Machiavelli: The Prince (AP Euro)

www.tomrichey.net/euro
An introduction to Machiavelli's political pragmatism using selections from his classic work, The Prince, for AP European History students who want to review for the exam. This is the first in my upcoming series on "civic virtue" in the Renaissance. Bill Clinton makes a brief appearance.

[@senojah]

The Prince was the favorite book of my former husband. He ran the household by the philosophy that “it is better to be feared than loved” and treated the children and me following this rule. We feared his anger. We left him. This is no way to run a marriage.

[@yourgunnaluagh]

I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

[@jergurto6712]

Crying so hard over this comment X'D

[@beardedmarxist6501]

Since you made a video on Machiavelli, I'd like to make a suggesstion. That being the history of the Medici family through the 15th to 18th century.

[@graceskrentny8288]

Yes please do!!!!

[@elzypeters5175]

I'm watching out of fear and love

[@grenmoyo3968]

I have seen enough of Tom's videos to know that a video without him drinking tea, is not a real history video.

[@Atlas2040]

I can't thank you enough for these well informative videos. I may be in college for geology, but I binge watch your videos over and over again. I think that learning is something someone does throughout a lifetime, and what you are doing is more important than you may realize. Keep up the great work.

[@terryharrison8669]

Matt Damon has let himself go.

[@tomrichey]

That's one way to look at it! lol

[@mohammedalzahrani6376]

lol

[@HannibalLunaBangla]

That's rather Tom Ripley

[@lucyl15]

Matt Damn has let himself go Get an education

[@tomrichey]

I appreciate it! I plan to post a video or two a week this year, so soon, there will be plenty more where this came from!

[@AlexaDeWit]

But what if I'm watching it because I'm interested in history and am not a student at all?

[@tomrichey]

+Alexa DeWit Glad to hear it!

[@alexarnold8461]

I can't take ap history. I'm in the UK.

[@ViridianVictoria]

That's the reason I do it, if it's weird then we can be both be weird :P

[@Strideo1]

Hey! That's why I'm watching this too.

[@devina8812]

At my school we can take ap us history

[@EthanShreve18]

I am actually the freak that loves rennassaince philosphy instead of watching the video cause of an exam.

[@quxify]

+Ethan Shreve yep in the same boat, i study chemistry, but these videos are great ^^

[@a_aysh]

Same

[@Sewrays]

Try to read his work on livy or on the florentine republic. You will find out that the recipe found in 'The Prince' only applies in emergencies. The preferred system according to Machiavelli is a variant of the roman republic.

[@brenocaldas153]

You deserve much more views. Great channel. Subscribed! Greetings from a brazilian philosophy's enthusiastic! haha

[@tomrichey]

Breno Carioca Thanks so much! My channel's been growing, so maybe one day, I'll have the views you think I deserve. Thanks for taking the time to comment! :D

[@staciatibbetts548]

I don't have AP Euro at my school. I am watching this out of love for learning history.

[@domliu941]

Your videos are really helping me self-study for AP Euro in addition to my textbook and "Modern European History" by Viault! Thanks for compiling such a great collection of lectures and tips!

[@mybadassaccount1]

Fear of being ignorant is a great motivator for me. Good video.

[@tomrichey]

Which explains why you're watching my videos. Glad I can help you learn!

[@yndianamontes]

Revisiting Machiavelli with you has been interesting. Thank you!

[@duanewaihi4453]

I had my daughter study Machiavelli before studying American history. Great history teachers are a rare and dying breed. Your students are very fortunate to have you.

[@chasekemp6642]

I'm close to starting my student teaching out here in California and I really love your teaching methods. I'll definitely be modeling my pedagogy after you, sir!

[@tomrichey]

That is an honor to hear! Best of luck with your student teaching experience.

[@Jewclaw]

I was just curious about Machiavelli, and I really enjoyed this video. Thanks for the upload

[@isabelyang991]

damn been watching this guy since high school for all my ap history classes, after four years cant believe im back and this even helps me for my college philosophy classes. thanks so much for your amazing content

[@thinkmackay8954]

Here is another viewer who is not taking any tests, AP or not, already holds graduate degrees from an Ivy but not in Classics nor History, and speaker of English as second language. Great lectures and plan to watch all of your uploads. Thanks, from my heart.

[@thedancingfork]

Your videos are so great!! I found them while I was looking for background info on the Renaissance for a subject I'm taking overseas in Italy soon, but seriously now I am just watching them for fun!! I think even my lecturer in Italy is going to work hard to beat your lectures!! Thanks so much for posting :D :D :D Definitely keep up the great work!! :D :D

[@tomrichey]

Poppet Pasta Wow! Those are very kind words. I'll keep trying my best to live up to them!

