Michael Syllabus Atlantic History Seminar

1492 and the Atlantic World
Professor Andrew McMichael
Western Kentucky University
Spring, 2004

Columbus’ landing in the “New World” touched off a series of events undreamed of by anyone involved in those initial encounters. Aside from the conquest of the Americas, European exploration initiated a series of broad economic, social, and cultural changes among Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans. This class will survey those changes, examining the process of exploration, conquest, and colonization. For the most part, we will look at the means of creating this thing called “the Atlantic World” from two points-of-view. First, we will explore the creation of new identities, as people moved away from their home cultures. Second, but related to the first, we will examine the idea of “centers and peripheries”—or the ways in which those who had moved away conceived of their place in the world.

This class will be conducted as a lecture-seminar class. On Mondays I will lecture on a topic related to the readings in some way. On Wednesdays we will have lecture and/or discussion of the readings, and on Fridays we will have discussion, where we will discuss and argue over the readings. For the first two weeks I will facilitate the discussions, after that the discussions will be student-led. Overall, class participation is the single-most important factor in your grade, and combined with leading discussion, accounts for half the total. This means that it is critical to keep up with the readings, and to come to class each week ready to discuss them.

Books (in the bookstore, or via amazon.com)
- Kris Lane, Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500-1750
- Canny and Pagden, Colonial Identity in the Atlantic World, 1500-1800
- John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800
- Cook and Cook, Good Faith and Truthful Ignorance: A Case of Transatlantic Bigamy
- Daniels and Kennedy, Negotiated Empires: Centers and Peripheries in the Americas, 1500-1820
CD-ROM
- After the Fact Interactive: Envisioning the Atlantic World (McGraw-Hill)
Articles
- Bernard Bailyn “The Idea of Atlantic History” in Itinerario, Vol. 20, No. 1, 1996: 19-44. (class handout)
- Armitage, “Three Concepts of Atlantic History” from Armitage and Braddick, eds. The British Atlantic World, 1500-1800 (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2003) (on Blackboard)
- Karen Kupperman, “Fear of Hot Climates in the Anglo-American Colonial Experience,” The William and Mary Quarterly, 3d Ser., Vol. XLI, No. 2, April 1984, 213-240. (on Blackboard)
- Games, “‘The Sanctuarye of our rebel negroes’: The Atlantic Context of Local Resistance on Providence Island, 1630-41,” Slavery and Abolition, Vol. 19, No. 3, December 1998, pp. 1-21. (class handout).

Grade Breakdown
1. Midterm: 15%
2. Final: 15%
3. Final Project: 20%
4. Leading Discussion: 20%
5. Class Participation: 30%

Midterm and Final:
The non-cumulative, take-home midterm and final will contain several essay questions based on the readings, lectures, and issues raised in discussion.

Class Project:
One component of your assignment includes the CD-ROM “Envisioning the Atlantic World.” In it are several questions relating to major historiographical questions in the field of Atlantic World History. In teams of two, you will research and construct a presentation, using primary and secondary materials, based on one of those questions. The CD-ROM also contains research materials, which will be your launching point for creating your presentation. Your presentation can follow one of several threads. You might attempt to answer the question, you could explore the ways in which other historians have answered the question—essentially a historiographical presentation—over the years, or you might come up with a way to argue both sides of the question. At its heart, however, your presentation must argue the question in some way. In the next week or so I will cover this in greater detail.

Leading Discussion:
As noted, discussion is the key to this class. Each week, one student will facilitate discussion of the readings. I will hand out a “Guide to Leading Class Discussion” that will help you with this process. I realize that some people are shy, and are not generally given to leading groups. Don’t worry—I am happy to help you along in this process.

Class Participation:
This constitutes the single most important part of your grade. Each week I will grade you on your participation in discussions. Your grade will be based not simply on talking during class, but also the ways in which you help move the discussion forward. This isn’t as difficult as it may seem. Simply come to class prepared to make one or two points, or ask one or two relevant questions, about the readings, and you will have no problem.

OK, here is the part of the syllabus where I have to put on my “meanyhead” hat:
Attendance:
Attendance in this class is mandatory and I will take attendance each day. You are allowed six absences—excused or unexcused—over the course of the semester. At the seventh absence you will receive an “F” for the class. There are no exceptions to this policy and I will not allow late withdrawals in order to avoid an “F.” This policy does not provide exceptions for athletics or school events. If you know you are going to be absent more than six times over the course of the semester, drop this class and find another.

