Introduction to Part 4: The Early Modern World (Week 1)

January 10, 2018

(1450-1750)

This week in class we were asked the question of, “What does it mean to be modern?” To me being modern is to be evolved, it is the opposite of traditional. When we think of modern we think of new, better, and efficient ways. These ways might stem from the past, but they are improved and transformed into a modern way of doing things. To be considered modern you must keep up with the more modern ways of living.

This idea of keeping up with a modern way of living reminded me of the time in American history when the North wanted to modernize and abolish slavery, whereas the South wanted to keep its traditional ways and continue to use slaves as their labor system. To become modern you must be open to change and the entire modernization process in general and in this specific situation, the North was. The South was afraid of changing their traditional ways, they were scared of anything remotely different from what they have been doing for years.

The modern era began at the time of the Renaissance era. The word Renaissance alone translates to the word “rebirth”, the Renaissance era was the rebirth of classical Greek humanism. Before the Renaissance era began, it was the classical era, so it makes sense that this era was the rebirth of the era before it. The Greeks were the “seeds and ideas of humanism”, the Roman empire copied a lot from the Greeks because they truly admired them and their culture. They did things like built humanistic statues influenced by a Greek style but they improved it by using more durable material that would last longer. This was also a time of questioning, when I say questioning, I mean in a philosophical manner. This questioning led to the concept of “human agency” which was the idea that you control your own fate, rather than the fate dictating your life and future.

Like most things, this era caused for both good and bad ideas and events. There were many good developments that came out of this era such as, social classes, emphasis on the present world rather than the afterlife, a focus on the study of humans and how we work, and questioning and creating philosophical theories. However, this era later led to hierarchies, a demand for slave labor, and a genocide where many people died.