[@jaskamakynen7766]

Macchiavelli just become my hero, acting as a development manager all of this sounds rather familiar.

[@murtazanaeem2383]

Great job Tom, really found it amazing and helpful.

[@charlesgarcia5991]

I mean I'm studying for my ap exam but I love the way you explain the historical events it grabs my attention and intrest

[@silverwinteroak]

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to put together such concise, informational videos. I am a university student cramming for finals and though I have extensive notes I am also studying, this helps put it all together in a way I can potentially remember. We will find out in a few hours!

[@tomrichey]

Eryn P. O. Thank you for watching the videos and taking a bit of time to support my work by commenting. I hope your exam went well!

[@saidiboutayeb2322]

Thank you so much your explanation and clarification about philosophy was most valuable for me

[@hiphughes]

Great job Tom!

[@amandasaylors896]

Great job. This video will definitely help with the final test!

[@LightningDoesStrikeThrice]

Ironic you used an Office meme because Dwight is quite machiavellian in nature but still just as lovable😂

[@Snappldel]

Thank you, Matt Damon! This video was a great help. I just finished listening to an audio book of The Prince, it was three and a half hours long. I fell asleep through it and panicked after because I have to write a response paper about it. Thank you so much for your video. It was much shorter and effective. I have to ask because I'm curious. What are you drinking in the vid, whiskey or tea? lol

[@bucephalusv.6071]

subscribed and i would say that Machiavelli would also be fascinated with how Matt Damon did that Bourne Identity thing.

[@tomrichey]

HAHA Thanks! And I love your name! One day, I will post my lecture on Alexander the Great and Bucephalus.

[@bucephalusv.6071]

Tom Richey You do? Oh thank you. Some mistaken it to that disease (hydrocephalus) and it always make me kinda mad. Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar please. Lots of love from Philippines. :)

[@1776alltheway]

thank you tom i can now understand a simpler version of the this very in depth book

[@lusine373]

Thank you for your wonderful channel!!! You are doing a great job! I wish all teachers were like you, so students would start thinking about history as an interesting subject)

[@swimming36]

Thank you so much. These videos are really helping me study for my first test tomorrow!

[@tomrichey]

swimming36 Glad to hear it. Good luck on your test!

[@maxwelloverly4372]

Missed your lecture on this but, this helped so much.

[@AlexanderLayko]

Machiavelli is the Darth Vader of philosophy. The spiritual antipode of someone like Marcus Aurelius. The kind of person Plato warned us about.

[@elianeaguiar4489]

I love your videos! Thank you so much!

[@lightoflothlorien]

Watched this to learn more about Machiavelli, can easily say this is the most fun I've had just from watching an e-lecture

[@tomrichey]

Eugene Tai I'm glad to hear that, Eugene! I've had a lot of fun explaining Machiavelli to students ever since I figured out how to bring Bill Clinton into it!

[@ksdecker12]

i am watching because i love you tom richey

[@dosangsang7525]

wonderful! thanks Tom.

[@jorgeforeman9877]

Mr. Richey, I would just like to thank you for your wonderful high quality videos. It was at 9:11 when you commanded me not to fail the AP European history exam that I decided that I must pass this exam. I had accepted that I would probably fail the AP European history exam, but you gave me the hope to try. It is now my mission to watch all of your videos tonight on two times speed so that I may pass my exam which is taking place in about a day and a half. I truly appreciate your dedication and the great amount of effort that must have gone into creating so many informational videos.

[@DemDoolies]

+Jorge Foreman Good luck on the test on Friday! We're gonna need it :)

[@Crunchyapples1]

+DemDoolie how was the test for you :/ I had form C and it was hard.....

[@DemDoolies]

John Kim My form was "S" - it was hard, but not as much as I expected - a lot from the late 1800s and early 1900s on mine

[@Crunchyapples1]

DemDoolie U had S?!! Yah, at my school everyone had S or C.. and people with S said it was quite simple, though I heard the Dbq was about bismarck, and they said it was quite challenging.. how was the dbq for u?

[@DemDoolies]

John Kim The DBQ wasn't terrible, but I accidentally went on a tangent at the end, which I know is gonna hurt my score. Aside from that part, the DBQ made sense

[@tomrichey]

Thanks, Keith!

[@wuuspigs]

Great channel. Wonderful effort. Really impressive.

