Topic 1: The Global Background

Readings:

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 ]

See ASSIGNMENTS tab for specific writing assignment.

Topic 3: Columbus and Contact

Readings:

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 ]

See ASSIGNMENTS tab for specific writing assignment.

Topic 4: The Spanish Colonial System

Readings:

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

Reading B: TBA

See ASSIGNMENTS tab for specific writing assignment.

Topic 6: American Slavery, American Freedom

Readings:

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

See ASSIGNMENTS tab for specific writing assignment.

Topic 7: Albion's Seed I: Four British Folkways

Readings:

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.

See ASSIGNMENTS tab for specific writing assignment.

Topic 8: Albion's Seed II: Four British Folkways

Readings:

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.

See ASSIGNMENTS tab for specific writing assignment.

Topic 9: The Great War for the Empire

Readings:

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 ]

See ASSIGNMENTS tab for specific writing assignment.

Topic 10: Roots of the Revolution

Readings:

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 ]

See ASSIGNMENTS tab for specific writing assignment.

Topic 11: The American Revolutionary War

Readings:

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

See ASSIGNMENTS tab for specific writing assignment.

Topic 12: Creating the American Republic

Readings:

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.

See ASSIGNMENTS tab for specific writing assignment.

Topic 13: Complete Digital Module

Complete Individual Digital Modules