Covers the history of Colonial North America, in multiple dimensions and in a variety of contexts, from the 1490s to the 1770s. Explores North American history as broadly as possible from American Indian, European, European-American, African, and African-American perspectives.
Goals, Topics, and Objectives
- An Overview and the North American Indians before Contact.
- The Norse and Spanish Frontiers in North America.
- The French and English Frontiers in North America.
- The Dutch, Swedish, and Russian Frontiers in North America.
- The Indians and the Natural Environment.
- Indian Societies and Indian Women.
- Problems in Indian Societies: The Fur Trade, Alcohol, and Captivity.
- Indian and European Ways of Diplomacy.
- Africa Before and During the Atlantic Slave Trade.
- Religion and the Creation of Early African-America
- Women and the Creation of Early African-America.
- Free Black Societies and Colonial America
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Outline time and chronology in Colonial American History.
2. Identify, summarize, and analyze major elements of Colonial American History.
3. Analyze cause and effect in Colonial American History.
4. Trace elements of change and continuity in Colonial American History.
5. Emphasize parallelism by describing the impact of major events, personalities, and places upon Colonial American History.
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
1. Identify the major elements of American Indian societies before European Contact.
2. Explain the development of the Norse and Spanish Frontiers in Colonial North America.
3. Analyze the reasons for the establishment of the French and English Frontiers in Colonial North America.
4. Trace the development of the Dutch, Swedish, and Russian Frontiers in Colonial North America.
5. Analyze the myths and realities about American Indian societies' interaction with the natural environment.
6. Explain the role of women in North American Indian societies, especially compared to European cultures.
7. Identify the impact of the European fur trade on North American Indian societies, especially in terms of trade goods, alcoholism, diplomacy, and warfare.
8. Analyze the similarities and differences between North American Indian and Western European ways of diplomacy.
9. Identify the major aspects of Sub-Saharan African societies before and during the Atlantic Slave Trade.
10. Explain the role of religion in the creation of Early African-America.
11. Trace the role of women in the creation of Early African-America.
12. Analyze how free black societies were created and endured in the context of slavery in Colonial & North America.
Assessment and Requirements
Assessment of academic achievement will be identified and implemented by the class instructor. Methods will include, but will not be limited to, individual projects, vocabulary, class participation (discussion and critiques), and tests.
These texts are only suggestions. Individual instructors may choose other texts.
Karen Ordahl Kupperman, ed., Major Problems in American Colonial History, 3rd Edition (Boston, Massachusetts: Wadsworth Cengage, 2013), ISBN: 978-0-495-91299-6.
Daniel Richter, Before The Revolution: America's Ancient Pasts (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2011), ISBN: 978-0-674-05580-3.
John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800 (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1998), ISBN: 978-0-521-62724-5.<
Outcomes
- Social Sciences
- Humanities and Fine Arts
- Civil Society and Culture - U.S. and Global
- Category 4: Social Sciences
- Category 5: Humanities and Fine Arts