Practice DBQs
DBQ #1
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Documents 1-12. (Some of the
documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.) Write your answer on the lined
pages of the pink essay booklet.
This question is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. You may refer to
historical facts and developments not mentioned in the documents. Construct a coherent essay
that integrates the analysis of documents into a treatment of the topic.
The Question: Identify the major features that distinguished Flemings from Walloons in
Belgium in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What political, economic, and social
tensions developed between the two groups?
Historical setting: In 1830 a new independent nation-state, Belgium, was created out of the
southern provinces of the kingdom of the Netherlands. Belgium's liberal constitutional monarchy
united population groups of different cultural backgrounds. Until the First World War, this small
mineral-rich state, long a leader in European commerce, shared many economic, social,
religious, and political developments with its Western European neighbors. At the same time, the
unique cultural composition of Belgium raised special problems not faced elsewhere in the West.
Document 1
Document 2
"The Flemish people of Belgium, inhabiting the country north of a line drawn near the city of
Brussels, are of Teutonic origin. Their ancestors battled against the march of the constantly
invading sea, against the advance of Roman legionaries and the attacks of savage barbarians,
and resisted and defeated them. The savage German barbarians were either absorbed or driven
back; the Roman legions marched over the land but never conquered it, and Roman law, custom,
or language obtained no foothold in the country of the [Dutch-speaking] Flemings.
"To the south of the line lives another race of Celtic origin, the [French-speaking] Walloons.
Supporting the same monarchy, ruled by the same laws, but differing in language, customs,
blood, and traditions, the nearly two million Walloons who live south of the line look upon the
majority Flemings who live north of it as aliens and foreigners. Except upon the arbitrary
divisional line, there is no racial fusion.
"The Celtic Walloon is impatient of political or priestly control, has little regard for political or
religious tradition, but is readily disposed to absorb new faiths and modern politics."
Henry Hilliard, American diplomat in Brussels, 1842
Document 3
DISTRIBUTION OF THE BELGIAN POPULATION BY MAJOR LANGUAGE AREAS,
1846-1910
(in millions and by percentage)
1846
1880
1910
Percentage
Percentage
Percentage of Total
Population of Total
Population of Total
Population
Population
Population
Population
French
Speaking 1.4
33%
1.3
31%
2.4
32%
Areas
Dutch
Speaking 2.2
51%
3.0
54%
4.1
55%
Areas
Brussels
Area
.7
16%
.8
15%
1.0
13%
(Bilingual)
Total
Belgian
4.3
100%
5.6
100%
7.5
100%
Population
Extracted from statistical data compiled by the Belgian Ministry of the Interior
Document 4
"In the (Flemish) north, the most ardent supporters of the national government
leadership are the French-speaking upper bourgeoisie; these northern Francophones
[French speakers] are but 5 percent of the region's population, but are an elite that
controls much of Flanders' wealth. Their economic power, especially in commercial
enterprises, is resented by most of the Flemings, who see them as a foreign occupying
power receiving their orders from the Francophones of Brussels."
L'independance belge, a Brussels-base "middle-of-the-road" daily newspaper, 1872
Document 5
"To acknowledge the linguistic rights of the Flemings is to accept the inevitable
consequences of bilingualism. No longer can those who use the French language make
French the predominant language. The improvement of educational facilities for all
Belgians requires real equality in the respect shown the Flemish culture."
Flemish pamphlet, 1879
Document 6
"The Flemish are more Roman Catholic and more royalist than those in the south.
Walloons are by nature anticlerical (one might say even bent on the dechristianization of
Belgium) and display only a lukewarm affection for monarchy. The quarrels between the
two in the political arena do not, however, reflect these crucial differences and their
importance, but instead dwell on this language or that language, etc."
French diplomatic observer, 1890
Document 7
"The Flemish have always suffered under a system of economic exploitation, from the
early days of the potato famine in the 1840's and the government's decision to give aid
and relief to paupers. This pattern of 'hand-outs,' together with the absence of national
investments that would improve the entire Flemish region, continues to this day."
C. Smeenk, Flemish political leader in the Chamber of Deputies, 1896
Document 8
"The Flemish struggle has been transformed into a struggle for political power, and it is
led by the dominant Catholic party. With the 1893 (universal suffrage) revision of the
Constitution, the Catholics have appealed to a newly enfranchised peasantry of Flanders
which has discovered a connection between the economic decline of their region and the
prosperity of the Walloon provinces The Belgian Workers' party (Socialist political
party), emerging as a weapon to free workers from distress and oppression, has gained
some new supporters with its call for social democracy but has not committed itself to
language reform. The Catholic party, not the Socialist, has understood that the Flemish
movement that aroused the masses was politically so important that its demands had to
be met."
