Topic I: The Global Background

Reading Assignments:
All class members should complete both reading assignments.

Reading A: Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, pages 13-17; 25-32; chaps 1 -4; 98-103; chaps. 6, 7, 11, 13, 18, and epilogue.

Reading B: J.M. Blaut, "Environmentalism and Eurocentrism" [ html ]

Writing Assignment I: Response Statement
All assignments due on the discussion board by January 21 at midnight.

Jared Diamond's interpretation of world history has become increasingly popular over the last seven years. His book Guns, Germs, and Steel won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction in 1998, and he now has a popular PBS television-series to complement the book. There are, however, a number of historians and social scientists who view Diamond's environmental explanations as little more than window-dressing for the traditional story of the "Rise of the West" and European exceptionalism.

What do you think about Diamond's work? In an essay of 750 words or less, discuss: a) Diamond's principal arguments; b) the critique of those arguments by J.M. Blaut; and c) your impressions of Diamond's main arguments.


Writing Assignment II: Comment on the work of two colleagues
All assignments due on the discussion board by January 28 at midnight.

Respond to two of your classmates' essays.

Additional Resources

Global History

Charts: From Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel [ html ]

Reading: Alfred Crosby, “Pangaea Revisited,” from Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 [ acrobat ]

Topic II: Pre-Contact Native America

Reading Assignments:
All class members should complete the following reading assignments.

Reading A: Review the Materials at the following websites:

Website: Mystery of the First Americans [ link ] - click transcript

Website: Coming Into America [ link ] - click watch online on home page

Website: The First Americans: Newsweek, Apr 26, 1999 [ html ]

Map: The Newsweek Map of the First Americans Debate [ jpg ]

Reading B: Review the following articles:

Reading : Alex Markels, Island Hopping to a New World, U.S. News & World Report, February 23 – March 1, 2004. [ acrobat  ] [ html ]

Reading: "Cactus Hill Excavation in Virginia Reveals Evidence of Early European Settlement of the New World," National Review, June 25, 2001 v53 i12 [ html ]

Reading C: Read the following articles

Reading: John Kicza, Resilient Cultures: America's Native Peoples Confront European Colonization, 1500-1800, chapter 1.

Reading: Charles C. Mann, "1491," The Atlantic Monthly, March 2002 [ html ]

Writing Assignment I: Response Statement
All assignments due on the discussion board by January 28 at midnight.

Social scientists are currently involved in a series of heated debates on Pre-contact Native America. In an essay of 750 words or less, describe the issues raised in these debates. Be sure to reference the work of specific social scientists. And, please cite your information.


Writing Assignment II: Comment on the work of two colleagues
All assignments due on the discussion board by February 4 at midnight.

Respond to two of your classmates' essays.

Additional Resources

Optional Reading

Reading: Helen Rountree, "The Powhatan Indian Way of Life in 1607" and "Before the English Came" from Pocahontas's People [ acrobat ]

Reading: William Cronon, "Seasons of Want and Plenty," [ html ]

Website: Texas Beyond History: Prehistoric Texas [ link ]

Topic III: Columbus, Contact, and Colonialism

Reading Assignment
All class members should complete the following reading assignments.

Reading A: Pauline Moffitt Watts, "Prophecy and Discovery: On the Spiritual Origins of Christopher Columbus's 'Enterprise of the Indies'," American Historical Review, vol. 90, no. 1 (February 1985), 73-102 [ acrobat ]

Reading B: Helen Wallis, "What Columbus Knew," from History Today, May 1992 (42): 17-23 [ html ]

Reading C: Maps to accompany Helen Wallis's essay [ html ]

Reading D: Kirkpatrick Sale, The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy, selected pages [ acrobat ]

Reading E: "Debunking Columbus" by William H. McNeill in The New York Times Book Review (Oct. 7, 1990, p. 28) [ html ]

Reading F: Delno West, "Christopher Columbus and His Enterprise to the Indies: Scholarship of the Last Quarter Century," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., Vol. 49, No. 2. (Apr., 1992), pp. 254-277. [ acrobat ]

Reading G: James Axtell, "Columbian Encounters: 1992-1995," The William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd Ser., Vol. 52, No. 4. (Oct., 1995), pp. 649-696. [ acrobat ]

Writing Assignment I
All assignments due on the discussion board by February 4.

The life of Christopher Columbus is shrouded in myth, mystery, and misinformation. Hailed by some as a visionary genius and grand mariner, he is reviled by others as a greedy entrepreneur and ruthless imperialist. Your job in this assignment is to get beyond the hype. In an essay of 750 words or less, discuss what Columbus thought about the world around him, and what he really hoped to do in 1492?

Writing Assignment II
All assignments due on the discussion board by February 11.

Respond to two of your classmates' essays.

