AP European History : Social and Economic History
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Example Questions
Example Question #11 : Gender
The status of women rose slightly during the Protestant Reformation because Luther and the other reformers generally __________.
advocated for female education
dismissed the cult of domesticity
allowed priests to marry
repudiated Catholic teachings on “original sin”
prohibited burnings for witchcraft
allowed priests to marry
The status women rose slightly during the Protestant Reformation. Burnings for witchcraft became somewhat less common, particularly into the seventeenth century, and Luther and the other reformers preached that there was honor and dignity in the household tasks of women. The primary reason why the status of women grew slightly is that Luther and the other reformers generally allowed priests to marry. This elevated the status of women and also had the indirect effect of slightly loosening the demonization of sexuality and intimate relations that pervaded Medieval Catholicism. Still, it would be a big stretch to claim that this time period represented a monumental shift towards gender equality. None of the reformers were advocating for female education or opportunity outside the home, as just one example.
Example Question #211 : Social And Economic History
The status of women as caregivers and housewives was exacerbated primarily by __________ in the nineteenth century.
rising wages
famine and malnutrition
child labor laws and urbanization
secularization
religious reawakening
child labor laws and urbanization
Although a division of labor has almost always existed between the sexes in human society, for much of European history the majority of women worked in the fields alongside the men. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, men and women began to move to urban centers by the millions and continued, for the most part, to work alongside one another. With the social and political reform of the mid-nineteenth century, women’s status changed to reflect changes in child labor laws. Universal public education was not yet available, and women were often “forced” (by social custom or by actual force) to remain home as caregivers and housewives.
Example Question #212 : Social And Economic History
Isabella d’Este is considered one of the most prominent and significant women in which of these time periods?
The Great Depression
The Renaissance
The Civil Rights Era
The Enlightenment
The Industrial Revolution
The Renaissance
Isabella d’Este served as regent of Mantua, a region of Italy, in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. She was a leading figure of the Italian Renaissance and an advocate for greater gender equality. She was also a renowned patron of the arts.
Example Question #14 : Gender
Marquis de Condorcet’s Sketch of the Progress of the Human Mind argued that the extension of gender equality and women’s rights was __________.
in violation of God’s natural order
likely to accelerate mankind’s advancement towards a utilitarian society
part of a logical progression towards a utopian society
too radical for the public of his time period and would lead to open rebellion
impossible under the current patriarchal society
part of a logical progression towards a utopian society
Marquis de Condorcet is one of the most influential writers of the Enlightenment period who famously advocated for equal rights for people of all races, genders, and religions. He believed that mankind was constantly progressing towards some perfect, or better, future, and that the extension of gender equality to women was a necessary and logical step in the progression towards utopia.
Example Question #212 : Social And Economic History
Simone de Beauvoir was instrumental in __________.
The feminist movement of the second half of the twentieth century
Destabilizing the French colonial regime in Algeria
Bringing about the downfall of the Third French Republic
Ensuring a smooth transition to the Euro within the European Union
Integrating the French economy into the European Coal and Steel Community
The feminist movement of the second half of the twentieth century
Simone de Beauvoir is one of the most influential feminist writers of the twentieth century. Her 1949 work The Second Sex was instrumental in encouraging the intellectual support for the feminist movement that deeply affected the growth of women’s rights in the second half of the twentieth century.
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