World Studies

• The Scientific Revolution was a period when individuals were skeptical of ancient texts explaining the world, leading to the Geocentric Theory and the Age of Exploration encouraging new theories
• Copernicus published the heliocentric theory in 1543, stating that the sun is the center of the solar system, which led to Kepler's discoveries of planetary motion in 1601
• In 1609, Galileo perfected the telescope and wrote Starry Messenger, inspiring later scientists like Isaac Newton, Gabriel Fahrenheit, Francis Bacon, and Rene Descartes
• The Magna Carta established trial by jury and common law, which are customs and principles established over time, with legal matters determined by common law rather than a single ruler
• Absolutism, a political doctrine of unlimited centralized authority and absolute power vested in a monarch, began with King John in 1200 and became more profound in the 17th century
• The English Civil War & Glorious Revolution in the 1600s saw the Stuart Dynasty's absolutism increase as church authority declined, leading to conflicts over power, money, and religion
• The Enlightenment, known as the Age of Reason, was fueled by Renaissance values, secular thinking, humanism, and the Scientific Revolution, promoting new ideas about government and society
• The American Revolution (1775-1783) was sparked by the need for economic freedom and Enlightenment ideas, leading to the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and support from European countries
• The French Revolution (1789-1799) was driven by socioeconomic inequalities, Enlightenment ideas, poor leadership from King Louis XVI, financial crisis, hunger, and cold, culminating in the storming of the Bastille
• The Congress of Vienna in 1814 aimed to rebuild Europe after Napoleon's reign, focusing on creating a balance of power, preventing future French aggression, and restoring Europe's royal families