Nationalism

Nationalism is defined as a love for one's country. Historically, however, nationalism takes on a greater meaning. Throughout history, large groups of people who share a cultural identity (language, customs, history) have felt the pulling power of nationalistic feeling. The spirit of nationalism also includes the belief that one's nation is better off as an autonomous state. Autonomy is defined as a nation governing itself independently from a centralized point. Still another aspect of nationalism is the willingness to go to extreme measures in achieving autonomous self-rule. Revolutions, wars, ethnic tension, and other conflicts of varying degrees have occurred throughout history because of a love for one's country. The spirit of nationalism has shaped the histories and destinies of many countries. Nationalism can unite people into cohesive, stable nations. Likewise, it can tear nations apart which can result in long periods of social upheaval and political chaos.

The American Revolution however is not a revolution because of nationalism, the French Revolution and the American are completely different reasons. The French wanted to preserve their French identity, unlike the 13 colonies who did not want to keep with British identify, they formed the United States of America.

The French Revolution

Inspired by the success of the American Revolution, French citizens overthrew the noble, ruling class and establish a democratic government. The French monarchy under Louis XVI was viewed as oppressive and corrupt and the social structure was rigid, meaning it did not allow for social mobility, people to rise above to status, such as from poor to middle class. The poor, uneducated class, known as the Third Estate, made up 98% of the population. The upper classes of nobility and clergy (the First and Second Estates, respectively) only made up a mere 2% of the entire population, as represented in the cartoon. It is no wonder the people of France rose up in a spirit of nationalism to overthrow the oppressive system and establish a society controlled by themselves, and is it even impossible for 2% to govern 98%. They wanted to govern themselves as a democracy but maintain their French identity. This is the essence of nationalistic movements.

Nationalism is ones pride of their own nation.

The Scientific Revolution

The Scientific Revolution develops as a offshoot of the Renaissance . The same spirit of inquiry(another word for inquiry is questioning things)

that fueled the Renaissance, led scientists to question traditional beliefs about the workings of the universe. One of the main ideas to come out of the Scientific Revolution was the use of the Scientific Method, which uses observation and experimentation to explain theories and how the universe works; or simpler, scientists prove theories by experiments and what they see from the experiments.

Now there are only three people you need to learn:

1.) The Polish guy, Nicolaus Copernicus, who developed theheliocentric model of the universe. Very simply, the Sun is the center of the universe and everything revolves around it. No one believed him and still believed that the Earth was the center.

2.) Galileo created a homemade telescope. However the church told him to take it back or be killed.

3.) Isaac Newton came up with the idea of gravity, explaining why everything drops to the ground.