II. Essay : You will be given two of the four essay questions below. You will choose ONE on which you should compose an essay answer. (45 minutes, 50 points)

1. One theme I have emphasized is how using a "world history" framework instead of the more traditional "Western Civilization" viewpoint (which still dominates many of our textbooks and our secondary school teaching) changes our understanding of how and why things happened in history. Chapter 13, "Worlds Entangled, 1600-1750," examines how global economic integration affected political systems (see the first focus question on p. 554). The chapter proceeds to portray not only basic "Western Civ" type information about each region, but also some effects of global economic integration on life in the Americas, African societies, Asian dynasties, and the centers of European power.
   • For any one of those regions, describe the changes caused by global economic interactions (which usually aren't included in Western Civ textbooks or courses), and argue how they set the stage for developments in the century after 1750. (Hint: Although one can do this for any of those four regions, the one mainly covered so far in lecture has been Europe, with the "power shift northward during the 17th century" having far-reaching consequences during the period from 1750 to 1850.) In other words, how does examining global economic entanglements prior to 1750 add to our understanding of what happened in the following centuries? (Hint: What developments/movements originated in northern Europe in the late 1700s? I can think of three big ones; one (or two) could suffice for a good answer.)
2. A central tenet of the European Enlightenment was that through knowledge and the use of reason people can control their own destiny and shape the course of history. This belief is still a fundamental part of "our" world view today, and informs (among other things) the way we "do" history. Chapter 14, "Cultures of Splendor and Power, 1500-1780," describes the major cultural regions of the world during this period. For most of them (but not for the Islamic empires or Africa), it also describes how enlightened Europeans tried to bring their culture to those regions, and how those cultures responded.
   • Describe any one of those cultural interactions between Europe and another global region (or between China and Japan) from three perspectives: First write an "antiquarian" account of the interaction. Then take the European perspective (or in the case of Japan, the Chinese perspective) and write a "monumental" description of the benefits bestowed by the importation of European (Chinese) cultural features. Finally, take a "critical" perspective from within the affected culture and suggest some ways the imports might not have been so beneficial after all. (Note: some of the material about that region/interaction from chapter 15 may be helpful to include for this last perspective.)
3. Prior to 1750 most societies around the globe were primarily agricultural, with 80-90% or more of the populace involved in food production, and a small elite consuming any surpluses of food or luxury goods. However, as global trade increased, a group (Marx would call them a class) of people developed who were neither peasants involved in agriculture nor elites with inherited wealth and power. In the settler colonies in North America, then in France, and then in other regions as well, this group participated in movements that toppled the traditional elites from power.
   • For any one of these areas (France, Haiti, northern South America and Egypt were presented in lecture), outline the social paradigm that was in place at the beginning of the period, then describe some "anomalous" perturbations that that paradigm could not accommodate. (Hint: in contrast to scientific theories, in history such anomalies are often called causes of change.) Finally, describe some key features of the new social paradigm that emerged, such as which group(s) championed it and wielded power, or what institutions were created to anchor that new paradigm. Note that in some cases the new paradigm proved lasting, while in others the original paradigm reemerged, perhaps in modified form, later on.
4. This question starts where the preceding one ends. As conditions changed and new paradigms were established, some people tried to envisage and implement alternative paradigms. The beginning of chapter 16 presents several features that they shared: opposition to established authority, the use of older cultural traditions to legitimize new social and political arrangements, and origins at the margins of power or leadership by marginalized people.
   • For any one of these movements, describe which features of the dominant paradigm the movement's members rejected, as well as how their alternative would have dealt with those problems. Note why they thought their paradigm was more suitable ("better") for their society. Finally, suggest some reasons (causes) why their new paradigm failed to take root, at least in the short term.