HIS 3301E: Colonial British America

Course Description

Seminar on British exploration and settlement of America, imperial rivalries with other European empires, relations with Native Americans, free and enslaved migration to America, the development and diversity of colonial American societies, British imperial integration, the American Revolution and the formation of the United States. Covers 1550 to 1800.
This course is a seminar in colonial American history, and it is set within the context of the English Atlantic Empire. Some classes will be dedicated to the discussion of required readings; most classes will consist of individual student presentations and a group discussion of those presentations. There will be three chronological sections to this course, and students will give a presentation in each section. These three sections/time periods are:
1) Exploration, Invasion, and Early Settlement 1550-1660
2) Colonial and British Imperial Development, 1660-1750
3) Imperial Integration and Revolution, 1750-1800
Students are encouraged to research topics of interest to them, within the parameters of the course and these three chronological sections. We discuss not only the events of the early American/British colonial past and how historians have interpreted them, but also we discuss research strategies, argumentation and the craft of writing history, with each other in structured opportunities in class, and with the professor. This is a course in which we learn a lot from each other—and it is always different and engaging. Students are encouraged to seek the advice of the professor throughout the process of selecting a topic, refining it, developing an argument, and crafting the research essay.

Required Texts

Fischer, David Hackett. Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).
Katz, Stanley N., John M. Murrin and Douglas Greenberg, eds., Colonial America: Essays in Politics and Social Development, FIFTH EDITION. (McGraw-Hill, 2001).
Rhoden, Nancy L. and Ian K. Steele, eds., The Human Tradition in the American Revolution (Scholarly Resources, 2000).
Note: These paperback books are all required readings. They are available at the UWO Bookstore. Available copies of these books, and some supplementary materials, have been placed on reserve at D.B. Weldon Library. The schedule of readings is listed below. (A separate schedule of individual presentation dates will be distributed after students have selected their first presentation topic.) Of course, since this is a research seminar, students must complete additional independent readings on their individual topics.

Evaluation

The final grade will be calculated as follows:

In-Class Participation 15%,

3 Oral Presentations (15%, i.e. 5% each)

First Essay 20%

 Second Essay 20%

Third Essay 30%

 

 

Also from this web page:

General Information