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HIST 6302: Colloquium in Transatlantic Migrations, Colonization,
and Comparative Frontiers
Instructors: Jalloh, Narrett, Palmer, and Richmond
University of Texas at Arlington
Colloquium Description The colloquium will focus on different topics
found in the varying experiences of transatlantic migration, colonization,
and comparative frontiers. These include: the nature of societies in Africa,
the Americas, and Europe that have been engaged in transatlantic contact and
interchange; the characteristics of migration, both voluntary and involuntary,
from one society to another; the nature of relations between indigenous and
settler groups in the post-contact period; the process of colonization involving
Europeans and Africans in the Americas; and the development of colonial and
national
frontiers examined in comparative perspective.
Individual course descriptions are available and include the following as taught by:
Dr. Jalloh
"Africa and the Atlantic World, 1400-1860"
Dr. Narrett
"British, French, and Spanish Colonization in North America, 1500-1850"
Dr. Palmer
"British Colonization in Ireland and America, 1600-1700"
Dr. Richmond
"Iberian Frontiers in the Americas, 1492-1950"
Dr. Palmer
"Frontiers in South Africa and British North America, 1650-1900"
Goals and objectives The colloquium seeks to analyze and explain,
through transatlantic contact, interchange, and development, the emergence
of new, altered societies in the post-contact transatlantic world. We will
examine not only the post-contact changes wrought on native societies, but
also the development of new creolized settler societies that evolved particular
characteristics as a result of contact with indigenous communities. In sum,
as a result of transatlantic contacts and exchanges, all was changed as new
societies buffeted by migration and colonization developed on both sides of
the North and
South Atlantic. To understand transatlantic history is to appreciate the origins
and emergence of modern global societies.
Examples of Readings
Migration
Bernard Bailyn, The Peopling of British North America (New York,
1986).
J.E. Inikori and S.L. Engerman, eds., The Atlantic Slave Trade (Durham,
1992)
John Thornton, Africa and the Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World
(Cambridge,1992)
Colonization
Ciaran Brady and Raymond Gillespie, eds., Natives and Newcomers: Essays
in the Making of Irish Colonial Society, 1543-1641(Dublin, 1986)
Mark Burkholder and Lyman L. Johnson, Colonial Latin America, 3rd ed.
(New York, 1998)
Nicholas Canny, Kingdom and Colony: Ireland in the Atlantic World, 1560-1800
(Baltimore, 1988)
George Frederickson, White Supremacy: A Comparative Study of American and
South African History (Oxford, 1981)
Gary Nash, Red, White, and Black: the Peoples of Early America, 4th.
ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1982)
Comparative Frontiers
Richard Bartlett, The New Country: A Social History of the American Frontier,
1776-1890 (Oxford, 1974)
Alfred Crosby, The Columbian Exchange (Westport, CT, 1971)
W. J. Eccles, The Canadian Frontier, 1534-1760 (New York, 1969)
Howard Lamar and Leonard Thompson, eds., The Frontier in History: North
America and Southern Africa Compared (New Haven, 1981)
D. W. Meinig, The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500
Years of History, Vol. 1: Atlantic America, 1492-1800 (New Haven, 1986)
Gregory Nobles, American Frontiers: Cultural Encounters and Continental
Conquest (New York, 1997)
Daniel J. Usner, Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in a Frontier Exchange Economy:
The Lower Mississippi Valley before 1783 (Chapel Hill, 1992)
David J. Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America (New Haven, 1992)
HIST 6302: Colloquium in Transatlantic Migrations, Colonization, and Comparative Frontiers
"Africa and the Atlantic World, 1400-1860s"
Instructor: Jalloh
Colloquium Description This course examines the involuntary migration of Africans from their homeland to the Atlantic world through the transatlantic slave trade. In addition, it deals with the voluntary return of Diaspora Africans to Africa.
Goals and Objectives This course will explore the cultural background of African Americans, black communities in the Atlantic world, as well as linkages between Africa and the black Diaspora communities.
Examples of Readings
Africa
J. E. Harris, Africans and their History (New York, 1978)
J. E. Inikori, The Chaining of a Continent ( Jamaica, 1992)
J. E. Inikori and S.L. Engerman, eds., The Atlantic Slave Trade (Durham,
1992)
R. July, A History of the African People (Illinois, 1998)
J. Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680
(Cambridge, 1992)
African Diaspora
M. L. Coniff and T. J. Davis, Africans in the Americas: A History of
the Black Diaspora (New York, 1994)
H. Franklin and A. A. Moss, Jr., From Slavery to Freedom: A History of
African Americans (New York, 1994)
J. E. Harris, ed., Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora (Washington,
DC, 1993)
Jalloh and S. Maizlish, eds., The African Diaspora (College Station,
1998)
Thompson, The Making of the African Diaspora in the Americas, 1441-1900
(New York, 1992)
Eric Williams, From Columbus to Castro: The History of the Caribbean
(New York, 1984)
HIST 6302: Colloquium in Transatlantic Migrations, Colonization, and Comparative Frontiers
"British, French, and Spanish Colonization in North America, 1500-1850"
Instructor: Narrett
Colloquium Description This course will examine how the forces of colonization, migration, and the interaction of diverse peoples shaped the history of North American frontiers from the early sixteenth century through the mid-nineteenth centuries. Our course of study will consider both similarities and differences in the evolution of British, French, and Spanish colonization. We will examine issues of imperial governance as well as the relations between European colonists, native peoples, and African slaves and their descendants.
