American Republic Course Schedule


UNIT I: WORLDS COLLIDE

Week 1 | August 24 – August 26:
Introduction to the Course and Deep Background

Reading : Jared Diamond, “ Why Did Human History Unfold Differently on
Different Continents for the Last 13,000 Years?” [online]


Week 2 | August 29 – Sept 2
The Amerindian and European Worlds On the Eve of Contact

Reading 1: Tindall and Shi, 5-8 | Early Amerindian Cultures
Reading 2: William Cronon, “Seasons of Want and Plenty” [online]
Reading 3: TBA | Renaissance Europe

Week 3 | Sept 5 – Sept 9 [Sept 5: No Class, Labor Day Holiday ]
Contact and the Spanish Empire

Reading 1: Tindall and Shi, 8-13 | Columbus and the Columbian Exchange
Viewing 1: 1492: Conquest of Paradise | film assignment | website
Reading 2: Tindall and Shi, 14-20 | The Spanish Empire


Week 4 | Sept 12 – Sept 16
The English Delay and Colonial Stirrings
Reading 1: Tindall and Shi, 20-22 | The English Delay and Protestant Reformation
Reading 2: Tindall and Shi, 22-24 | English Exploration

UNIT II: BRITISH NORTH AMERICA  

Week 5 | Sept 19 – Sept 23
Virginia and the Chesapeake

Reading 1: Edmund Morgan, “Jamestown Fiasco” [online pdf ]
Reading 2: Tindall and Shi, 25-30 | Settlement: Virginia and the Chesapeake
Reading 3: Tindall and Shi, 61-68, 100-104 | Society and Economy in Southern Colonies
Reading 4: Edmund Morgan, “Slavery and Freedom,” 16-29 [online pdf]
Begin with “ Virginia from the beginning was conceived . . . .”

Week 6 | Sept 26 – Sept 30
Massachusetts and New England

Reading 1: Tindall and Shi, 30-38 | Settlement: Massachusetts and New England
Reading 2: Tindall and Shi, 68-77 | Society and Economy in New England
Reading 3: William Cronon, “That Wilderness Should Turn a Mart” [online]

Week 7 | Oct 3 – Oct 7
Pennsylvania and the Middle Colonies

Reading 1: Tindall and Shi, 46-47 | Settlement: Pennsylvania and Delaware
Reading 2: Tindall and Shi, 42-46 | Settlement: New York and New Jersey
Reading 3: Tindall and Shi, 77-82 | Society and Economy in the Middle Colonies

Week 8 | Oct 10 – 14
The Colonial World in the Eighteenth Century

Reading 1: Tindall and Shi, 80-89, 92-100 | The Colonial Life, Spirit, and Politic
Reading 2: Tindall and Shi, 104-114 | Colonial Systems and The Great War for the Empire

MIDTERM EXAM: October 12

Midterm Grades will be available in class on October 14.

October 14: Last day to drop without grade of F. Last day to resign without receiving WP or WF. Degree applications to be filed in Registrar's Office by students graduating in May, 2006.