Late Work, Make-ups, etc.:
I allow late work and make-up exams only in the case of prior consultation, and only in cases of serious emergency. Contact can be face-to-face, via e-mail, or through a phone call to my office. Late papers will lose one full grade for each day they are turned in late, Saturdays and Sundays included, beginning at the end of class. All make-up exams will be administered during the final week of the semester, and will consist only of one essay question. Quizzes may not be made up under any circumstances.

Plagiarism:
Plagiarism consists of turning in work that is not your own. That can be anything from quoting material in a paper and not crediting the original author through a footnote, to copying from a book, to pasting in the text from web pages or some Internet paper mill. The consequences for plagiarism in this course are simple: If you are caught plagiarizing, you will receive an “F” for the course. No exceptions. If you are unsure about what plagiarism is, it is your responsibility to clarify it with me prior to handing in a paper.

The Weekly Business:
Week One (January 12-16)—Introductions and “What is the Atlantic World?”
Reading: Bailyn “The Idea of Atlantic History”
Friday Discussion Leader: McMichael

Week Two (January 19-23)—European Explorations
Reading: Armitage, “Three Concepts of Atlantic History”; Elliot, “Introduction: Colonial Identity in the Atlantic World” in Canny and Pagden.
No Class Monday—MLK Birthday!
Friday Discussion Leader: McMichael

Week Three (January 26-30)—Africa and the Atlantic World
Reading: Thornton, Part I
Friday Discussion Leader:

Week Four (February 2-6)—Latin American Conquest
Reading: TePaske, “Integral to Empire: The Vital Peripheries of Colonial Spanish America,” Altman, “Reconsidering the Center: Puebla and Mexico City, 1550-1650,” and Weber, “Bourbons and Bárbaros: Center and Periphery in the Reshaping of Spanish Indian Policy” in Daniels and Kennedy.
Friday Discussion Leader:

Week Five (February 9-13)—The Gendered Atlantic
Reading: Cook and Cook, Good Faith and Truthful Ignorance (whole book)
Friday Discussion Leader:

Week Six (February 16-20)—French Encounters and Invasions
Reading: Paquet and Wallace, “Nouvelle-France/Québec/Canada: A World of Limited Identities” in Canny and Pagden, and Choquette; “Center and Periphery in French North America” in Daniels and Kennedy.
Friday Discussion Leader:
Midterm Due Friday

Week Seven (February 23-27)—The Dutch Attempt
Reading: “Other Netherlands Beyond the Sea: Dutch America between Metropolitan Control and Divergence, 1600-1795” in Daniels and Kennedy.
Friday Discussion Leader:

Week Eight (March 1-5)—The Caribbean Mixing Bowl
Reading: Boucher, “The ‘Frontier Era’ of the French Caribbean, 1620s-1690s,” in Daniels and Kennedy; Games, “‘The Sanctuarye of our rebel negroes’: The Atlantic Context of Local Resistance on Providence Island, 1630-41” Slavery and Abolition; Greene, “Changing Identity in the British Caribbean: Barbados as a Case Study” in Canny and Pagden.
Friday Discussion Leader:

Week Nine (March 8-12)—The Maritime World
Reading: Lane, Pillaging the Empire (whole book)
Friday Discussion Leader:

Week Ten (March 15-19)—Comparative Slave Systems
Reading: Thornton, Part II.
Friday Discussion Leader:

Week Eleven (March 22-26)—Spring Break

Week Twelve—(29-April 2)—The British
Reading: Canny, “Identity Formation in Ireland: The Emergence of the Anglo-Irish” in Canny and Pagden; Greene, “Transatlantic Colonization and the Redefinition of Empire in the Early Modern Era: The British-American Experience” in Daniels and Kennedy; Kupperman, “Fear of Hot Climates in the Anglo-American Colonial Experience,” WMQ.
Friday Discussion Leader:

Week Thirteen (April 5-9)—Presentations

Week Fourteen (April 12-16)—Presentations

Week Fifteen (April 19-23)—Presentations

Week Sixteen (April 26-30)—Presentations