AMH 4110.01    Colonial America, 1607-1763    
Spring 2009, T-R, 10:30-11:45, Com 115
Rosalind J. Beiler
Office: CNH 551
 Office phone: 823-6467
Office Hours: W, 2-3; R 1-2   
and by appointment
  beiler@mail.ucf.edu

Course Description:

    Colonial America, 1607-1763 explores British North America from the period just before its founding through the end of the French and Indian War.  The focus of the class will be on the British colonies but it will also place them within their broader American and European contexts.  We will examine cultural encounters between Native Americans, Europeans and Africans and the societies they created in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  While many settlers in early America attempted to replicate their home societies, they also responded to their new circumstances in ways that helped to shape distinctively American patterns.  By studying regional developments and their political, economic, social and religious configurations, we will trace the beginnings of cultural sensibilities that continue to inform our lives today.

Course Objectives:

By the end of this course, students will have:
    – explored the major themes of early American History
    – read and evaluated some of the secondary literature written about colonial America
    – analyzed historical evidence from the period
    – created their own interpretations about events that occurred in colonial America

Required Reading:

Kupperman, Karen.  Major Problems in American Colonial History.  Second Edition.  Lexington, MA:  D.C. Heath, 2000.  ISBN 0-395-93676-4
Taylor, Alan.  American Colonies: The Settling of North America.  NY: Penguin Books, 2001.  ISBN 0-14-20-0210-0
Kupperman, Karen.  Indians and English: Facing off in Early America.  Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2000.  ISBN 0801482828
Wood, Peter.  Black Majority:  Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 through the Stono Rebellion.  NY:  W. W. Norton, 1974 (rep. 1996).  ISBN 0-393-31482-0
Klepp, Susan E. and Billy G. Smith.  Eds.  The Infortunate:  The Voyage and Adventures of William Moraley, an Indentured Servant.  State College, PA:  Penn State University Press, 1992.  ISBN 0-271-00844-X    

*** PLEASE NOTE:  All books will be available on reserve in the UCF Library and for sale in the UCF book store.

Course Requirements:

I will hand out more specific instructions describing the paper assignments as the semester progresses.

Grades:
    Two papers (3-4 pp.)                                    40%
    Written responses to weekly questions      10%
    Class participation/Attendance                      5%
    Mid-term exam                                                20%
    Final exam                                                       25%

Grading Scale:
The plus/minus grading scale will apply in this class.

GRADE
 POINTS
 GPA
 GRADE
 POINTS
 GPA
A
 94-100
 4.00
 C
 74-76
 2.00
A-
 90-93
 3.75
 C-
 70-73
 1.75
B+
 87-89
 3.25
 D+
 67-69
 1.25
B
 84-86
 3.00
 D
 64-66
 1.00
B-
 80-83
 2.75
 D-
 60-63
 0.75
C+
 77-79
 2.25
 F
 0-59
 0.00

Ground Rules:

1.    Students are expected to attend class.  Absences will directly affect the class participation grade. “A” participation consists of completing the readings before coming to class, thinking about the major themes of the readings ahead of time, and contributing thoughtful questions and comments during class.  One cannot achieve an “A” if one is not in class every day to participate.  On the other hand, simply attending class also will not earn a student an “A” for participation.
2.    Late papers will be penalized 10 points (a letter grade) for each day late (not class day, not business day but a 24 hour day!).  Please do not ask office staff to note time of submission on late papers.  You are responsible to make sure I receive late submissions in hard copy and to date them accurately.
3.    All written assignments must be typed and double-spaced with standard one-inch margins.  All citations should be in the form of footnotes and should use Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations as a guide for style.  Papers are to be submitted in hard copy at the beginning of the class period on which the assignment is due.
4.    The plagiarism of ideas and/or words is not acceptable.  Plagiarism is the use of another person’s ideas or words without proper punctuation (quotation marks) and/or citation.  Please see http://www.goldenrule.sdes.ucf.edu/GR%20for%20Website.pdf page 15 for UCF’s rules of conduct.  Incidents of plagiarism or any other violation of these rules will result in an automatic F for the course.
5.    No tape recorders are permitted in class without the prior permission of the instructor.
6.    As a courtesy to your classmates and the professor, please turn off ALL beepers and cell phones during the class period.