F. Payen, French observer, 1899
Document 9
"For over 50 years, our nation has worked its way, at a rapid pace, toward an industrial
shape. Two sectors of the Belgian economy have evolved: one advanced and comparable
to its major [Western] European neighbors, one less advanced in the spread of steamdriven machinery. These sectors coincide with the language communities. The Flemish
regions have remained agricultural and commercial; in Wallonia, activity in textiles and
metallurgy is dominant."
Le Moniteur beige, a weekly government publication, 1900
Document 10
"One cannot shrug off the Flemish movement or dismiss it as the eccentricity of a few
extremists. It is not simply a question of who should speak Dutch or French and when
and where. The differences in the two regions come out of different views of history,
religion, and politics, and can be understood only if the economic and social structures of
each area are seen as decisive. If viewed properly, then, the Fleming yearns for real, not
professed, equality of his language and cultural ways."
E. Vandervelde, Belgian political leader, 1902
Document 11
"The conflict between these two language groups-the Dutch-speaking, largely peasant
population of the northwest and the French-speaking, more industrial population of the
southeast-is no longer confined to a small intellectual circle of Flemings and the Frenchspeaking [central] government in Brussels. The purely scholarly cause is now a political
battle pressing for reforms. It is an assault on French, the language of the rich ruling
classes and the language of atheism. That French is used exclusively by the government,
in the courts, army, universities and secondary schools is a state of affairs we bitterly
resent. We demand nothing less than equal language rights."
Flemish publicist, 1912
Document 12
"One thing still separates Fleming from Walloon-the difference of language. Between
the Teutonic Flemings and the German frontier is the French or Walloon speech of
Liege, Namur, and Luxemburg. Roughly speaking, France is held to be a Liberal and
anti-Catholic language; Flemish a Conservative and Catholic one. So there is a great deal
of politics mixed up with the only cause for jealousy which divides the two races.
Flemish has given to Belgium poets like Ledeganck, and has suffered from the defection
to French of Maeterlinck, a Walloon playwright. The Walloons have produced many
savants and historians and among them imaginative writers. There have been French
movements and Flemish movements; and of late years it is the Flemish movement which
has been the more vigorously conducted with effects on education and on politics which
time will show to be important."
The Times of London, May 14, 1913
DBQ #2
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Documents 1-13. (Some of the
documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.) Write your answer on the lined
pages of the pink essay booklet.
This question is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. As you analyze
each document, take into account its source and the point of view of the author. Write an essay
on the following topic that integrates the analysis of the documents. You may refer to historical
facts and developments not mentioned in the documents.
The Question: To what extent did changing views on the causes of juvenile crime affect legal
treatment of the juvenile offender in nineteenth-century Great Britain?
Historical background: Early in the nineteenth century, the British government, responding to the
public’s fear that lawlessness was increasing, took measures to reduce crime. For example. it
established a professional police force and created committees to study the justice system.
Generally, punishments were based on the assumption that crime stemmed from an individual’s
weak or evil character.
Document 1
On the day the members of the Committee visited Tothill Fields Prison, they found that
those who had committed misdemeanors and assaults were confined together in a yard
which opened into one where the vagrants were detained. In that yard were two children,
one 11 and the other 12. In the same yard were two persons imprisoned for assault with
intent to perpetrate an unnatural offense.
Upon a review of the present state of Clerkenwell Prison, your Committee finds that out of
the 4,063 prisoners who were sent there during the last year, 470 were under 20 years of
age, charged with felony. And of these, one was as young as 8, and sixty-nine were under 14
years of age.
Select Committee Report on the Prisons of
London,
Parliamentary Papers, 1818
Document 2
T.G.B. Estcourt, Esquire, Chair of the Select Committee on the Police of the Metropolis:
Do you not think there is a great evil in committing a young boy to Newgate Prison for
simple larceny, and leaving him there two months before he is brought to trial?
Sir Richard Birnie, Chief Magistrate in Middlesex County:
Yes, very great, to Newgate or any other prison.
Estcourt:
In what way would you advise that young boys should be punished?
Birnie:
I should recommend a little flogging at a certain age.
Estcourt:
You think transportation to Australia is not a fit punishment for a boy of fourteen or fifteen
years of age?
Birnie:
I am talking of transportation as inappropriate for those of nine and ten years of age.
