Western Civilization II / Unit 4 WC2 0326 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Sequencing the Commercial Wars, 1602 to 1783
The idea
The exam hands you the century's wars out of order and asks which came first. The method is three fixed points: the Dutch company's founding in sixteen-oh-two, Utrecht in seventeen thirteen, and the Treaty of Paris in seventeen sixty-three. Everything else falls between or after them.
In practice
Place six events. The Navigation Acts: sixteen fifty-one, after the company and before the first Dutch war of sixteen fifty-two. New Amsterdam becomes New York: sixteen sixty-four, inside the Dutch wars. Frederick takes Silesia: seventeen forty, after Utrecht and before the Seven Years' War of seventeen fifty-six. Plassey: seventeen fifty-seven, the war's second year. The Declaration of Independence: seventeen seventy-six, after Paris. French entry into the American war: seventeen seventy-eight, two years later. The order reads company, Acts, Dutch wars, New York, Utrecht, Silesia, Seven Years' War, Plassey, Paris, independence, French entry.
Where people slip
Two of these rest on the witness alone: Silesia and the Austrian Succession, which the anchor never names. The company's founding year is the anchor's. The order holds whichever source you cite.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
- 0306The VOC, 1602: The First Corporation
- 0309Britain Imitates the Dutch: The Treasury of 1667 and the Navigation Acts
- 0310Three Dutch Wars, New York, Jamaica, Florida
- 0322Europe After Utrecht: The Austrian Succession and the Pragmatic Sanction
- 0324The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763: Canada and India Lost
- 0325The American Revolution as a Great-Power War
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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