List of Benchmarks for World History |
| Standard 27. | Understands how European society experienced political, economic, and cultural transformations in an age of global intercommunication between 1450 and 1750 |
| | Level II (Grade 5-6) |
| | 1. | Understands the social characteristics of European society from 1450 to 1750 (e.g., how lifestyles were different among varied social classes in early modern Europe, changes in institutions of serfdom, changes in the social status of women) |
| | 2. | Understands significant contributions of the Renaissance and Reformation to European society (e.g., major achievements in literature, music, painting, sculpture, and architecture in 16th-century Europe; the life and accomplishments of select figures from the Renaissance to the Reformation) |
| | 3. | Understands the English civil war and the Revolution of 1688 (e.g., how these events affected government, religion, economy, and society in England; how the English Revolution influenced political institutions and attitudes in the English colonies and the outbreak of the American Revolution; new freedoms granted to the English people after 1688) |
| | 4. | Understands the significance of the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment (e.g., the impact of astronomical discoveries from Copernicus to Newton; principal ideas of the Enlightenment, from rationalism to theories of education; the word "revolution" and what is meant by the term "Scientific Revolution"; the lives and achievements of significant figures of the Scientific Revolution; how Diderot's encyclopedia contributed to the Age of Enlightenment) |
| | 5. | Understands the role of gunpowder in changing European warfare (e.g., through the necessary redesign of fortifications) |
| | Level III (Grade 7-8) |
| | 1. | Understands early influences on the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment (e.g., connections between the Scientific Revolution and its antecedents, such as Greek rationalism, medieval theology, Muslim science, Renaissance humanism, and new global knowledge; connections between the Enlightenment and its antecedents, such as Roman republicanism, the Renaissance, and the Scientific Revolution) |
| | 2. | Understands changes in urban and rural Europe between the 15th and 18th centuries (e.g., social and economic consequences of population growth and urbanization in Europe between the 15th and 18th centuries; the growth pattern of European cities between the 17th and 18th centuries, and the major urban centers of this period; causes and effects of the "agrarian revolution" on Western and Eastern European society) |
| | 3. | Understands significant social and cultural changes that took place during the Renaissance (e.g., advances in printing press technology, the connections between the Italian Renaissance and the development of Humanist ideals in Europe north of the Alps, positive and negative changes in the status of women during the Renaissance and Reformation, the legacy of Renaissance architecture, changes in European art and architecture between the Middle Ages and the High Renaissance) |
| | 4. | Understands origins of the Reformation and Catholic Reformation (e.g., why many Europeans were unhappy with the late medieval Catholic Church, and how the beliefs and ideas of leading Protestant reformers reflected this discontent; what the Catholic Reformation sought to achieve, and the effect of religious reforms and divisions on Europeans; the patterns of religious affiliation in Europe in the early 17th century and factors that led some populations to embrace the Protestant Reformation while others rejected it) |
| | 5. | Understands the emergence of strong individual leaders, monarchies, and states in Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries (e.g., the character, development, and sources of wealth of strong bureaucratic monarchies; the significance of Peter the Great's westernizing reforms; the emergence of the Dutch Republic as a powerful European state; the reign of Elizabeth I and her efficacy as a leader and builder of a strong nation-state; the governmental policies of Catherine the Great; why St. Petersburg was called the "window on the West") |
| | 6. | Understands contributions of the Scientific Revolution to European society (e.g., the importance of discoveries in mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry to 17th-and 18th-century Europe; the significance of the principles of the scientific method advanced by Francis Bacon and Ren‚ Descartes; the trial of Galileo and arguments and evidence used to prove him "innocent" or "guilty"; the major features of the Scientific Revolution in major fields of endeavor) |
| | 7. | Understands the short and long-term impact of Enlightenment ideas (e.g., how Enlightenment-era thought contributed to the reform of church and state, the reform programs of absolutist monarchs of Central Europe and Russia, the influence of Enlightenment ideas on the development of modern nationalism and democratic thought and institutions) |
| | 8. | Understands the effects on world trade of the Spanish silver trade from America |
| | 9. | Understands the role of gunpowder in the development of strong European leadership (e.g., how gunpowder came to Europe from China, and how it helped establish and maintain the power of state leaders in Europe) |
| | 10. | Understands the long and short-term causes of the "Glorious" revolution of 1688 and how it earned this title |
| | Level IV (Grade 9-12) |
| | 1. | Understands shifts in the European economy, trade, and labor systems in the 16th century (e.g., aspects of manufacturing and production in the 16th century's emerging capitalist economy, developments that affected men's and women's work options in this period, trends in worldwide trade in the 16th century, how the Dutch and English merchant classes established a significant presence in the world market) |
| | 2. | Understands causes and the major political, social, and economic consequences of the religious wars in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the legacy of these wars in modern Europe |
| | 3. | Understands the accomplishments of significant European leaders between the 16th and 18th centuries (e.g., the success of Russian expansion in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Siberia, and the success of the tsars in transforming the Duchy of Moscow into a Eurasian empire; the life and achievements of Louis XIV, and elements of absolutist power during this period; how Peter the Great and Catherine the Great expanded Russian territory; major achievements in the reigns of Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, and Joseph II, and which of these leaders displayed the features of an "Enlightened Despot") |
| | 4. | Understands influences on the spread of scientific ideas and Enlightenment thought (e.g., the importance of royal societies and other international networks in disseminating scientific ideas and methods; how academies, salons, and popular publishing spread Enlightenment thought; how the salons of aristocratic and bourgeois Parisian women influenced French political affairs, and why men eventually created their own salons; how Chinese humanist philosophy influenced the ideas of major Enlightenment writers and thinkers) |
| | 5. | Understands features of the conflict between religious beliefs and scientific thought during the Scientific Revolution (e.g., the coexistence of the new scientific rationalism in 17th-and 18th-century Europe with traditional learning and rituals; Galileo's ideas about the solar system, and why he hesitated to apply scriptural passages to science-related problems; the fundamental ideas of Descartes' Discourse on Method, and the methods he used to ascertain the "truth") |
| | 6. | Understands the role of the Enlightenment in shaping European society (e.g., the impact of Europe's growing knowledge of other regions on the development of concepts of universalism, tolerance, and world history; the connection between the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution, and arguments supporting the notion that one was dependent upon the other) |
| | 7. | Understands significant individuals and ideologies that emerged during the Renaissance and Reformation (e.g., the basic arguments in The Prince by Machiavelli; works of Renaissance writers and elements of Humanism in these works; individuals and factors that contributed to the revival of Greco-Roman art, architecture, and scholarship; differing ideas on women's roles in the Protestant household; social oppression and conflict in Europe during the Renaissance, as contrasted with humanist principles of the time) |
| | 8. | Understands sources of military buildup of the 17th and 18th centuries (e.g., how they compare with the advice of Machiavelli on the use of mercenaries) |
| | 9. | Understands the complaints, goals, and issues of the Cavaliers and Roundheads in the English Civil War |
| | 10. | Understands factors that influenced the economic and political development of the Dutch Republic, England, and France (e.g., characteristics of the Dutch Republic that affected commerce and religion, and enabled Amsterdam to gain commercial supremacy over the northern Italian city-states in the late 16th century; factors that led England to develop a Parliamentary government and led to absolutism in France under Louis XIV) |