Minutes of evidence before the Select Committee on the
Police of the Metropolis, Parliamentary Papers, 1828
Document 3
At the present time, there are three children, one 7, one 8, and another 10, all of whom were
undergoing confinement in separate cells in the Clerkenwell penitentiary. The youngest child has
been convicted at Manchester of having stolen certain goods which the mother had received,
knowing them to be stolen property. The child was sentenced to transportation and the mother to
six months’ imprisonment. Since the child’s years would furnish sufficient proof that she could
not be fully aware of the nature of her offense, the child’s sentence was commuted to solitary
imprisonment under the separation system.
Testimony of Mr. Hoare, a visiting justice at the
Clerkenwell House of Correction, to the London
Court Sessions, 1838
Document 4
Document 5
Delinquents are born thieves. It is their inheritance. They form a caste of themselves, having
their peculiar slang, mode of thinking, habits, and art of living.
John Wade, A Treatise on the Police and Crimes of the Metropolis, London, 1829
Document 6
Young thieves have often confessed to me that their first attempts at stealing began at apple
stalls. Acquiring confidence by a few successful adventures, they have gradually progressed in
crime. They find companions to cheer them and instruct them, girls to share their booty and
applaud them. Imprisonment is no punishment. It’s no matter to him where he exists as long as
he has food and some clothing. In fact, many lads have admitted to me that they learned more in
jail than out of it.
Mr. W.A. Miles, Esquire, Report on Prison Discipline,
presented to the House of Lords, 1835
Document 7
One grand cause of depravity and crime in children is the vice of their parents, who often educate
their offspring in the art of thieving and live upon the proceeds of their children’s depredations.
In speaking of three children whose lives of crime he relates, Mr. Rushton observes, “These lads
have been trained by a vicious father to the work of plunder. He has taught them how to steal
with dexterity, and he uses them as a means of supplying himself with a luxurious existence.”
Unless the evil power of the parent be destroyed and his mischievous teaching counteracted, it is
clear that no valid hopes of reformation can be obtained.
Report of an address to the Town Council of Liverpool by its
magistrate, Mr. Rushton, The Times of London, August 21, 1850
Document 8
The scanty wages given to many forms of labor, as well as the high price of rent and provisions,
make it almost impossible for a man alone to support the family. Hence, most of the wives of the
unskilled workpeople have to forego their maternal duties, and devote themselves to some kind
of drudgery to add to the petty household income. If then the mother be away from home the
greater part of her time, and the children be left to gambol in the gutter with others as neglected,
what reward can society look for from this moral anarchy and destitution? Here is the real
explanation of juvenile delinquency.
H. Mayhew and J. Binny, The Crimina
Prisons of London, London, 1862
Document 9
When any person under the age of sixteen shall be convicted of any offense, it shall be within
the power of any Court, in addition to the sentence passed as a punishment for his offense, to
direct such an offender to be sent at the expiration of his sentence to one of the Reformatory
Schools, for not less than two years and not exceeding five years.
Youthful Offenders Act, 1854
Document 10
If you want success, follow the new plan of family division. Separate and distribute the inmates
into households. Place their dwellings at a considerable distance from each other. Give them
separate fields of labor. Make each family a complete school or institution on a small scale by
itself.
There is nothing like gardening and farm-work for giving a new direction to the young
criminal’s tastes and habits. Handling a spade spoils the fingers for the delicate operations of
pickpocketing. And the sights and sounds of Nature turn interest from these activities.
Letter of the Reverend Sydney Turner, in charge of the Redhill
Reformatory School, to Mr. C.B. Adderly, Member of Parliament,
circa 1855
Document 11
There can be no doubt that the Reformatory Schools, as a result of the Act of 1854, are doing
important work in arresting crime in the country. They also confer a great benefit on the young
persons who seem destined without help to a life of crime. But the entrance to the Reformatory
is through the prison first. It therefore appeared increasingly important to establish the
Industrial School where young persons could be sent by a Magistrate without some time spent
in jail. Such a measure was obtained on August 17, 1857, when the Industrial Schools’ Act*
was passed.
Mary Carpenter, Our Convicts, 1864
*This legislation provided for the education and vocational training of neglected or delinquent
children, under 14 and generally under 12 years of age, when they were committed by a court.
A child could be committed to an industrial school for such a period as the court thought
proper, but not beyond the age of 16.
Document 12
Industrial Schools are credited, we believe justly, with having broken up the gangs of young
criminals in the larger towns; with putting an end to the training of boys as professional thieves;
and with rescuing children fallen into crime from becoming habitual or hardened offenders.
Undoubtedly, they have also had the effect of preventing a large number of children from
entering a career of crime.
