Within this episode I share a narrative look at the role of Nationalism throughout the school year in AP European history and attempt to use philosophical methods as a way to wrestle with the topic to help me understand it in a more complex way.

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Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory

Recommended Websites:

Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events)

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠

Foreign Policy Research Institute Link:

⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠

Council on Foreign Relations

⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠

Global Conflict Tracker

⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠

Institute for the Study of War

⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

Within this episode we trek through and summarize the working conditions of the Industrial Revolution and how they paved the way for labor movements and ideological reform. This the middle of our series on the Effects of Industrialization.

Trapped in History Email Links:

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[email protected]

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TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/

Instagram: robertmalcomson

Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory

Recommended Websites:

Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events)

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠

Foreign Policy Research Institute Link:

⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠

Council on Foreign Relations

⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠

Global Conflict Tracker

⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠

Institute for the Study of War

⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

Within this episode we take a deep dive into understanding Urbanization in Industrial Europe in the 19th Century. This is mainly to help AP European History teachers and students, but I hope it also addresses any philosophical curiosities that you may have about how does this topic still impact us today.

Trapped in History Email Links:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Social Media Outlets:

Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/

TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/

Instagram: robertmalcomson

Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory

Recommended Websites:

Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events)

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠

Foreign Policy Research Institute Link:

⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠

Council on Foreign Relations

⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠

Global Conflict Tracker

⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠

Institute for the Study of War

⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

In this short episode, I explain why I haven't posted as much in January due to illnesses. I also share how I will adjust and plan on content and teaching as I have missed school due to illness, snow, and ice for over two weeks now. This will be an interesting challenge. Expect episodes 66-69 to cover the main topics of Unit 6: Effects of Industrialization for AP European History. Then we will quickly summarize Unit 7 for this year before deep diving into Unit 8 content in order to catch up with pacing. More interviews and episodes over moves, videogames, etc. are soon to come. Thank you all!

Trapped in History Email Links:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Social Media Outlets:

Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/

TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/

Instagram: robertmalcomson

Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory

Recommended Websites:

Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events)

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠

Foreign Policy Research Institute Link:

⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠

Council on Foreign Relations

⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠

Global Conflict Tracker

⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠

Institute for the Study of War

⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

Within this episode we start with a short, macro narrative look at the Effects of Industrialization before we take a deeper dive in future episodes.

Document in Episode:

“The industrial system has brought the mass of workers together in great cities, where they are crowded into wretched dwellings, deprived of all cleanliness, ventilation, and health. The streets are narrow, the houses badly built, damp, and filthy. Disease spreads unchecked, and the worker, worn out by excessive labor, poisoned by bad air and poor food, is condemned to an early death. Civilization has here reached its highest point, and its lowest.”

Friedrich Engels, German social philosopher and political economist, The Condition of the Working Class in England, written during Engels’s residence in Manchester, 1844–1845; published in Leipzig, 1845.Three Philosophical Questions to End the Episode

1. Can a society call itself “progressive” if economic growth depends on human suffering?

2. Is it the responsibility of governments to limit freedom in the marketplace to protect workers, and if so, where is the line?

3. Does technological advancement make us more human, or does it risk turning people into tools of efficiency?

Trapped in History Email Links:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Social Media Outlets:

Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/

TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/

Instagram: robertmalcomson

Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory

Recommended Websites:

Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events)

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠

Foreign Policy Research Institute Link:

⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠

Council on Foreign Relations

⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠

Global Conflict Tracker

⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠

Institute for the Study of War

⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

Document:

“The great object of the present negotiations must be to re-establish the equilibrium of Europe. The system of political balance, once destroyed, can only be restored by a wise distribution of power among the states. It is not the ambition of one nation, but the peace of all, that must guide our councils. If Europe is to be preserved from renewed convulsions, no single power must be allowed to dominate the rest, nor should revolutionary principles be permitted to undermine the legitimate foundations of government.”

Source Line: Klemens von Metternich, Conservative diplomat and Austrian foreign minister, Memorandum on the Objectives of the Congress of Vienna, written during the negotiations of the Congress of Vienna, Vienna, 1814.

