AP World History : Philosophies and Ideologies 1750 to 1900

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP World History

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Example Questions

Example Question #62 : Philosophies And Ideologies

Who is the initial founder of Utilitarianism?

Possible Answers:

Jeremy Bentham

Richard Mervyn Hare

Henry Sidgwick 

John Stuart Mill 

Correct answer:

Jeremy Bentham

Explanation:

Bentham is credited as the founder of Utilitarian morals. His philosophy was meant to signal a shift in the way society functioned. he wanted to change how society viewed good and bad. He sought to make it more analytical by measuring good and bad as whether something helped more people than it hurt rather than on old moral codes. John Stuart Mill developed Utilitarianism and is probably its most famous proponent, but his work followed Bentham's by a few years.

Example Question #212 : Ap World History

The late 1800's saw the rise of a radical political philosophy whose central idea was to destroy government influence. What was this philosophy called?

Possible Answers:

Communism 

Fascism 

Socialism

Anarchism 

Correct answer:

Anarchism 

Explanation:

Anarchists were a group that wanted to end all government. They felt that people should be the only ones to determine their fate. They felt no government should have any control over any person.

Example Question #71 : Philosophies And Ideologies

Which social philosophy held that goal of society should be the greatest happiness for the greatest number of its citizens?

Possible Answers:

Totalitarianism

Feudalism

Utilitarianism

Capitalism

Elitism

Correct answer:

Utilitarianism

Explanation:

Utilitarianism encouraged the government and the Elite to ensure that the greatest number of citizens benefited from the distribution of resources, materials, and profit. This became popular in the Industrial revolution as a middle class developed, the poor got poorer, and there was a surplus of material goods in the economy as a result of factory production.

Example Question #222 : Ap World History

Liberalism would reject which of the following beliefs?

Possible Answers:

Constitutional governments with clearly enumerated powers

Laissez-faire economics

Rule by a just monarch who preserves traditional values

Natural rights of liberty and equality

Republican forms of government

Correct answer:

Rule by a just monarch who preserves traditional values

Explanation:

Liberals worked to push society forward and have the voice of the populace represented in government. They would be opposed to any government that favored traditional values over progress, and monarchical over elected officials.

Example Question #223 : Ap World History

The primary purpose of the Monroe Doctrine was to __________.

Possible Answers:

prevent European interference in the Americas

provide justification for the American invasion of Vietnam

combat the spread of communism around the world

provide justification for continuous western expansion by Americans

establish a United Nations governing body, led by the United States

Correct answer:

prevent European interference in the Americas

Explanation:

The Monroe Doctrine was issued by American President James Monroe in 1823. It was issued in reaction to the independence movements taking place in Latin America. The doctrine states that the whole of the American hemisphere is under American protection and that the United States will intervene to prevent a renewal of European interference in the Americas. It has remained a significant part of American foreign policy ever since.

Example Question #72 : Philosophies And Ideologies

The Self Strengthening Movement in China emerged in response to __________.

Possible Answers:

Japan’s rapid militarization at the end of the nineteenth century

the death of Mao Zedong

the Soviet Union’s growing influence in eastern Asia

rising poverty and illiteracy among the Chinese population

humiliating military defeats suffered against European powers

Correct answer:

humiliating military defeats suffered against European powers

Explanation:

The Self Strengthening Movement emerged in China in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was a series of institutional and military reforms that were enacted following a humiliating series of concessions and defeats at the hands of European powers.

Example Question #73 : Philosophies And Ideologies

The character and tone of the American Revolution was greatly shaped by __________.

Possible Answers:

the English Civil War

religious intolerance

the Scientific Revolution

enlightenment philosophy

the Industrial Revolution

Correct answer:

enlightenment philosophy

Explanation:

The character and tone of the American Revolution (much like the French Revolution a decade later) was greatly shaped by enlightenment philosophy. The political theories of enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, and Baron de Montesquieu are variously enshrined in the United States’ Constitution.

Example Question #74 : Philosophies And Ideologies

The Communist Manifesto was written by __________.

Possible Answers:

Charles Fourier and Karl Marx

Charles Fourier and Vladimir Lenin

Friedrich Engels and Robert Owen

Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Correct answer:

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Explanation:

The Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and published in 1848. In The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels outline the history of human society through the lens of class struggle. They then provide advice on how workers can overthrow the established hierarchy and form a classless society by seizing the means of production from the capitalists in a bloody revolution.

Example Question #227 : Ap World History

Theodor Herzl is often remembered as __________.

Possible Answers:

a resistance fighter during the Russian and German occupation of Poland

one of the earliest figures in the environmental movement

one of the earliest figures in the Zionist movement

the leader of the Russian government following the February Revolution of 1917

a Nazi collaborator during the German occupation of Vichy France

Correct answer:

one of the earliest figures in the Zionist movement

Explanation:

Theodor Herzl is often remembered as one of the leading figures in the Zionist movement. Herzl founded the World Zionist Organization and was instrumental in organizing and encouraging Jewish settlement in Palestine. The Zionist movement, it is worth noting, was the movement to create an independent Jewish state (Israel) in British territory in Palestine.

Example Question #228 : Ap World History

With which of these statements would Jean-Jacques Rousseau most likely disagree?

Possible Answers:

Direct democracy flourishes best in a small state

Individuals must forgo certain personal interests for the betterment of society

Large states require more authoritarian forms of government

Rule through force is not, in and of itself, legitimate

None of these answers is accurate; Rousseau would likely agree with all these statements

Correct answer:

None of these answers is accurate; Rousseau would likely agree with all these statements

Explanation:

All of these statements are statements that the enlightenment writer Jean Jacques-Rousseau would have agreed with. In his writings, like The Social Contract and Discourses on Inequality, Rousseau argued that rule through force is not legitimate and that the only legitimate form of rule comes with the consent of the people. He also argued that individuals enter into a social contract with one another that forces them to forgo certain personal interests and rights for the greater good of society. Finally, Rousseau argued that direct democracy was only feasible in small states and that large states required more authoritarian forms of government.

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