Royal Commission Report,
Parliamentary Papers, 1884
Document 13
The proportion of children now sent to prison is much smaller than it was. Besides this, the
sentences passed on children are much lighter than they were, and a check is exercised on the
Magistrates. As an instance, I will quote the case of a boy sentenced to a month’s imprisonment
for stealing fruit. His term of imprisonment was changed from a month to seven days by the
Home Office which reviews Magistrates’ sentences. The practice of flogging nevertheless still
exists, and not long ago a policeman told me, with relish, that he had birched (whipped) as many
as sixty boys on a single day at one court session.
Still, there is a growing tendency to make grave distinctions between the treatment of juvenile
and adult criminals. An outcome of this tendency may be found in the creation of Reformatories
and Industrial Schools for younger and, as a rule, more innocent children. A system of rewards in
money obtains both in Reformatory and Industrial Schools, so that by good conduct a child may
accumulate a small sum for the time when its period of detention shall be over. The necessity for
corporal punishment is minimized by the system of rewards.
Gertrude M. Tuckwell, The State and Its Children, London
1894
DBQ #3
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Documents 1-16. (Some of the
documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.) Write your answer on the lined
pages of the pink essay booklet.
This question is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. As you analyze
the documents, take into account the source and the point of view of the author. Write an essay
on the following topic that integrates your analysis of the documents; in no case should
documents simply be cited and explained in a “laundry list” fashion. You may refer to historical
facts and developments not mentioned in the documents.
The Question: Describe and analyze the ways in which the defenders of the Spanish Republic
represented their aims and their attitudes. Be sure to include in your analysis the differences
within and among the groups presented by the documents.
Historical Background: In February 1936 a general election in the Republic of Spain brought to
power a government supported by a coalition of center and left-wing parties. A few months later,
conservative military officers rose against the government of the Republic, and civil war
followed. Over the next three years, conservatives and fascists attempted to overthrow the
Republic. Among the groups resisting this attack were moderate republicans, socialists,
communists, anarchists, and nationalists seeking autonomy for the Basque region or for
Catalonia. The forces supporting the Republic were finally defeated in 1939.
Document 1
We want no dangerous innovations. We want peace and order. We are moderates.
Manuel Azana. prime minister,
Liberal Republican party speech, 1936
Document 2
The Republic attempted to introduce a new modern political mentality through moderate reform.
Unfortunately, the Socialist Left tried to turn from this process.
Andres Marquez, civil servant and member of the
Liberal Republican party, recollection, 1936
Document 3
Workers’ wives did their grocery shopping without paying for anything for the very good reason
that they were accompanied by toughs waving eloquent revolvers. Men and women—republican
volunteers—aimed their rifles at passersby and at windows.
Clara Campoamor. centrist republican
deputy in the parliament, The Spanish
Revolution As Seen by a Republican. 1937
Document 4
Document 5
After the victory of the Liberal Republicans in the General Election of 1936, the government
failed to produce a coherent program of social and agrarian reform. In those months, the Socialist
party made a big mistake; it should have joined the government. Without renouncing the aim of
taking power, the Socialist party—the most Marxist in Europe—could have shared governmental
power. The left wing of the Socialist party blocked this. Divided, the Socialist party was not able
to channel or lead the revolutionary ferment.
Socrates Gomez. leader of the Socialist Youth
Movement, recollection, 1936
Document 6
In fighting for democracy in our country, we are defending democracy in all countries. This is a
struggle of two civilizations, of Christianity against Fascism.
Dr. Juan Negrin, prime minister, moderate
socialist, speech, February 1, 1939
Document 7
We shall follow the path of completing the bourgeois democratic revolution until it brings us
to a situation in which the proletariat and the peasantry themselves assume the responsibility
of making me people of Spain as happy and free as are the Soviet people, through the
victorious achievement of socialism, through the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Worker’s World, Communist party
newspaper, February 1936
Document 8
The battle of the Spanish people is the battle of a people that has risen against the criminal
aggressions of the reactionary military castes.
Help us prevent the disappearance of democracy in Spain! Stop the German and Italian fascists
from intervening in our country. The Republic of Spain is a legal government. We, the
Communists, support and defend this government because it is the legitimate representative of
the people who fight for democracy and liberty.
Dolores Ibarruri, Communist party leader
and orator, radio broadcast, July 1936
Document 9
It was not a revolutionary period leading to socialism. Not at all. That was just the pretext the
Fascists used to justify their rising. The peasant masses weren’t agitating for socialism. They
wanted the Republic to tackle the country’s fundamental problems, and land was one, if not
the, major problem.
