Peasant Revolt DBQ: 2008

1. Peasant Revolt DBQ: 2008 Analyze the causes of and the responses to the peasants’ revolts in the German states.

2. What is important from the document? Could you determine the point of view of the author or source? Does it fall into causes or responses? Why? Connections you can make to other documents? Document Analysis

3. Relating authorial point of view to author’s place in society: “Leonard von Eck, as a chancellor, would likely hold this view since as a government official he is probably very concerned with preserving order and the stability of the political structure (doc. 1).” “Since Martin Luther had been deemed a heretic and was dependent upon local princes for protection, it is not surprising that he would be so vehement in condemning events that many linked to him and that were causing such civil unrest (doc. 7).” POV Examples (from 2008 test)

4. Evaluating the reliability of a source: “Lichtenstein may not be a completely reliable source, however, since he was pleading his own case and clearly had something to gain (doc. 10).” “Since Caspar Nutzel is a local government official writing to a superior, his acknowledgement of ‘excessive’ actions by authorities seems credible since it may have been somewhat risky to offer criticism of authority during this time period (doc 9).” POV Examples (from 2008 test)

5. Recognizing that different kinds of documents serve different purposes: “It is important to note that Lorenz Fries is commenting in a secret report probably not meant for publication; therefore, he is likely able to be more frank and honest than he might have been in a public document (doc. 8).” “The demands of the Peasant Parliament of Swabia were announced in Articles of the Peasants of Memmingen to the Town Council; since these demands came from a group of peasants, it is reasonable to assume that these were widely held views among the peasantry of this area (doc. 3).” POV Examples (from 2008 test)

6. Tone: The passionate tone of Muntzer’s open letter was clearly designed to incite further reaction among an already agitated peasant population. What counts here is not merely the mention of “tone” but a clear link to the intention of the author. POV Examples (from 2008 test)

7. How would you group the documents? Create three groups/buckets. Why did you place them together? What would be their category title? Grouping/Bucketing

8. Causes: Dissatisfaction/demands in general Revolt against princes Oppression by lords and princes Religious influences End to serfdom Economic relief Responses: Condemnation Riots/plundering Peasants’ responses Towns’ responses Nobles’ responses Lay religious figures/favorable responses Religious authorities/negative responses Empathy Appeasement Favorable Unfavorable Grouping/Bucketing

9. Why do these thesis statements not work?? Overall, the peasants’ revolts that occurred during the beginning of the 16th century in the German states were caused by a variety of economic, political and social aspects, and was responded to under the same guidelines. Reasons are too general (essay earned a 4) The peasants, or lower class, unhappy with how they were being treated, revolted in an attempt to create equal rights. Although some actions of the peasants were not okay, their original means for revolt were justifiable. Deals only with causes (essay earned a 1) Thesis Statements

10. New technological ideas and peasant oppression by the nobility led to the peasant revolts in German states, which were responded to negatively by political and religious leaders alike. Adequate thesis, though weak on responses, essay earned a 6 Ultimately, with its causes stemming from strong financial grievances and extreme religious zeal, the peasants’ revolt was met with two primary responses; one being the concern of the authority’s money, while the other was official condemnation from both religious and authoritative figures. Essay earned an 8 Thesis Statements

11. Write a thesis statement that pertains to the whole essay question. [2 points] Pick one of the groups you created and construct a complete paragraph. You are to include: A topic sentence that covers the whole group/paragraph [2 points] Analysis (not just description) of three documents that would fit that group [3 points] Show how the document ties into the topic sentence One example of point of view [1point] No quote over three words [1 point] Citations: NO use of “In document 7…” or “Documents 3, 4, and 5 show…”. Instead, use the source’s name and put document # in parentheses at the end of the sentence. [1 point] Concluding sentence that shows how the group answers the larger question (not simply a transition to the next paragraph) [2 points] DBQ Paragraph Assignment