Additional Resources

Contact
Website: Columbus Navigation Homepage [ link ]
Primary Text: Columbus: Selections from Journal, 1492 [ link ]
Primary Text: Columbus: Letter to King and Queen of Spain, 1494 [ link ]

The Spanish Empire
Reading: Sepulvida and Las Casas -- Debate Over Spanish Conquest [ pdf ]
Website: Colonial Spanish America Research Links [ link ]
Website: Modern History Sourcebook - Colonial Latin American [ link ]
Website: Cultural Readings: Colonization and Print in the Americas [ link ]
Website: Timeline of Colonial Latin America [ link ]
Website: Encounters in America: The Hispanic and Portuguese World [ link ]

Primary Sources
* The Bull Inter Caetera, 1493 [ html ]
* The Treaty of Tordesillas, 1494 [ html ]
* The Laws of Burgos, 1512-13 [ html ]
* The New Laws of the Indies, 1542 [ html ]
* Bartolemeo De La Casas: Destruction of the Indies, 1542 [ link ]

Topic IV: The Spanish Colonial System

Reading Assignment
All class members should complete the following reading assignment.

Reading: John Kicza, Resilient Cultures: America's Native Peoples Confront European Colonization, 1500-1800, chapters 1,2,3,4,5,7.

Writing Assignment I
All assignments due on the discussion board by February 12.

It is well known that the Spanish conquistadors conquered the largest Amerindian empires in the Western Hemisphere. But, how the sedentary, semi-sedentary, and nomadic peoples of the Americas respond to Spanish colonization? In a review of 750 words or less, discuss John Kicza's book Resilient Cultures.

Writing Assignment II
All assignments due on the discussion board by February 18.

Respond to two of your classmates' essays.

Additional Resources

The Spanish Empire
Reading: Sepulvida and Las Casas -- Debate Over Spanish Conquest [ pdf ]
Website: Colonial Spanish America Research Links [ link ]
Website: Modern History Sourcebook - Colonial Latin American [ link ]
Website: Cultural Readings: Colonization and Print in the Americas [ link ]
Website: Timeline of Colonial Latin America [ link ]
Website: Encounters in America: The Hispanic and Portuguese World [ link ]

Primary Sources
* The Laws of Burgos, 1512-13 [ html ]
* The New Laws of the Indies, 1542 [ html ]
* Bartolemeo De La Casas: Destruction of the Indies, 1542 [ link ]

Topic V: British Colonial Stirrings

Reading Assignment
All class members should complete the following reading assignment.

Reading: Edmund Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom, chapters 1-10.

Writing Assignment I

No writing assignment this week.

Additional Resources

Early English Colonial Efforts
Website: Virtual Jamestown: John White & Theodor De Bry [ link ]
Website: Early Images of Virginia's Indians [ link ]
Website: Roanoke Revisited [ link ]

Primary Sources: English Colonialism
* John Cabot (c.1450-1499): Voyage to North America, 1497 [ link ]
* Edward Haies: Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Voyage To Newfoundland, 1583 [ link ]
* Richard Hakluyt: Discourse of Western Planting, 1584 [ link ]
* Elizabeth I: Charter to Sir Walter Raleigh, 1584 [ link ]
* Instructions for the Virginia Colony, 1606 [ link ]
* Constitution of the Virginia Company in England, 24 July 1621 [ link ]

Race in Early Virginia
Website: Africans in America: The Terrible Transformation [ link ]
Website: PBS: Race, The Power of an Illusion [ link ]
Website: Lesson Plan on Race [ link ]

Topic VI: American Slavery, American Freedom

Reading Assignment
All class members should complete the following reading assignment.

Reading: Edmund Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom, chapters 11-18.

Writing Assignment I
All assignments due on the discussion board by February 25.

In a review of 1000 words or less, discuss Edmund Morgan's American Slavery, American Freedom.

Writing Assignment II
All assignments due on the discussion board by March 4.

Respond to two of your classmates' essays.

Additional Resources

Development
Website: Sir William Berkeley [ link ]
Website: The English Civil War [ link ] and [ link ]
Website: Africans in America: The Terrible Transformation [ link ]
Website: PBS: Race, The Power of an Illusion [ link ]
Website: Lesson Plan on Race [ link ]

Primary Sources
* Bacon's Declaration in the Name of the People, 30 July 1676 [ link ]
* Governor William Berkeley: On Bacon's Rebellion, 19 May 1676 [ link ]
* Slave Laws in Virginia (1642-1705) [ link ]

Topic VII: Albion's Seed I

Reading Assignment
All class members should complete the following reading assignment.

Reading: David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, pages, vii-xi, 3-57 (skim 58-117), 117-34, 151-58, 174-205, 207-46, 253-64, 332-49, 365-68, (skim 382-409), 410-18, 419-45, 555-60, 566-77, 605-21, 783-827.

Writing Assignment I

No writing assignment this week.

Additional Resources

Colonial Virginia and the Chesapeake

See list provided with American Slavery, American Freedom.