Narciso Julián, Communist railway worker,
recollection, July 1936
Document 10
The Communists want to form a disciplined professional army to fight the Fascists.
Militarization goes hand and hand with the hierarchical type of Communist organization. Such a
professional army would lead to the creation of a state and any state is an oppressor.
Manuel Carabaño. worker and Anarchist
party youth member, 1936
Document 11
It should be clearly understood that we are not fighting for the Democratic Republic. We are
fighting for the triumph of the proletarian revolution. The revolution and the war are inseparable.
Everything that is said to the contrary is reformist and counterrevolutionary.
Anarchist party information bulletin,
January 1937
Document 12
Two things are beginning to disappear: the privileges of class from which develops the
monstrosity of war and the privilege that converts men into autonomous beings and women into
slaves. Still, every day in Spain we hear talk of liberty for the oppressed, but we never hear these
liberators refer to the necessity of declaring women free.
Free Women, an Anarchist
women’s paper, 1937
Document 13
The Basque nationalists were middle class in the main, religious and politically moderate. The
Basque Nationalist party’s decision to ally with the Communists and the Socialists, who stood
for the destruction of the sort of society the Basques believed in, was the great drama of the
Basque country; it created tremendous conflicts of conscience.
Juan Málzaga, Basque factory owner.
Recollection, Summer 1936
Document 14
In Barcelona there are Catalonian nationalists; they are against anyone who opposes their cause.
Mariano Puente, merchant seaman
Recollection, 1936
Document 15
The Anarchists revolted against the Republican government in May 1937. The Republican forces
and the Socialists, together with the Communists, began the counterattack. Fighting broke out all
over Barcelona. The hate between the factions had risen to a feverish pitch.
Jaume Miravitlles, Catalonian Nationalist
Liberal party, minister of information, diary,
May 1937
DBQ #4
The Question
Using the following documents, identify and analyze at least three major reasons for the
persecution of individuals as witches in Europe from the late fifteenth through the seventeenth
centuries.
[Historical setting: The witch craze lasted from about 1480 to 1700. This was the period of the
Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the
consolidation of national governments. Witches were persecuted in most of Europe, but the trials
were concentrated in southwestern Germany, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Poland, and parts
of France. The total number of accused witches who were tried exceeded 100,000. Torture was
used to extract confessions in many areas, but not in others; in England the trials were generally
conducted without the use of torture.]
Document 1
(1) “Walpurga Hausmannin . . . has, upon kindly questioning and also torture’ . . . confessed her
witchcraft and admitted the following. When . . . she had become a widow, she cut corn for Hans
Schlumperger…. Him she enticed with lewd speeches and gestures and they convened that they
should . . . meet in her . . . dwelling, there to indulge in lustful intercourse …. [ But] it was not the
said bondsman who appeared unto her, but the Evil One [the Devil] in the latter’s guise …. He
made her many promises to help her in her poverty and need, wherefore she surrendered herself to
him body and soul …. For food she often had a good roast or an innocent child, which was also
roasted, or a suckling pig …. [The Evil One] also compelled her to do away with and to kill young
infants at birth …. This she did as follows …. A child of the Governor here . . . she had so infected
with her salve that he died within three days …. Three years ago she had sucked out the blood of
[citizen] Kung’s child, a twin, so that it died…. She had also rubbed a salve on a beautiful son of
the . . . Chancellor, . . . this child had lovely faire hair and she had given him a hobby horse so that
he might ride on it till he lost his senses. He died likewise….”
Testimony of a licensed midwife at Dillingen, Germany, burned 1587
Document 2
(2) "This movement was promoted by many in office, who hoped for wealth from the
persecution. And, so, from court to court throughout the towns and villages of all the
diocese, scurried special accusers, Inquisitors, . . . dragging to trial and torture human
beings of both sexes and burning them in great numbers .... Nor were spared even the
leading men of the city of Trier. For the Judge with two Burgomasters, several Councillors
and Associate Judges, canons of sundry collegiate churches . . . were swept away in this
ruin .... Meanwhile notaries, copyists, and innkeepers grew rich. The executioner rode a
blooded horse, like a noble of the court, and went clad in gold and silver; his wife vied
noble dames in the richness of her array. The children of those convicted and punished were
sent into exile; their goods were confiscated. "
The Canon Linden, eyewitness to persecutions in Trier, Germany, 1592
(Document 3) "Presently he cryeth out of some poor Innocent
neighbor that he or she hath bewitched him. For, saith he, such an
old man or woman came lately to my door and desired some relief,
and I denied it, and God forgive me, my heart did rise against her . . .