Goals and Objectives This course will introduce graduate students to major issues in comparative history. We will emphasize the concept of "frontiers in history" as a means of examining the interaction between diverse peoples in particular regions. We will thereby gain insight into the multicultural origins of the United States and the nation’s historic relationship to Canada and Mexico.
Examples of Readings
D.W. Meinig, The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Volume One, Atlantic America, 1492-1800 (New Haven, 1986)
Anglo-American Expansion and Empire
Francis Jennings, Empire of Fortune: Crowns, Colonies & Tribes in
the Seven Years War in North America (New York, 1988)
Gregory Nobles, American Frontiers: Cultural Encounters and Continental
Conquest (New York, 1997)
Indians, Cultural Encounters, and the Middle Ground
John Demos, The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story From Early America
(New York, 1994)
Daniel J. Richter: "War and Culture: The Iroquois Experience," William
and Mary Quarterly, 3rd series, 40 (1983): 528-559
Neal Salisbury, "The Indians’ Old World: Native Americans and the
Coming of Europeans," William and Mary Quarterly, 3rd series,
53 (July 1996): 435-458
Daniel J. Usner, Jr., Indians, Settlers, and Slaves in a Frontier Exchange
Economy: The Lower Mississippi Valley Before 1783 (Chapel Hill, 1992)
Richard White, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the
Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815 (New York, 1991)
French and Spanish Colonization
W.J. Eccles, The Canadian Frontier, 1534-1760 (New York, 1969)
David J. Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America (New Haven, 1992)
HIST 6302: Colloquium in Transatlantic Migrations, Colonization, and Comparative Frontiers
"British Colonization in Ireland and America, 1600-1700"
Instructor: Palmer
Colloquium Description This course takes a comparative look at natives and settlers in two regions of British penetration and influence. We will examine the following topics: nature of both indigenous and settler societies; landownership, law, and politics; relations with natives (role of demographics, disease, cultural resistance, and wars); characteristics of emerging economy and polity; and assessment of outcomes of settler-native interactions.
Goals and Objectives This course will explore the concept of Ireland as a "training ground" for British settler attitudes and policies in North America; examine the impact of demographics on settler-native relations (for example, in America settlers soon outnumber natives, but the reverse is true in Ireland); investigate the effect of distance on metropolitan government policies towards the colonies; explain the comparative cultural attitudes by settlers toward the natives; and assess the nature of the emerging polity and economy in both regions.
Examples of Readings
Comparative Studies
Nicholas Canny, Kingdom and Colony: Ireland in the Atlantic World, 1560-1800
(Baltimore, 1988)
Jack Greene, Pursuits of Happiness: The Social Development of Early Modern
British Colonies and the Formation of American Culture (Chapel Hill, 1988)
Ireland
Ciaran Brady and Raymond Gillespie, eds., Natives and Newcomers: Essays
on the Making of Irish Colonial Society, 1534-1641 (Dublin, 1986)
Peter Berresford Ellis, Hell or Connaught! The Cromwellian Colonisation
of Ireland, 1652-1660 (Belfast, 1975)
Brendan Fitzpatrick, Seventeenth-Century Ireland: The War of Religions
(Totowa, NJ, 1988)
J. G. Simms, Jacobite Ireland 1685-1691 (Oxford, 1969)
America
Bernard Bailyn, The Peopling of British North America: An Introduction
(New York, 1986)
Russell Bourne, The Red King’s Rebellion: Racial Politics in New England,
1675-1678 (Oxford, 1991)
Gary Nash, Red, White, and Black: The Peoples of Early America, 3rd
ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1992)
Neal Salisbury, Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans, and the Making
of New England, 1500-1643 (Oxford, 1982)
Bernard Sheehan, Savagism and Civility: Indians and Englishmen in Colonial
Virginia (Cambridge, 1980)
HIST 6302: Colloquium in Transatlantic Migrations, Colonization, and Comparative Frontiers
"Iberian Frontiers in the Americas, 1492 - 1950"
Instructor: Richmond
Colloquium Description This course focuses upon the Iberian migration to and colonization of what is now the U.S. southwest, Central America and South America. Comparative frontier experiences will also be covered. Principal topics to be discussed are the indigenous civilizations, the 16th-century European invasions, imperial administration and exploitation, comparative labor systems, independence from Europe, early republics and empires, oligarchies and elite, nationalism and reform as well as intellectual currents.