[@tomrichey]

***** I appreciate it! I hope I've earned your subscription.

[@wuuspigs]

You've earned my sub, respect, gratitude and hopefully the right to walk around feeling good about yourself:)

[@DNDStoryTime]

Missed this in regular class so glad its on here hahah

[@rylieweaver1516]

Not watching out of fear, I'm watching because I love your vids

[@ebsfbs]

Tom, I start to eat and opened this video, just because I love history, philosophy, documentaries etc. I know Machiavelli, but still I like to watch your way of teaching. Here, Love > Fear, just saying :)

[@vaishalisharma1609]

Its very easy way of to make learn complex and similiar ideologies and clear diffrentiations of them very nice lecture series

[@vaishalisharma1609]

Absolutely !!!

[@edoverdrive]

Well, in your macchiavelian video you said we viewers were watching this because an exam is coming and we fear failing. Can assure you that's not my case. Believe it or not, it wasn't fear that made me watch your movies, but love for knowledge (which actually is what philosophy means!) Keep up the good work!

[@tomrichey]

ed Overdrive What an honor! I love that part of my audience watches voluntarily - true lovers of wisdom!

[@chackoabr776]

Thanos was a true machiavellian.

[@tomrichey]

LOL Monica! Stay tuned for my Northern Renaissance video. I just finished it and am about to upload it!

[@ismajaffery6071]

please make a lecture on political thoughts of karl popper, pierre bourdieu, john rawls, frances fukuyama, foucault, derrida, jean paul starre and rene descartes

[@MattJones-qp9ld]

What is the name of the artwork with the text "Don't Push It!" that appears in the video around 9:46?

[@colinsilver1041]

Haha. I just freaking love this guy. He just inspires intrinsic motivation.

[@kuldeep0993]

Amazing video sir.. I have science background. I am an engineer..But the way taught is very understandable....and the example are amazing

[@audreyyen-suin1635]

This was great. Thank you.

[@moizrhozel8307]

I honestly do not know anything about this history bcz i live in dubai, and I'm trying to get some knowledge about it because I'm playing the game and they are saying about this title. So what's wrong if I'm curious about it?.btw this history looks great and thanks to you for making this video.

[@karim_beats]

Nice! I have mid-term exam today and this helped!

[@cassandraabel3988]

Awesome... you un-jumbled my brain from my attempts to read the Prince. I actually got caught up in your videos and now unfortunately have what does the fox say stuck in my head.

[@tomrichey]

HAHA! Glad to hear this helped! And my bad for the song!

[@shakespearaamina9117]

wow!!!! thanks! Tom.

[@nikkitajoyner]

Thank you for these videos! its helping me get through my classes :)

[@nikkitajoyner]

Im actually enjoying this class a lot more than i thought i would :p.... AHAHAH man at the end when you say im watching out of fear, lmao more like the exact opposite I'm trying to impress my teacher

[@readingthroughhistor]

Very well put. I like it.

[@ProducerStefan]

Nice work!

[@shakespearaamina9117]

I am not a student!!! I love your videos they are the best ever!!!!

[@kylatungpalan5882]

Thank you so much!

[@neophobicnyctophile8264]

8:58: NO! I'm actually watching your video because I happen to enjoy learning about history. I'm not even a student anymore, and when I was, it was for Computer Science.

[@josephchapman9371]

I love Philosophy. I literally just watch these videos for fun now haha, my exams ended a few months ago haha

[@tomrichey]

Joseph Chapman I'm thankful I've kept you as a student even beyond your need to pass a test! Looking forward to posting more philosophy videos this year!

[@jeremymiller4189]

Do personality psychologists use a different definition of Machiavellian from what you're using here for the dark triad and dark tetrad?

[@tomrichey]

jeremy miller That is an excellent question, Jeremy! I am not certain, but generally, it tends to describe an "end justifies the means" mentality in any field to the best of my knowledge.

[@loveaction12]

Hi Mr Richey. Before I say anything, I find your channel very interesting, being European AP Euro is quite an odd thing, so I'm not here for the exam. This is an interesting interpretation. I always found Machiavelli to be somehow similar to Hobbes on the premise of statesmanship,but your Roman Empire analogy is interesting. Florence being the city state he was from had a troubled history with the Medici and the surrounding city states and of course Louis XII who pursued his claim on Naples with vigorous energy. Machiavelli was a diplomat, therefore pragmatism must be the virtue which controlled his rationality. Then thinking about it was all Machiavelli wanted was order ? Italy during the Italian wars period is completely void of any order or consensus. Roman Empire was not a state which embodied the ideals of Christian absolutism, it was a state of indulgence, of unrestricted human character. Again, Machiavelli might have never been serious. I haven't read his 'Discourses' so I don't know.

[@danwalton9855]

How do u look so much like Matt Damon???

