Week 7: The American Wars and the Formation of the U.S. (1750-1783)

Week 7: The American Wars and the Formation of the U.S. (1750-1783)

This week explores the foundational conflicts that would ultimately lead to the formation of the United States of America.  We will also curate exhibits exploring these and other colonial themes.

Readings:

Declaration of Independence and other Founding Documents 92 pp.

Taylor (chaps. 14-15; 18) 82 pp.

Points of Entry:

Seven Year's War

http://www.militaryheritage.com/7yrswar.htm

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/frin.htm

Benjamin Franklin:

http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/

http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/

Founding Documents:

http://www.ushistory.org/DECLARATION/

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/declare.asp

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/articles.html

Pontiac's War:

http://www.forttours.com/pages/pontiac.asp

Thoughts/Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  
What are some of the arguments?

How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 6: Rivers to Oceans: The Frontier and the "West"

This week we explore the concept of the "West"--a term we will continue to revisit later in the course. The readings investigate the formation of trading networks outside of the Atlantic World.  We will also explore the impacts of the Great Awakening and the growing divide between frontier and urban colonial communities.

Points of Entry:

Pacific Northwest

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/pacific/

From "Frontier" to "Heartland" website:

http://publications.newberry.org/frontiertoheartland/

Lakota Winter Counts:

http://wintercounts.si.edu/

Thoughts/Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What are some of the arguments?  How are they related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 5: The Tensions of Colonial Identities

This week we will explore colonial identities through the lens of gendered, racial, ethnic, and religious ideologies. We will also closely analyze some of these themes through the world and words of Olauadah Equiano (see week 4 for a link to the "Equiano Project").

Readings: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

Taylor, chaps. 12-13

Points of Entry:

The Lives of Colonial Cities:

Albany: An Early American City

http://www.engr.psu.edu/MTAH/essays/colonialcities.htm

The Great Awakening

The First Great Awakening, Divining America, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center

Gender and the Colonial World:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/opinion/07faludi.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/06/opinion/saving-private-lynch.html

List and analyze 2 quotes from the Equiano reading.  What is Equiano arguing in these passages?  How is this related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 4: The African Diaspora and Indian Country

This week covers the early impact of African Americans and Native Americans in North America. Despite the brutality of slavery and incessant land seizures, both groups produced enduring legacies that survived the colonial and early national periods.

Readings:

Taylor, chaps. 8-11

Equiano, intro.

Points of Entry:

slavery in colonial Williamsburg:

http://www.history.org/almanack/people/african/aaintro.cfm

Equiano Museum:

http://www.equiano.org/about_equiano.html

Deerfield Raid in New England:

http://www.1704.deerfield.history.museum/home.do

Captivity Narrative:

http://www.archive.org/details/captivity_restoration_rowlandson_0912_librivox#

Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What is Taylor arguing in these passages?  How is this related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 3: Foundations and Formations in the U.S. - Ideas and Goods

This week explores the concept of "conquest" and early globalization. During the 16th century, many Native societies of the Americas experienced various forms of conquest and colonialism. Conquests, though, were sometimes ambivalent and not so clear cut.

At the same time, the foundation of the U.S. is not only built on conquest, but the exchange of ideas and goods.




Points of entry:

"Devil's Miner" website:

http://www.thedevilsminer.com/index_new.html


The account of Cabeza de Vaca, an early Spanish explorer kidnapped and sold into slavery for 7 years provides a fascinating window into the more "ambiguous" conquests that occurred during this period. See the link below for this account:



http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/one/cabeza.htm

Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What is Taylor arguing in these passages?  How is this related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Week 2: The Birth of “America”: The New World Forged

Week 2: The Birth of “America”: The New World Forged

This week we explore the long, shared history of the pre-contact Americas and Afro-Eurasia. As Taylor argues, changing the "lens" allows for a deeper, richer understanding of the interactions between Indigenous and Afro-Eurasian societies over thousands of years. Below are some different points of entry for you to explore these issues:

Pre-contact Meso-American societies shaped all of the Americas with the spread of the "three sisters" (corn, beans, squash), artistic sensibilities, and diverse products. See link for examples of these influences:

The Aztec Pantheon and the Art of Empire (Getty Villa Exhibitions)

Archaeologists keep pushing the arrival date of humans to the Americas back to an earlier period. See link to map of Bering Straight, where the first human migrations originated:

http://instaar.colorado.edu/QGISL/bering_land_bridge/downloads/beringlandbridge1l.mov

The "Columbian Exchange" has been a controversial topic among historians. See link for a historian's perspective of the topic:

History Now. The Historians Perspective

Image of the "exchange" in the colonial period:

Google Image Result for http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/extra/images/2005/05.02.07.01.gif

On Monday we also discussed some of the larger themes of U.S. history that continue to shape our public discourse. Op-ed pieces are a great source for "taking the pulse" of American consciousness and the (mis)use of U.S. history. The anniversary of 9/11 provides ample examples:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/opinion/12friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Questions for blog discussion:

List and analyze 2 quotes from the reading.  What is Taylor arguing in these passages?  How is this related to the larger themes of the week discussed in class?

Reading Guidelines

More than anything else, history is about reading, and reading is what we'll do in this course. We have LOTS of readings to tackle. However students, like historians, have limited time to read. Fortunately, there are some basic reading strategies that all historians employ making their reading more efficient, enjoyable, and useful. Take a look at this website below which highlights some of these strategies.

http://www.mindtools.com/rdstratg.html

In this course, reading is critical. I have very carefully chosen HIS 206 reading assignments. When you read assignments in this course, follow this routine and you'll get the most out of the texts (adopted from Steven Kreis):

1. Pick up the book, look at the covers. See anything interesting?
2. Who wrote the book? Does the publisher give you any information?
3. When was it written? Do you think this makes a difference? Why?
4. Scan the Table of Contents. See anything you like?

5. Read the Preface and Introduction.

6. Are there any illustrations? footnotes? a bibliography?

7. Can you determine the general thesis of the book?
8. Read the first sentence. Does it hold your attention? Or, do you then put the book down and say, "I'll start reading this tomorrow"?
9. Does it look like a good book? worthy to be read?
10. Why might Prof. Zappia have assigned this particular text?