Norfolk State University, Spring 2003
HISTORY 330, Section 01
TTH 11:00a-12:20p, BMH C120
Prof. Jeff Littlejohn
Office: Brown Hall, C156
Office Phone: 823-8984
Office Hours: 9.15-11.00 m-f
Email: jeffreylittlejohn@hotmail.com
Web page: http://www.jefflittlejohn.com

Course Description:
Colonial History presents a survey of the chief cultural, religious, intellectual, and political developments in the Americas between 1300 and 1763. The course covers four primary topics: 1) the meeting of European, Amerindian, and African cultures during the Age of Exploration; 2) the settlement of the Spanish and French colonial systems in the Americas; 3) the settlement of the British colonial system in North America; and, 4) the maturation of the British colonies during the Great War for the Empire.

Required Texts (in order of consideration):
* Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (1999).
* John Kicza, Resilient Cultures (2003).
* Gary B. Nash, Red, White, and Black (4th ed., 2000).
* David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America (1989).

Supplementary Readings:
See the reading guide on the web.

Attendance:
Regular attendance and punctuality are indicative of serious scholarship. You should be in class, awake and aware, and prepared for discussion. Attendance will often be taken. You will get two "mulligans," i.e. occasions on which you may miss class without penalty. You should save these in case you need them. A third missed class will result in a subtraction of 2 points from your semester average. A fourth missed class will cost you a further 5 points. A fifth missed class will result in an F for the term. There will be no exceptions to this rule.

Note: Students who are regularly tardy will be denied entrance to class. After the first two weeks, if the door is closed, then do not enter the room. Class is already in progress.

Classroom Demeanor:
In History 330, students are encouraged to initiate discussion and ask questions. The more you engage the material, the better you will learn it, and the better you will do in the course. To facilitate an open classroom dialogue, students should not: 1) have cell phones or beepers turned on; 2) be reading the school paper or doing other homework; 3) leave early or disturb their fellows.

Grading:
Grading in this course will be based upon 500 possible points.
* Two in-class exams, which will each be worth 150 points.
* One book review, which will be worth 75 points.
* One library research paper, which will be worth 125 points.
* We will use a tiered grading system as follows:

Exams:
A mid-tem and a final exam will be given during the semester. Based upon class notes and the assigned readings, the exams will ask you to: 1) identify key terms and primary sources, and 2) consider crucial questions discussed in class and in the readings. No makeup exams will be offered.

Book Review:
During the term you will write a brief book review on one of our assigned texts (or on an outside reading that has been approved). A book review is obligated to provide the reader with a concise summary of the contents of the book and with an evaluation of these contents.

I. Summary of Contents
Here you should present the thesis of the book (stated or unstated), as well as a summary of the subject matter. Consider the arguments developed by the author and the conclusions. Remember that you are preparing a review of a particular book on a subject, not a summary of the subject.

II. Evaluation
Here you have an opportunity to present your thoughts on the book. Was the author successful in presenting and substantiating a thesis? Is that which was intended achieved? Is the book readable? A note of caution: do not criticize the author for not writing a book you wanted to read. Every author has the right to choose his or her own subject.

Your book review must be flawlessly typewritten and should be 750 words or less.

Library Research Paper:
During the term, each class member will prepare a library research paper based upon primary sources. Any topic dealing with the Age of Exploration or the Colonial World is open for consideration. However, all topics must be approved by the end of the third week of class.

You must use at least three primary sources (documentary collections, newspapers, maps, collected papers, diaries, etc.) in the preparation of you paper. In addition, you should do a thorough review of the literature that has been produced on your subject, being careful to cite other authorities at those points in your paper where you have relied upon them.

Present the results of your research in a paper approximately ten pages in length, using the Chicago Manual of Style (which can be found in abbreviated form in Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations).

Academic Honesty:
"'Academic or academically related misconduct' includes, but is not limited to, unauthorized collaboration or use of external information during examinations; plagiarizing or representing another's ideas as one's own; furnishing false academic information to the University; falsely obtaining, distributing, using or receiving test materials; obtaining or gaining unauthorized academic information or materials; improperly altering or inducing another to improperly alter any academic record; or engaging in any conduct which is intended or reasonably likely to confer upon one's self or another an unfair advantage or unfair benefit respecting an academic or academic matter."

Any violations of the University's Academic Honesty standards will result in a failing grade for the course and a recommendation for University discipline.

Weather Policy:
If the University is in session, our class will meet.


Meeting Topics and Readings

Topic One: When Worlds Collide

Week I, Jan 13-17: The Creation of Two Worlds
Read: Diamond, pp. 13-17; 25-32; and chapter 1

Week II, Jan 20-24: Eurasia Before Contact
Read: Diamond, chapters. 3, 4; 98-103; chaps. 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 18 and epilogue

Week III, Jan 27-31: The Americas Before Contact
Read: Kicza, chapters 1 and 2; Nash, chapter 1

Week IV, Feb 3-Feb 7: Contact
Read: Kicza, chapter 3

Topic Two: The First Colonial Systems: Spain and France in the Americas

Week V, Feb 10-Feb 14: The Spanish Colonial System
Read: Kicza, chapter 4; Nash, chapter 2

Week VI, Feb 17-Feb 21: The French Colonial System
Read: Kicza, chapter 5

Week VII, Feb 24-Feb 28: The English Delay

Week VIII, Mar 3-Mar 7: British Colonial Stirrings and the Ideology of Empire
Read: Kicza, chapter 6

MID-TERM EXAM

Spring Break, March 10 through March 14

Topic Three: The Establishment of British Colonial America

Week IX, Mar 17-Mar 21: Colonial Virginia and the Chesapeake
Read: Fischer, pp. vii-xi, 3-12, 207-46, 253-64, 332-49,
365-68, (skim 382-409), 410-18

Week X, Mar 24-Mar 28: Colonial Massachusetts and New England
Read: Fischer, pp. 13-57 (skim 58-117), 117-34, 151-58, 174-205
Nash, chapter 4

Week XI, March 31-April 4: Colonial Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley
Read: Fischer, pp. 419-45, 555-60, 566-77

Week XII, April 7-April 11: The Colonial Backcountry
Read: Fischer, pp. 605-21, 783-827

Topic Four: The Maturation of British Colonial America

Week XIII, April 14-April 18: Domestic Cultural Maturation, 1700-1750
Read: Nash, chapters 6,7,8, and 9

Week XIV, April 21-April 25: The Great Awakening?

Week XV, April 28-May 2: The Great War for the Empire
Read: Nash, chapter 10

FINAL EXAM