and presently my child, my wife, myself, my horse, my cow, my
sheep, my sow, my hog, my dog, my cat, or somewhat, was thus and
thus handled in such a strange manner, as I dare swear she is a witch,
or else how should these things be"
Thomas Ady, describing the feelings of an English householder,
circa 1650
(Document 4) "There is one Alice Prabury in our parish that useth
herself suspiciously in the likelihood of a witch, taking upon her not
only to help Christian people of diseases strangely happened, but
also horses and all other beasts. She taketh upon her to help by the
way of charming, and in such ways that she will tell nobody her
sayings. "
Report of Churchwardens in Gloucestershire, England, 1563
(Document 5) Some call me witch,
And being ignorant of my self, they go
About to teach me how to be one; urging,
That my bad tongue (by their bad language made so)
Forespeaks* their cattle, cloth bewitch their corn
Themselves, their servants, and their babes at nurse.
This they enforce upon me; and in part
Make me to credit it.
*makes prophesies or predictions against
'The Witch of Edmonton," a poem written in 1621
(Document 6) "It is seldom that a poor old wretch is brought to trial
. . . but there is, at the heels of her, a popular rage that could little
less than demand her to be put to death; and if a judge is so clear and
open as to declare himself against the impious vulgar opinion, that
the devil himself has power to torment and kill innocent children, or
that he is pleased to divert himself with the good people's cheese,
butter, pigs and geese, . . . cry, this Judge hath no religion, for he
doth not believe in witches."
Roger North, brother of the Chief Justice in Exeter, England in 1682
(Document 7) "Innocent have I come into prison, Innocent have I
been tortured, Innocent must I die. For whoever comes into the witch
prison must become a witch or be tortured until he invents something
out of his head and-God pity him- bethinks him of something ....
When at test (the executioner) led me back into the prison he said to
me, 'Sir, I beg you, for God's sake confess something, whether it be
true or not. Invent something, for you cannot endure the torture
which you will be put to; and, even if you bear it all, yet you will not
escape, not even if you are an earl, but one torture will follow
another until you say you are a witch . . . as you may see by all their
trials, for one is just like another. . . . ' Dear child, keep this letter
secret so that people do not find it.... Good night, for your father
Johannes Junius will never see you more."
Letter of Johannes Junius, the mayor of Bamberg, Germany, to his
daughter 1628
(Document 8) "As for the question, why a greater number of
witches is found in the fragile feminine sex than among men . . . the
first is, that they are more credulous.... The second reason is, that
women are naturally more impressionable, and more" ready to
receive the influence of a disembodied spirit; and that when they use
this quality well they are very good, but when they use it ill they are
very evil.... But the natural reason is that she is more carnal than a
man.... And it should be noted that there was a defect in the
formation of the first woman, since she was formed from a bent rib,
that is, a rib of the breast, which is bent as it were in a contrary
direction to a man... And since through this defect she is an
imperfect animal, she always deceives.
Kramer and Sprenger, The Hammer of Witches, a handbook used by
the Inquisition, written in 1484 by two Dominican monks
(Document 9) "It has recently come to our ears, not without great
pain to us, that . . . many persons of both sexes, heedless of their own
salvation and forsaking the Catholic faith, give themselves over to
devils male and female.... We therefore, desiring, as is our duty . . .
to remove all impediments by which . . . the . . . inquisitors are
hindered in the exercise of their office . . . do hereby decree, by
virtue of our apostolic authority, that it shall be permitted to the . . .
inquisitors . . . to exercise their office of Inquisition and to proceed
to the correction, imprisonment, and punishment of the aforesaid
persons for their said offences and crime...
Pope Innocent VIII, "The Witch Bull." 1484
( Document 10) ". . . sorcerers or witches are the Devil's whores
who steal milk, raise storms, ride on goats or broomsticks, lame or
maim people, torture babies in their cradles, change things into
different shapes so that a human being seems to be a cow or an ox,
and force people into love and immorality . . . not that the Devil is
unable to do these things by himself without sorcerers, for he is lord
of the world yet he will not act without human help."
Martin Luther, preaching in 1522
(Document 11)"Moreover, in order that we may be aroused and
exhorted . . . Scripture makes known that there are not one, not two,
nor a few foes, but great armies, which wage war against us. For
Mary Magdalene is said to have been freed from seven demons by
which she was possessed [Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2], and Christ bears
witness that usually after a demon has once been cast out, if you
make room for him again, he will . . . return to his empty possession
[Matt. 12:43-45]. Indeed, a whole legion is said to have assailed one
man [Luke 8:30]. We are therefore taught by these examples that we
have to wage war against an infinite number of enemies....