Tentative Class Schedule:

Jan. 8:        Introduction

Jan. 13-15:    Americans and Europeans on the Eve of Contact
        Readings:      Taylor, American Colonies, x-xvii, chapts. 1 & 2
                                Kupperman, Major Problems, preface, chapt. 1
                                Kupperman, Indians and English, intro. & chapt. 1
        Questions:     How does Taylor conceptualize colonial American history?
                                What meanings do Crosby, Canny and Calloway draw from “the
                                American experiment?”
                                What does Kupperman mean by “mirror images?”
    
Jan. 20-22:    New Spain and the Spanish Frontier
        Readings:      Taylor, American Colonies, chapts. 3 & 4
                                Kupperman, Major Problems, chapt. 6
        Question:       How would you characterize Spanish colonization and encounters/ interactions between the Spanish and Native Americans?

Jan. 27-29:    First Encounters on the Atlantic Seaboard
        Readings:      Taylor, American Colonies, chapt. 5 & 16
                                Kupperman, Major Problems, chapt. 2
        Question:    What key factors shaped cultural encounters in Canada?
        Jan. 29:  Essay #1 due

Feb. 3-5:    Cultures Meet in the Chesapeake
        Readings:      Taylor, American Colonies, chapt. 6 & 7
                                Kupperman, Major Problems, chapt. 3
                                Kupperman, Indians and English, chapts. 2, 3, & 4
        Question:       How did cultural encounters in the Chesapeake compare and
                               contrast with those in New Spain or Canada?

Feb. 10-12:    Cultures Meet in New England
        Readings:      Taylor, American Colonies, chapts. 8 & 9
                                Kupperman, Major Problems, chapts. 4 & 5
                                Kupperman, Indians and English, chapts. 5, 6 & 7
        Question:       What were the most important factors shaping encounters in New
                                England?

Feb. 17-19:    The Carolinas and the Caribbean Connection
        Readings:      Taylor, American Colonies, chapts. 10 & 11
                                Kupperman, Major Problems, chapt. 8
                                Wood, Black Majority, intro., prologue, chapts. 1, 2, & 3
        Question:        In what ways were the Carolinas connected to the Caribbean?
        Feb. 17:  Mid-term Exam

        
Feb. 24-26:     Expansion in the South: Hopes and Realities
        Readings:       Kupperman,  Major Problems, chapt. 9
                                Wood, Black Majority, chapt. 4, 5, & 6
        Question:        What key factors shaped realities on southern frontiers?

Mar. 3-5:     Slave Life and Culture
        Readings:      Kupperman, Major Problems, Chapt. 10
                                Wood, Black Majority, chapts. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, & 12
        Question:        What variations in slave life and culture in early America can you
                                 identify?
        Mar. 5:  Essay #2 Due

Mar. 10-12:     Happy Spring Break!

Mar. 17-18:     The Middle Colonies
        Readings:     Taylor, American Colonies, chapt. 12
                                Kupperman, Major Problems, chapt. 7
        Question:        In what ways were the Mid-Atlantic Colonies similar to or
                                different from others we have studied?
        
Mar. 24-26:     America and Empire, 1685-1730
        Readings:      Taylor, American Colonies, chapt. 13
                                Kupperman, Major Problems, chapt. 12
                                Klepp and Smith, eds., The Infortunate, 1-58
        Question:       What role did the American colonies play in the British empire?

Mar. 31-Apr. 2:  The Atlantic, 1700-1780
        Readings:     Taylor, American Colonies, chapt. 14
                               Klepp and Smith, eds., The Infortunate, 59-171
        Question:      In what ways does Moraley exemplify the British Atlantic world?

Apr. 7-9:     Awakenings
        Readings:     Taylor, American Colonies, chapt. 15
                               Kupperman, Major Problems, chapt. 11
        Question:       In what ways do religious awakenings represent growth and
                               conflict in eighteenth-century America?

Apr. 14-16:    Growth and Conflict in the Eighteenth Century
        Readings:    Taylor, American Colonies, chapt. 18
                              Kupperman, Major Problems, chapt. 13
        Question:     How did Americans’ view west shape their participation in
                              imperial conflicts?

Apr. 21-23:     British Colonial America at Mid-Century
        Readings:     Kupperman, Major Problems, chapt. 14
        Questions:    How might we characterize the American colonies at mid-century?
                               Can we talk about an American identity?

Final Exam:    April 28, 10-12 a.m. http://www.registrar.ucf.edu/calendar/exam/2009/spring/