual Evidence Unknown Words (What Bias/ Point of View Information do these words mean? Attempt (Primary or Secondary? How to define them) does this impact validity?)

DIRECTIONS: Use the Chart above to address the following question: How did the experience of forced migration differ from voluntary movement in the period of 1500-1900? Be sure to use evidence from the sources provide to you to support your position.