[ Wesleyan Home Page ] [ WesMaps Home Page ] [ WesMaps Archive ] [ Course Search ] [ Course Search by CID ]
Academic Year 2001/2002


War and Society in Colonial North America
HIST 350 FA

Today, citizens of the United States worry little, if at all, about the threat of military invasion. It is hard to imagine American soldiers fighting battles in, say, New York or South Carolina. During the colonial era, however, North America was a site of almost constant warfare. In the 17th century, Indians and English settlers fought bloody wars on the Atlantic coast, while Iroquois Indians waged a series of "mourning wars" against other Indian peoples and achieved influence over a large swath o f inland territory centered in what is now upstate New York. In the 18th century, Britain, France and Spain competed for Indian allies in an ongoing military struggle for North American supremacy. This course will focus on how warfare shaped the societi es of colonial North America, especially with regard to the relations between Indians and Europeans. How did Indians and Euro-Americans understand and experience war? How did colonial wars shape each people's perceptions of the other? Finally, we will examine the role of colonial warfare in the creation of two late 18-century American identities: pan-Indianism and the American exceptionalism that emerged during the American Revolution.

MAJOR READINGS

Jill Lepore, THE NAME OF WAR: KING PHILIP'S WAR AND THE ORIGINS OF AMERICAN IDENTITY (1998)
Richard I. Melvoin, NEW ENGLAND OUTPOST: WAR AND SOCIETY IN A COLONIAL FRONTIER, DEERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS (1989)
Richard White, THE MIDDLE GROUND: INDIANS, EMPIRES, AND REPUBLICS IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION, 1650-1815 (1991)
Fred Anderson, A PEOPLE'S ARMY: MASSACHUSETTS SOLDIERS AND SOCIETY IN THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR (1984)
Gregory Evans Dowd, A SPIRITED RESISTANCE: THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN STRUGGLE FOR UNITY, 1745-1815 (1992)
Charles Royster, A REVOLUTIONARY PEOPLE AT WAR: THE CONTINENTAL ARMY AND AMERICAN CHARACTER, 1775-1783 (1979)
Colin G. Calloway, THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION IN INDIAN COUNTRY: CRISIS AND DIVERSITY IN NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES (1995)

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

There will be no final examination. Assignments wil consist of short papers, oral presenations, and a final paper.

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS HIST    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-19-2002


Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email

Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459