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1536
(Document 12) "I suffered terribly from fear of Hell and the devils,
whom I thought I saw [everywhere] . . . and sometimes with great
rolling flaming eyes like saucers, having sparkling firebrands in one
of their hands, and with the other reaching at me to tear me away to
torments. Oh the leaps that I have made, the fright that I have had,
the fears that I was in."
From the diary of a young Protestant boy, late 16th century, E.
Rogers, Some Account of the Life and Opinion of a Fifth-Monarchy
Man, 1867
(Document 13) The bodies of aged persons are impure, which,
when they [become diseased with malice, they use their very breath
and their sight, being apt for contagion, and by the Devil whetted for
such purpose, to the vexation and destruction of others. For if they
which are troubled with the disease of the eyes called opthalmia do
infect others that look earnestly upon them, is it any marvel that
these wicked creatures, having both bodies and minds in a higher
degree corrupted, should work both these and greater mischiefs?"
W. Fulbecke, A Parallele or Conference of the Civil Law, the Canon
Law and the Common Law, 1618
(Document 14) ". . . that childish old hags called witches can do
anything to harm men or animals . . . I fight with natural reason....
My object is also medical, in that I have to show that those illnesses,
whose origins are attributed to witches, come from natural causes....
Since witches are usually old women of melancholic nature and
small brains [women who get easily depressed and have little trust in
God], there is no doubt that the Devil easily affects and deceives
their minds by illusions and apparitions that so bewilder them that
they confess to actions that they are very far from having
committed.... From consideration of their age and sex, Christians
should be less ready to throw these poor mindless old women into
dark, black, stinking prisons unfit for humans and inhabited by evil
spirits that torment the prisoners."
Johan Wier (a Belgian physician), De Praestigiis Daemonum, 1563
Document 15
WITCHCRAFT STATISTICS DRAWN FROM CONTEMPORARY COURT RECORDS
(1) OCCUPATIONS OF THE HUSBANDS OF THOSE
ACCUSED OF WITCHCRAFT IN AN ENGLISH REGION, 15461680
OCCUPATIONS OF
NUMBER RECORDED, 1546HUSBANDS
1680
Laborer
23
Farmer
11
Tailor
4
Yoeman
4
Mason
2
Sailor
2
Beer Brewer
1
Shoemaker
1
Weaver
1
Gentleman
0
From Alan Macfarlane, Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England: A
Regional and Comparative Study, 1970
(Document 16)MALES AND FEMALES EXECUTED IN
SOUTHWESTERN GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, AND
SELECTED PARTS OF FRANCE
AREA
MALES
FEMALES
Southwestern
238 (18%)
1,050 (82%)
Germany
Switzerland &
Selected Parts of
305 (22%)
1,060 (78%)
France
From Alan Macfarland, Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England: a
Regional and Comparative Study, 1970
(Document 17)AGE OF SUSPECTED WITCHES
SIZE OF
DATES
MEDIAN AGE
SAMPLE
60 (1 under age
Basel
1609-1617
10
50)
Fribourg,
60 (2 under age
1607-1683
9
Germany
50)
Geneva
1537-1662
95
60 (24 under 50)
Essex, England 1645
15
60 (2 under 50)
Deot ofthe
1542-1679
39
55 (14 under 50)
Nord, Fr.
From H.C. Eric Midelfort, Witch Hunting in Southwestern Germany,
15652-1684: the Social and Intellectual Foundation, 1972
1992
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying Documents 1-14. (Some of the
documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.) Write your answer on the lined
pages of the pink essay booklet.
This question is designed to test your ability to work with historical documents. As you analyze
the documents, take into account the source and the point of view of the author. Write an essay
on the following topic that integrates your analysis of the documents; in no case should
documents simply be cited and explained in a “laundry list” fashion. You may refer to historical
facts and developments not mentioned in the documents.
The Question: Identify and analyze the political and cultural issues in the debate
over Pan-Slavism
Historical Background: In the nineteenth century most Slavic peoples lived in
multinational empires in eastern and southern Europe, where growing
nationalism and international rivalries for control over territories and peoples
persisted throughout the century. Pan-Slavism, a movement intended to promote
the unity of all Slavic peoples, began to emerge in the early nineteenth century;
the movement experienced a surge of popularity and activity beginning in 1848.
Document 1.
