3. The following were the chief causes of the movement:
(_a_) The Crusades
(_b_) The Fall of Constantinople, 1453
(_c_) The introduction of the mariner"s compa.s.s
(_d_) The invention of gunpowder
(_e_) The invention of the printing press
(_f_) The overthrow of the feudal system
(_g_) The desire for knowledge stimulated by the universities
(_h_) The failure of the schools of the Middle Ages to meet the demands and needs of the times
4. The relation of each of these causes to the New Learning must be shown. In dealing with the Crusade movement as a cause, it will be necessary to help the children to see the effect produced on the people of northern Europe by their coming into contact with the more highly cultivated people in southern Europe; and the effect produced on the people of Europe by their mingling with the nations of the luxurious East--the Greeks of Constantinople and the brilliant Mohammedan scholars of Palestine. The Crusades made the people dissatisfied with the conditions that had prevailed so long in Europe, and this fact alone gave an impetus to the New Learning.
The relation of printing to the spread of the movement is evident. The introduction of printing meant the cheapening of books, their more general use, and the spread of education. This was followed by a growing independence of thought, and a desire for greater political and religious freedom.
The other causes may be similarly treated.
5. The New Learning was represented in England by a group of scholars of whom Erasmus, Colet, and More were the chief. The great churchmen, too, were its patrons. Men of every rank were interested, and the movement affected the whole life of the people. A new interest was taken in education, in art, in religion, and in social reform. Old methods of instruction were superseded by more rational ones. Hundreds of new schools were established for the benefit of the middle cla.s.ses. The whole tendency of the New Learning was toward a higher intellectual and more moral life.
6. Its effects:
(_a_) It awakened a desire for an intellectual life and for social reform;
(_b_) It made possible the Reformation;
(_c_) It led to the establishment of schools and libraries and to the extension of the usefulness of the universities;
(_d_) It aroused the desire for liberty and the spirit of enterprise, and encouraged commercial activity;
(_e_) It inspired some of the world"s greatest artists in painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, and music.
(_f_) It implanted the seeds of freedom of thought and fostered the spirit of scientific research;
(_g_) It supplied higher ideals of life and conduct, a fact which became responsible to a large extent for the great improvement made in the condition of the people, and in the development of Europe since that time.
NOTE: References to the discoveries made by Copernicus, Columbus, and the Cabots should be made. Pupils should read or hear short accounts of Erasmus, More, and Colet. A careful development of the causes and meaning of the movement should aid the pupils to antic.i.p.ate its chief results.
It is a.s.sumed, of course, that the study of this topic will occupy several lesson periods.
THE FIGHT FOR CONSt.i.tUTIONAL LIBERTY IN CANADA, 1759-1867.
In the struggle for const.i.tutional liberty in British Canada, there are several distinct stages:
I. 1760 to 1763--Military Rule:
1. Amherst the nominal governor; Canada divided into three districts
2. Little disturbance of French customs; the _habitants_ content
3. Influx of "old" subjects--their character. (See _Ontario Public School History of Canada_, p. 109; _History of Canada_, Lucas and Egerton, Part II, pp. 4 and 7.)
II. 1763 to 1774 (Quebec Act):
1. Period of Civil Government under General Murray
2. Unrest owing to demands of the "old" subjects
3. Conditions of government:
(_a_) Governor and Advisory Council of twelve all appointed by Crown
(_b_) a.s.sembly permitted but not feasible; depended on will of Governor
(_c_) British law, both civil and criminal, prevailed
(_d_) All money matters in hands of Council.
4. At this time the French greatly outnumbered the British, and the fear of the Revolution of the American Colonies led to the French being favoured in the Quebec Act, 1774.
III. 1774 to 1791--Quebec Act to Const.i.tutional Act:
1. Both "old" and "new" subjects dissatisfied--the French with British Court procedure, the British with French feudal customs.
2. Provisions of the Quebec Act:
(_a_) Change of boundaries (See text-book.)
(_b_) Governor and Legislative Council appointed; no a.s.sembly called.
(_c_) French Civil Law; British Criminal Law
(_d_) No oath required, as before, hostile to the Roman Catholic Church--beginning of religious liberty
(_e_) Legislative Council had no control of taxation
IV. 1791 to 1841--Const.i.tutional Act to Act of Union Provisions of Const.i.tutional Act:
1. Upper and Lower Canada divided, because French and British could not agree on many points.
2. Each Province had a Governor, a Legislative Council, a Legislative a.s.sembly, and an Executive Council. The Legislative Council was composed of the highest officials, appointed practically for life, and responsible to no one. Many of these were also members of the Executive Council. The Legislative a.s.sembly was elected and was yet without control of the whole revenue, as the Home Government still collected "all duties regulating colonial navigation and commerce."