Colonial Massachusetts and New England

Settlement Period

Reading: John Winthrop, "A City Upon A Hill," [ link ]
Website: Seventeenth Century New England [ link ]
Reading: "The Devil, the Body, and the Feminine Soul in Puritan New England" by Elizabeth Reis from the Journal of American History 1995, 82 (1): 15-36. [ html ]

Development Period

Reading: William Cronon, "That Wilderness Should Turn a Mart," [ html ]
Reading: Virginia DeJohn Anderson, "King Philip's Herds: Indians, Colonists, and the Problem of Livestock in Early New England [ acrobat ]
Website: The Cartographic Creation of New England [ link ]
Website: Salem Witch Trials, 1692 [ link ] [ link ]
Website: A Midwife's Tale [ link ]

Primary Sources

* Mayflower Compact, 1620 [ link ]
* Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629 [ link ]
* John Winthrop: A Modell of Christian Charity 1630 [ link ]
* Transcript of The Trial of Anne Hutchinson (1636) [ link ]
* Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641 [ link ]
* Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639 [ link ]
* Connecticut Colony Charter, 1662 [ link ]
* King Philips War [ link ]
* D. Lawson, Brief and True Narrative, 1692- Salem Witch Trials [ link ]
* The Salem Witch Trials in Light of the Covenant of Grace [ link ]
* Instructions to Sir Edmund Andros, 1686 [ link ]
* Commercial Orders to Governor Andros, 1686-1687 [ link ]
* Orders For Sending Sir Edmund Andros To England, 1689 [ link ]


Colonial Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley

Settlement Period

Reading: "The World of William Penn" by Edmund Morgan from the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 1983, 127 (5): 291-315
Reading: David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed , 419-45, 555-60, 566-77.
Reading: "Chapter Two" from James Merrill's Into the Woods
Website: The Quaker Province [ link ]

Primary Sources

* Charter of Pennsylvania (1681) [ link ]
* William Penn, "Concessions to the Province of Pennsylvania" [ link ]
* William Penn, "Preface to the First Frame of Government" [ link ]
* Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges (1701) [ link ]

Topic VIII: Albion's Seed II

Reading Assignment
All class members should complete the following reading assignment.

Reading: Complete David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, pages, vii-xi, 3-57 (skim 58-117), 117-34, 151-58, 174-205, 207-46, 253-64, 332-49, 365-68, (skim 382-409), 410-18, 419-45, 555-60, 566-77, 605-21, 783-827.

Writing Assignment I
All assignments due on the discussion board by March 8.

In a review of 1000 words or less, discuss David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed.

Writing Assignment II
All assignments due on the discussion board by March 11.

Respond to two of your classmates' essays.

Additional Resources

See resources listed above.

Topic IX: The Great War for the Empire

Reading Assignment
All class members should complete the following reading assignment.

Reading A: Jack Greene, “Preconditions of the American Revolution” [ acrobat ]

Reading B: Thomas Purvis, "Seven Years' War and its Political Legacy" [acrobat ]

Reading C: Narrative as Master: A Forum on Fred Anderson's Crucible of War
Canadian Journal of History,  Dec 2000 [ acrobat ]

Writing Assignment I
All assignments due on the discussion board by March 25.

In an essay of 750 words or less, discuss the way in which the Seven Years' War -- called the French and Indian War in North America -- affected the relationship between Britain and her colonies?

Writing Assignment II
All assignments due on the discussion board by March 31.

Respond to two of your classmates' essays.

Additional Resources

The British Debt, 1689-1800

Topic X: The Roots of the Revolution

Reading Assignment
All class members should complete the following reading assignments.

Reading A: Jack P. Greene, "Origins of the American Revolution: A Constitutional Interpretation" from Understanding the American Revolution [ html ]

Reading B: Robert E. Shalhope, "Toward a Republican Synthesis: The Emergence of an Understanding of Republicanism in American Historiography." [ acrobat ]

Writing Assignment I
All assignments due on the discussion board by April 2.

In an essay of 750 words or less, discuss the causes of the American Revolution.

Writing Assignment II
All assignments due on the discussion board by April 7.

Respond to two of your classmates' essays.

Additional Resources

Topic XI: The American Revolutionary War

Reading Assignment
All class members should complete the following reading assignment.

Reading: Charles Royster, A Revolutionary People at War: The Continental Army and American Character, 1775-1783, entire book.

Writing Assignment I
All assignments due on the discussion board by April 8.

In a review of 750 words or less, discuss Charles Royster's A Revolutionary People at War: The Continental Army and American Character, 1775-1783.

Writing Assignment II
All assignments due on the discussion board by April 15.

Respond to two of your classmates' essays.

Additional Resources

Topic XII: Creation of the American Republic

Reading Assignment
All class members should complete the following reading assignment.

Reading: Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, chapters 1-2; chapter 3 - part 1; chapter 9 - part 1 and 2; scan chapters 10-11; read carefully chapters 12-13.

Writing Assignment I
All assignments due on the discussion board by April 16.

In a review of 750 words or less, discuss Gordon Wood's classic work, The Creation of the American Republic.

Writing Assignment II
All assignments due on the discussion board by April 23.

Respond to two of your classmates' essays.

Additional Resources