Document 3
In other nations humanity comes after nationality. Among the Slavs nationality comes after
humanity. Scattered Slavs, let us be a unified whole, and no longer mere fragments. Let us be
all or nothing. Who are you, a Russian? And you, a Serb? And you, a Czech? And you, a Pole?
My children, seek unity! Say: I am a Slav!
Jan Kollár, Slovak poet and early advocate of PanSlavism, 1829
Document 4
There are Slavic languages, literatures, and there are also several Slavic homelands. Due to
ignorance of each other, hatred, oppression, and differences of language, there is today neither a
single Slavic language nor a common Slavic literature nor a Slavic homeland. To put the Polish
national cause under the protection of a Slavic idea, which in reality does not exist, would lead
Poland astray.
Karol Sienkiewicz, Polish author, introduction to a
collection of historical studies on Slavs, 1842
Document 5
There is only one way for Austria to forestall the penetration of Russian influence among the
western and southern Slavs --- Austria must put itself at the head of the Slavs and promote their
national development. At one stroke Austria will thus destroy all illusions of a Russian PanSlavism and will find a firm and unshakable support among its own peoples, who would no
longer regard Austria as an alien ruler.
An editorial in Contemporary Austrian Review, 1843
I
Document 6
At the present time there is no place for your Pan-Slavic goals in the Russian empire. You ask
for life, and there is only the silence of death; you demand independence, and in Russia there is
only mechanical obedience; you aspire toward resurrection, uplift, right, and liberty, and there
are only death, darkness, and slave labor.
Mikhail Bakunin, Russian anarchist, speech at the
Pan-Slav Congress, Prague, 1848
Document 7
I express my firm conviction that the Slavs, I mean the Russians, the Poles, the Czechs, etc., are
not one nation. The name Slav is and should forever remain a purely geographical name.
Nationality is not only determined by language, but also by customs, religion, form of
government, state of education, sympathies, etc.
Karel Havlkek, Czech journalist, article entitled “Slav and Czech,” 1848
Document 8
If I were tsar today, then I would form a free and happy Pan-Slav Empire. I would first renew an
independent Poland, thereby winning the hearts of the Czechs, the Serbs, and all the southern
Slavs. Everywhere I would plant the banner of liberty. I would destroy, without effort, the
Ottoman and the Austrian empires. The Slavs would rush into this battle in great number.
Bronislaw Trentowski, Polish philosopher, lecture, Cracow, 1848
Document 9
The idea of Slavic unity appeared only recently among the southern Slavs, and has developed
little because it ignores our distinct identities. The Prussian is a German, the Piedmontese is an
Italian, but a Bulgarian is not a Serb and a Serb is not a Russian. A small federation of southern
Slavs should be built so that no nationality may be wronged.
Christo Boter, Bulgarian poet, 1867
Document 10
A great and strong Russia has to face the difficult task of liberating its racial brothers; for this,
Russia must steel them and itself in the spirit of independence and Pan-Slavic consciousness.
Nikolay Danilevsky, Russian, Russia and Europe: An inquiry into the Cultural and
Political Relations of the Slav World and the Germano-Roman World, 1869
Document 11
The Pan-Slav party in Russia seeks to absorb and to destroy our nationality. I must therefore
reject in advance every idea of a Czech republic or any other republic within the present
boundaries of the Austrian empire. Think of the Austrian empire divided up into a number of
republics. What a delightful invitation for the Russians to create a universal monarchy!
Frantisek Palacky, Czech, article in the
Viennese weekly The Reform, 1873
Document 12
The danger that Austria has to face is the diversity of language and race in the empire. Our
Slavic nationalities are likely at a moment of dangerous crisis to develop pro-Russian
tendencies.
Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust, Austrian foreign minister
and imperial chancellor (1866-1881), Memoirs, 1887
Document 13
Russia is united by faith, blood, and historical tradition with the Slavic peoples and has never
regarded their fate with indifference. The fraternal feelings of the Russian peoples for the Slavs
were aroused in unanimous enthusiasm and with special force when Austria-Hungary put before
Serbia conditions manifestly unacceptable to a sovereign state.
Tsar Nicholas II, Manifesto, 1914
Document 14
No Russian ever wanted the reunion of other Slavs with Russia, and no agitation in that sense
has ever been practiced in Slavic lands by the Russians. Pan-Slavism in a theoretical sense
existed only among the weakest and most oppressed Slavic peoples. These people used to visit
Russia to complain of their sufferings and persecutions, and tried unsuccessfully to excite
Russian sympathy.
Gabriel de Wesselitsky, Russian journalist. Russia and Democracy:
The German Canker in Russia, 1915