Assignment for A. P. European History

Summer 2008

Welcome Campers to A. P. Euro!

 The following assignment is for you to get a head start on your study of European History.  We will be starting our curriculum with the Renaissance including an in depth look at Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince.  We will use The Prince as a guide to evaluate the many European leaders we will study throughout the course.

In order to hit the ground running in September, it is important for you to begin reading
about the Renaissance.

Therefore:

                  1.   Read textbook,  A History of Western Society (McKay, Hill, Buckler)                                               Chapter 13

                         Outline this chapter in your text-notebook.  (Type your work and keep it in a binder.) 
                         Students from past classes find this method to work best   
                         Bring this work to the first class meeting in September.

                   2.  Read the handout - Machiavelli’s Greatest Hits and for each
                        quote answer the following two questions.

                                       a. What does the quote reveal about the qualities of
                                         the ruler, or about the nature of power itself?

                                       b.  Describe your reaction to what Machiavelli sees
                                            to be the qualities of a good ruler, and to the nature of  power.

                        Please type the answers to these questions in paragraph form using
                        number 12 font. 

                        This part of the assignment will be collected and graded during
                        the first cycle of class.

             ***      Though a reading of the actual text, The Prince, is not required for the                                       summer, you may wish to read the introduction to the following edition. 
 It will give you a good understanding of what Machiavelli’s motives were.

                                                Niccolo Machiavelli’s  The Prince.
                       A good translation is  Machiavelli – Selected Political Writings
                       Edited & Translated by David Wootton.  (Hackett Publishing Co.)

Machiavelli’s Greatest Hits (Who should rule and why)

 1.      “He who is the cause of someone else’s becoming powerful is the agent of his own destruction; for he makes his protégé powerful either through his own skill or through his own strength, and either of these must provoke his protégé’s mistrust once he has become powerful.” (p.14) Chp.3

 2.       “If you look at their deeds and their lives you will find they were dependent on for their first opportunity.  They seized their chance to make of it what they wanted. Without that first opportunity their strength (virtu) of purpose would never had been revealed.  Without their strength (virtu) of purpose, the opportunity they were offered would not have amounted to anything.”   (p. 19) Chp.6

 3.      “I think here we have to distinguish between cruelty well used and cruelty abused.  Well – used cruelty (if one can speak of evil) one may call those atrocities that are committed at a stroke, in order to secure one’s power, and are then not repeated, rather every effort is made to ensure one’s subjects benefit in the long run.” (p.30)
 “…. and the good you do will do you no good because people will think you are forced to do it.” (p.31) Chp.8

 4.      “This leads us to question that is in dispute: Is it better to be loved than feared, or vice versa?  My reply is one ought to be both loved and feared; but, since it is difficult to accomplish both at the same time, I maintain it is much safer to be feared than loved, if you have to do without one of the two.”  (pp.51-52) Chp.17

 5.       “Since a ruler, then, needs to know how to make good use of beastly qualities, he should take as his models among the animals both the fox and the lion, for the lion does not know how to avoid traps, and the fox is easily overpowered by wolves.  So you must be a fox when it comes to suspecting a trap, and a lion when it comes to making the wolves turn tail.  …. So you see, a wise ruler cannot, and should not, keep his word when doing so is to his disadvantage, and when the reasons that led him to promise to do so no longer apply.” (p. 54) Chp.18

 6.      “ But it is essential to know how to conceal how crafty one is, to know how to be a clever counterfeit and hypocrite.  You will find people are so simple-minded and so preoccupied with their immediate concerns that if you set out to deceive them, you will always find plenty of them who will let themselves be deceived.” (p.54) Chp.18

 7.      “ So a ruler need not have all the positive qualities I listed earlier, but he must seem to have them.  Indeed, I would go so far as to say that if you have them and never make any exceptions, then you will suffer for it; while if you merely appear to have them, they will benefit you.”  (p.54) Chp.18

 8.      “… for he is often obliged, in order to hold on to power, to break his work, to be uncharitable, inhumane, and irreligious.  So he must be mentally prepared to act as circumstances and changes in fortune require.  As I have said, he should do what is right if he can; but he must be prepared to do wrong if necessary.”  (p.54) Chp.18

 9.      “ A ruler’s choice as to whom to employ as his advisers is of foremost importance. Rulers get the advisers they deserve, for good rulers choose good ones, bad rulers choose bad.  The easiest way of assessing a ruler’s ability is to look at those who are members of his inner circle.”  (p. 70) Chp.22

 10.  “But there is one infallible way for a ruler to judge his adviser.  When you see your adviser give more thought to his own interests than yours, and recognize everything he does is aimed at his own benefit, then you can be sure such a person will never be a good adviser.” (p. 71) Chp.22