OBERLIN COLLEGE

Gary Kornblith
History 148
gary.kornblith@oberlin.edu
Spring 2002
Rice 306; x8526
Office hours: Mondays, 1-2 p.m. and Thursdays, 3-4:30 p.m.


The Collision of Cultures in North America,
ca. 1500-1700

Note: An up-to-date, online version of the course syllabus is maintained at http://www.oberlin.edu/history/GJK/H148S02.

This first-year seminar explores the complex interactions among Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans in North America during the first two centuries of European colonization. Emphasis is placed on cultural bases of understanding and misunderstanding, modes of conflict and cooperation, the social impact of geography and disease, and the relationship between cultural, economic, and political developments. Readings include a wide array of primary sources and recent scholarly studies from differing viewpoints. Students are expected to play an active role in both online and in-class discussions.
Format: The class meets regularly on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. Class attendance is mandatory, and students are also required to post a comment or question on Blackboard in advance of designated class sessions. We will discuss student writing on days with papers due.
Evaluation: Students will be graded on the basis of class participation (including postings on Blackboard), five short papers (2-3 pp. each), and a final essay (5-6 pp.). The basic formula is 30% for class participation, 10% for each short paper, and 20% for the final paper. The professor reserves the right to exercise some discretion in assigning final grades.
Honor Code: All course work is governed by Oberlin's Honor Code. If you have a question about how the Honor Code applies to a particular assignment, you should ask the professor in advance of the due date.

Purchases: The following books are available for purchase at the Oberlin Bookstore. Most are also on reserve at Mudd, but the professor strongly recommends that you acquire your own copies.

  • Stuart B. Schwartz, Victors and Vanquished
  • Calvin Martin, Keepers of the Game
  • Allan Greer, The Jesuit Relations
  • Peter C. Mancall, Envisioning America
  • Edmund S. Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom
  • Kathleen M. Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs
  • William Cronon, Changes in the Land
  • Mary Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, ed. Neal Salisbury
  • Peter H. Wood, Black Majority
Schedule of classes and assignments:

Mon., Feb. 4

Introduction

Wed., Feb. 6

Emergence of the Atlantic World

  • J. H. Parry, The Age of Reconnaissance, 19-37 (on ERes)
  • Alfred W. Crosby, Columbian Exchange, 3-63 ("The Contrasts" and "Conquistador y Pestilencia" on ERes)
  • John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680, 13-42 (on ERes)

Martin Waldseemuller's Map, 1513
Library of Congress

Mon., Feb. 11

Mexico

  • Schwartz, ed., Victors and Vanquished, 1-126

Wed., Feb. 13
  • Schwartz, ed.,Victors and Vanquished, 127-213
 

Mon., Feb. 18

Wed., Feb. 20
  • Further discussion of readings on Mexico
Fri., Feb. 22

Paper due (2:30 p.m.)
 

Mon., Feb. 25

Canada

  • Martin, Keepers of the Game, 1-109

Wed., Feb. 27
  • Martin, Keepers of the Game, 113-156
  • Charles A. Bishop, "Northeastern Indian Concepts of Conservation and the Fur Trade: A Critique of Calvin Martin's Thesis," in Shepard Krech III, ed., Indians, Animals and the Fur Trade, 39-58 (on ERes)
 

Mon., Mar. 4
  • Greer, ed., The Jesuit Relations, 1-19, 37-118, 155-71
Wed., Mar. 6
  • Special evening session: Black Robe (video), 7:30 p.m., at 271 West College St.
Fri., Mar. 8

Paper due

 

Mon., Mar. 11

English Expectations

  • Mancall, Envisioning America, 1-70

Wed., Mar. 13

Virginia

  • Mancall, Envisioning America, 71-106
  • Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom, 1-91

Capture of John Smith by Virginia Indians, 1607
Colonial Williamsburg

Mon., Mar. 18
  • Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs, 1-74

Wed., Mar. 20
  • Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom, 92-130
  • Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs, 75-104

SPRING BREAK



Praying Puritans
A Puritan's Mind Website

Mon., Apr. 1

New England

Wed., Apr. 3
  • Cronon, Changes in the Land, 19-107
Fri., Apr. 5 Paper due
 

Mon., Apr. 8
  • Cronon, Changes in the Land, 108-170

Wed., Apr. 10
  • Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, ed. Salisbury, 1-35, 63-81, 115-32

Seal of Massachusetts Bay
Massachusetts Archives

Mon., Apr. 15
  • Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, ed. Salisbury, 35-55, 81-112, 137-64

Wed., Apr. 17
  • Jill Lepore, The Name of War, 125-185 (on ERes-- selections titled "The Name of War," "A Dangerous Merchandise," and "That Blasphemous Leviathan")
Fri., Apr. 19 Paper due
 

Mon., Apr. 22

Virginia (once more, with rebellion)

  • Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom, 133-95, 215-34
  • Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs, 107-36

Wed., Apr. 24


Nathaniel Bacon
Library of Congress

Mon. , Apr. 29

Wed., May 1
  • Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom, 316-337
  • Brown, Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs,187-211
Fri., May 3 Paper due
 

Mon., May 6

South Carolina

  • Wood, Black Majority, 3-91

Wed., May 8
  • Wood, Black Majority, 92-130, 167-91

African-American Graveyard on Sapelo Island
The Moonlit Road Website

Thurs., May 16

Final paper due