Western Roman Empire Dbq

Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs, and a conclusion. Use evidence from at least four documents in your essay. Support your response with relevant facts, examples, and details. Include outside information.

Historical Context:

In the third century AD Rome faced many problems. In addition to internal decay, the invasion by the Germanic tribes seemed to sound the death knell for the Western Roman Empire. Historians have examined both the internal conditions that weakened the expansive empire and the external force of the barbarian invasions and have presented a variety of explanations for the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Task: Using the information from the documents and your
How was slavery a cause for the decline of the Roman Empire?
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Document 4
…Part of the money went into … the maintenance of the army and of the vast bureaucracy required by a centralized government…the expense led to strangling taxation… The heart was taken out of enterprising men…tenants fled from their farms and businessmen and workmen from their occupations. Private enterprise was crushed & the state was forced to take over many kinds of businesses to keep the machine running. People learned to expect something for nothing. The old Roman virtues of self-reliance & initiative were lost in that part of the population on relief (welfare)…The central government undertook such far reaching responsibility in affairs that the fiber of the citizens weakened.
- From The New deal in Old Rome by Henry