Goals and Objectives Students will gain a broad understanding of the transatlantic effect upon Latin America through the unique efforts of Spain and Portugal. An examination of the historical literature will highlight transatlantic trade patterns dominated at various times by Iberian colonial endeavors as well as the period of prosperity from 1880 to 1929. The flow of ideas and peoples from Europe and Africa to Latin America will also be considered as well as the emergence of global aspects of nationalism in a transatlantic context.
Examples of Readings
Mark A. Burkholder and Lyman L. Johnson, Colonial Latin America,
Third Ed. (New York, 1998)
Bradford Burns, 6th ed. Latin America (New York, 1995)
Indigenous Background
George Banks, Peru Before Pizarro (Oxford, 1977)
Inga Clendinnen, Aztecs: An Interpretation (Cambridge, 1991)
European Invasions
Inga Clendinnen, Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatán,
1517-1570 (Cambridge, 1987)
John Hemming, Red Gold: The Conquest of the Brazilian Indians (Cambridge,
1978)
Imperial Administration and Exploitation
Colin M. MacLachlan, Spain’s Empire in the New World: the Role of
Idas in Institutional and Social Change (Berkeley, 1988)
Stuart B. Schwartz, Sovereignty and Society in Colonial Brazil (Berkeley,
1981)
Comparative Labor Systems
Philip D. Curtin, The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (Madison, 1969)
Colin A. Palmer, Slaves of the White God: Blacks in Mexico, 1570-1650 (Cambridge,
1976)
Independence from Europe
Timothy E. Anna, Spain and the Loss of America (Lincoln, 1983)
Mark D. Szuchman and Jonathan C. Brown, eds., Revolution and Restoration:
The Rearrangement of Power in Argentina, 1776-1860 (Lincoln, 1994)
Early Republics and Empires
Timothy E. Anna, The Mexican Empire of Iturbide (Lincoln, 1990)
Stanley Stein, Vassouras, A Brazillian Coffee County, 1850-1890 (Princeton,
1970)
Oligarchies and Elites
Mark D. Szuchman, Mobility and Integration in Urban Argentina: Córdoba
in the Liberal Era (Austin, 1980)
Mark Wasserman, Capitalists, Caciques, and Revolution. The Native Elite
and Foreign Enterprise in Chihuahua, Mexico, 1842-1911 (Chapel Hill, 1984)
Nationalism and Reform
Douglas W. Richmond, Venustiano Carranza’s Nationalist Struggle,
1893-1920 (Lincoln, 1983)
Carl Solberg, Immigration and Nationalism: Argentina and Chile, 1890-1914
(Austin, 1970)
Intellectual Currents
Sheldon R. Liss, Roots of Revolution: Radical Thought in Cuba (Austin,
1989)
José Mariátegui, Seven Interpretive Essays on the Peruvian
Reality (Austin, 1971)
HIST 6302: Colloquium in Transatlantic Migrations, Colonization, and Comparative Frontiers
"Frontiers in South Africa and British North America, 1650-1900"
Instructor: Palmer
Colloquium Description This course will be a comparative study of the long-term frontier experience in British North America and in South Africa. We will examine the following topics: nature and volume of settler immigration, impact on and demographics of native societies (disease, warfare, slavery, removal), characteristics of the developing economies, growth of political systems, and evolution of cultural attitudes and policies toward the defeated and dispossessed natives, whether minority (USA) or majority (S. Afr.).
Goals and Objectives This course seeks to understand why North European settlers, intruding into two different world regions, produced settler societies very different from each other. Factors examined include the nature and size of both settler and native societies, characteristics and purpose of the two settler societies, and the influence of climate/geography/distance from each’s European "culture hearth." Why, in short, was settler USA so successful and South Africa so fragile, "unsettled"and-- in a word--unsuccessful from a settler point of view?
Examples of Readings
Comparative Studies
George Frederickson, White Supremacy: A Comparative Study of American
and South African History (Oxford, 1981)
Howard Lamar and Leonard Thompson, eds., The Frontier in History: North
America and Southern Africa Compared (New Haven, 1981)
British North America (excl. Canada)
Richard Bartlett, The New Country: A Social History of the American Frontier,
1776-1890 (Oxford, 1974)
Gary Nash, Red, White, and Black: The Peoples of Early America, 3rd
ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1992)
Robert Utley and Wilcomb Washburn, Indian Wars (Boston, 1987)
Philip Weeks, The American Indian Experience: A Profile, 1524 to the Present
(Arlington Heights, IL, 1988)
Southern Africa
Richard Elphick and Hermann Giliomee, eds., The Shaping of South African
Society, 1652-1820 (London, 1981)
Christopher Saunders, The Making of the South African Past: Major Historians
on Race and Class (New York, 1988)
Ken Smith, The Changing Past: Trends in South African Historical Writing
(Athens, Ohio, 1989)
Leonard Thompson, A History of South Africa (New Haven, 1990)
© 2002 by The President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Created November 2002.