1. The primary purpose of the document is to

A. justify nationalist movements that emerged from the French Revolution

B. promote liberal constitutional reforms across Europe

C. argue for a diplomatic settlement based on balance of power and stability

D. defend Napoleon’s territorial conquests as legitimate

2. The author’s point of view is best understood as shaped by

A. revolutionary ideals favoring popular sovereignty

B. experience as a conservative statesman seeking to preserve monarchical order

C. fear of social upheaval caused by Enlightenment thought

D. economic concerns related to industrialization

3. Which historical development most directly explains the concerns expressed in the passage?

A. The rise of industrial capitalism in Western Europe

B. The spread of nationalist revolutions in Latin America

C. The destabilizing effects of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

D. The decline of absolutist monarchies before 1789

4. Which of the following outcomes most clearly reflects the principles advocated in the document?

A. The creation of the Concert of Europe to preserve diplomatic cooperation

B. The expansion of suffrage and parliamentary government

C. The unification of Germany and Italy

D. The abolition of hereditary monarchy

Within this episode I begin a two part series on how to tackle multiple choice questions while referencing strategies from excellent teachers such as Larry Treadwell, Kenneth LeSage, and Steve Heimler. This is a philosophical and strategic episode and the next one will be more about wrestling with an actual example. Thank you for your support.

Social Media Outlets:

Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/

TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/

Instagram: robertmalcomson

Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory

Recommended Websites:

Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events)

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠

Foreign Policy Research Institute Link:

⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠

Council on Foreign Relations

⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠

Global Conflict Tracker

⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠

Institute for the Study of War

⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

Within this episode I cover a long form narrative of the "story" behind the first semester in AP European History from 1450-1815. Enjoy this summary and philosophical narrative.

Trapped in History Email Links:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Social Media Outlets:

Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/

TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/

Instagram: robertmalcomson

Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory

Recommended Websites:

Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events)

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠

Foreign Policy Research Institute Link:

⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠

Council on Foreign Relations

⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠

Global Conflict Tracker

⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠

Institute for the Study of War

⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

Within this episode, I reflect on the First Community Seminar in Russellville, KY on November 22nd at the SEEK Museum. This was our first time extending this discussion method beyond the classroom into our community in hopes of encouraging a culture of normalcy in terms of bringing people together with public philosophical discussions. This time it was a focus on the Philosophy of Community.

Philosophy of Community Questions:

Can a community that stops asking questions ever truly progress?

Does studying our local history make us better citizens or merely nostalgic ones?

What kind of legacy does an ordinary person leave, and how do those legacies shape a community?

Can a divided community still learn from one another, or does understanding require unity first?

Is public education still the most powerful tool for community change?

At what point does preservation become resistance to progress?

Who gets to tell the story of a place, the historian, the artist, or the people who lived it?

What do we owe to the places that raised us?

Social Media Links:

Trapped in History Email Links:

[email protected]

[email protected]

Social Media Outlets:

Facebook Group Link: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/zr3rKGzVG2ZN4x8n/

TikTok Link: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZP881jy21/

Instagram: robertmalcomson

Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory

Recommended Websites:

Preston Stewart YouTube Channel (Military/History/Global Events)

⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PrestonStewart⁠

Foreign Policy Research Institute Link:

⁠https://www.fpri.org/⁠

Council on Foreign Relations

⁠https://www.cfr.org/⁠

Global Conflict Tracker

⁠https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker⁠

Institute for the Study of War

⁠https://www.understandingwar.org/⁠

Within this episode I spoke in a narrative format about the scope of the Enlightenment and it's connection to past and future topics.

Wrestling with a Primary Source: 

Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, Jesuit Cardinal, Theologian, and Advisor to the Roman Inquisition, Letter to Paolo Antonio Foscarini, 1615.

“I say that if there were a true demonstration that the sun is at the center of the world and the earth in the third heaven, and that the sun does not circle the earth but the earth circles the sun, then one would have to proceed with great care in explaining the Scriptures that appear contrary, and say rather that we do not understand them, than that what is demonstrated is false. But I will not believe that there is such a demonstration, until it is shown me. It is one thing to explain the Scriptures according to one’s own fancy, and another to prove the motion of the earth truly to exist by solid arguments. And to want to affirm that the sun is really fixed in the center of the heavens and that the earth turns very swiftly around it is a very dangerous thing, not only by irritating theologians and philosophers, but also by harming the Holy Faith through making the Holy Scripture false.”Closing Reflection — Philosophical Questions for Discussion

1. Can faith and reason truly coexist, or must one always yield to the other when they collide?
2. If knowledge and freedom are born from questioning authority, are there limits to what should be questioned?

3. The Enlightenment celebrated reason as humanity’s greatest power — but can reason alone make us moral?

Trapped in History Email Links:

[email protected]

[email protected]

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Instagram: robertmalcomson

Substack Link: trappedinhistory.substack.com / @trappedinhistory