[@anonnymus1227]

I'm watching this because of pure interest in history, and to be honest, Politics. I'm self-studying revolutionary works from known figures throughout history, ie. The Prince.

[@markmessa5888]

What Machiavelli would say about the teacher drinking beer in a mug during his class?

[@dejabu24]

great stuff , great channel

[@tomrichey]

jeffrey dahmere Thanks on both counts! Glad my videos are helping you.

[@BrandorKOB]

I actually really love my AP Euro teacher

[@ImRezaF]

Did anyone ever recognized that there's the Bourne identity behind him ? is this some kind of easter egg, richey ?

[@meghabansal8734]

I love watching your videos not that I am afraid of anyone or any exam to give ...lol

[@tomrichey]

I’m honored! Stay in touch!

[@lorezzoalbaniny1258]

I'm actually watching this video because high school is inefficient and because I love history.

[@confectrix798]

I watch because I both fear and love

[@nuur2825]

I was about to drop this class but your videos may have changed that....

[@tomrichey]

Wolferaz Noor That is great to hear! If I've stopped someone from dropping AP Euro, that's just awesome!

[@anakinsaephanh2134]

Why do I watch this on my free time only in interest of philosophy and as well not even taking the course? Stumbling on you will be beneficial for the future

[@tomrichey]

That's a very high compliment you've paid me! So glad that part of my audience watches my videos for no other reason but their own edification and enjoyment!

[@Fudz4]

Tom Richey Me Too! Love your videos! :D

[@alexjbradley]

I'm hoping by some miracle you'll see this (or anyone who can help it would be MASSIVELY appreciated!) I'm currently doing an assignment on the subject of power. I have to choose two philosophers - I've chosen Machiavelli but I'm really struggling with another philosopher. Anyone got any ideas? Thank you :D

[@allisonwinter5839]

You could do Thomas Hobbes who was an advocate for absolute monarchy, also maybe Rousseau? If you want a philosopher that argues for power differently than what Machiavelli argues for you could do John Locke or maybe Montequieu? All these people are from after the renaissance though. I hope that was helpful.

[@george_IIV]

I actually am watching this video because I love my teacher so much

[@Edgar-zf2se]

Epic video

[@rachelliu1363]

when i saw michael from the office i died!!! love the office

[@CrunchMoo]

Actually, I'm just watching this lecture because I love 14th and 15th century political texts. Sorry.

[@HxH2011DRA]

+CrunchMoo Me too!

[@vincentziliak2712]

Civic virtue: Effective political leadership rather than taking the moral high ground Pragmatism: Do whatever works to get the job done Machiavellianism: The end justifies the means, no matter how cruel or otherwise. All about effectiveness I understand that the whole point of this lecture is about how closely tied these things are, but I really don't see much of a difference between them. What makes these three principles fundamentally different from each other?

[@tomrichey]

You’ve got the right idea. Machiavellian tactics involve a pragmatic approach to civic virtue (rather than one based on idealism).

[@vincentziliak2712]

@@tomrichey Thank you so much!

[@TamingofSpyro]

Jokes on you Tom, I'm not even in AP History. Just love your videos :)

[@kentonjoegibsonii2211]

Excellent speech, is that whiskey in your mug. KEep up the good videos.

[@ichibaopac2860]

It bothers me how much standard testing in the USA controls the educational system. Teacher seem to have very limited professional freedom in terms of choosing content. Are my concerns legitimate?

[@melia5361]

Matt Damon has Jason Bourne stuff in his classroom

[@matchasketch8224]

I read the Prince before watching this. I came here b/c I just wanted to watch your video :)

[@nicolesaunders7027]

Great channel. You kind of look like David Web.

[@sonnybuckley4764]

good teacher

[@sonnybuckley4764]

***** u got it!

[@bobjohnson-yk6tf]

Telling Obama to read The Prince. Power move..

[@tomrichey]

He should!

[@Valerioraschiamare]

I love me some Matt Damon and Machiavelli

[@hunters4754]

bourne identity lowkey in the background... coincidence I think not!

[@georgevavolil7005]

Am I listening to Matt Damon

[@mgirlie95]

10:16 - well, King David's screwed...

[@seattlesspider-man2152]

to be fair this video was assigned it wasnt just fear :)

[@clairec3925]

Nah, Machiavelli's philosophy is amazing. I loved reading excerpts of The Prince and I have thought about fear and love. Christianity is complicated. Fearing someone and loving them is not the same obviously. There is a line drawn there. So when it comes to God, is it better to love or fear God? How could you love something you are afraid of? I think allot. SOmetimes too much.