Williams Syllabus Atlantic History Seminar

HISTORY 396: European Expansion, 1400-1750
Prof. Jim Williams
Mesa State College - Spring 1996

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines the encounter between Europeans, Asians, Africans, and Americans during the first imperial age, 1400 to 1750. We will focus on the complex set of European motives for expansion--political, commercial, religious, and scientific-and the equally complex motives and reactions of the peoples with whom the Europeans interacted. The goal is to consider the various encounters equally from both sides of the "glass curtain," a phrase historians of European expansion and global interaction sometimes use to describe the cultural divide between groups. Other topics considered during the course include technology, diplomacy, government, slavery, warfare, biological and ecological change, and religious missions. This course is comparative and aims to form an interpretation of early modern global patterns of change and development. Finally, we will ask why Europeans rose from a backwater civilization in 1400 to become dominant figures in global politics and trade by 1750.

Secondarily, this course is intended to teach the craft of history and to allow students to improve their analytical and writing skills. Interpreting and synthesizing primary and secondary works are essential elements of the course. In addition, this course directly addresses several of the educational goals for Mesa State College graduates, including the ability to communicate effectively in the English language, a knowledge of the origins of . American culture and of the existence of others, and the ability to think critically and recognize issues across a broad spectrum of subjects.

This course is possible because of the instructor's participation in 1995 in a summer seminar for college teachers, a program funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federally-funded agency. This course closely follows the topic of the seminar, "European Encounters with the Wider World, 1400-1700," and draws upon knowledge gained by the instructor at the seminar.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Students are expected to read the assigned texts and to attend class prepared to participate in discussions. Grades will be assigned based on the accumulation of points in the following categories:
participation in class discussions 200 points
reading response essays (6 @ 25 points each) 150 points
research essay (10 pp. maximum) 250 points
midterm exam 150 points
comprehensive final exam 250 points

REQUIRED TEXTS
James D. Tracy, The Rise of Merchant Empires: Long Distance Trade in the Early Modern World, 1350-1750 (Cambridge)
Alfred W. Crosby, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 (Cambridge) .
Anthony Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680, volume 2: Expansion and Crisis (Yale)
John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680 (Cambridge)
Marvin Lunenfeld, ed., 1492: Discovery, Invasion, Encounter-Sources and Interpretations (D.C. Heath)
James Axtell, The European and the Indian: Essays in the Ethnohistory of Colonial North America (Oxford)
OPTIONAL TEXT
Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, with Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History (St. Martin's)

READING RESPONSE ESSAYS
These essays will be due at roughly two-week intervals on the dates noted in the course schedule. Your job in each case will be to formulate a response to a set question that deals with one or more of the reading assignments. Write only one page that concisely and fully answers the question. These short responses may be typed or handwritten neatly. Essays not received in class on the due date will not be accepted.

ESSAYS
Learning to write history is a step toward becoming a good historian. The most important aspect of history is the telling of a story with clarity, vigor, disinterestedness, and style, which Peter Gay has called "the art of the historian's science." Expectations for the essay will be discussed in class when a formal assignment is distributed. Students, in consultation with the instructor, will choose a topic for a research essay, which will require research in primary and secondary sources. Whatever the topic, the essay must be comparative; you may not focus on just one of the major regions covered (Asia, Africa, the Americas). Note the deadlines on the course schedule.

Late essays will only be accepted if permission is granted on or before the due date.
This is not the same as an unpenalized extension. Permissions for late essays will not extend beyond one calendar week; essays more than one calendar week late will not be accepted, and a zero will be entered for that assignment (at which time the automatic failure provision becomes operative)

EXAMS
The midterm and final examinations consist entirely of essay questions of varying length. You will always have a choice of questions to answer. Thc final examination is partly comprehensive. Make-up examinations will not be given unless the student notifies the instructor before the examination of an emergency situation or serious illness.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Wed., Jan. 17: Introduction

PART I: THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY

Fri., Jan. 19: Europe in the fifteenth century
Lunenfeld, xv-xxxvii

Mon., Jan. 22: Mappa mundi--European views of the world

Wed., Jan. 24: Portuguese and Spanish initiatives
Lunenfeld, chaps. 2-5, 11-12

Fri., Jan. 26: Motivations for expansion and exploration
Lunenfeld, chaps. 6-10

PART II: ASIA

Mon., Jan. 29: Asian commerce
Reid, preface and chap. 1
Reading response essay 1 due

Wed., Jan. 31: Urban life
Reid, chap. 2

Fri., Feb. 2: Religion
Reid, chap. 3

Mon., Feb. 5: Politics
Reid, chap. 4

Wed., Feb. 7: Effects
Reid, chap. 5 and pp. 326-330

PART ill: AFRICA AND THE CREATION OF AN ATLANTIC WORLD

Fri., Feb. 9: Early contacts with Europeans
Thornton, introduction and chaps. 1-2

Mon., Feb. 12: The slave trade
Thornton, chaps. 3-4
Reading response essay 2 due

Wed., Feb. 14: Columbian voyages
Lunenfeld, chaps. 1, 13-16

Fri., Feb. 16: Columbian impressions and observations
Lunenfeld, chaps. 20-23

Mon., Feb. 19: Perceptions and misconceptions
Lunenfeld, chaps. 38-41
Essay topic and list of sources due

Wed., Feb. 21: Encounters and conquests
Lunenfeld, chaps. 24-29

Fri., Feb. 23: The "Black Legend" debated
Lunenfeld, chaps. 30-34

PART IV: AMERICANS, EUROPEANS, AND AFRICANS IN THE AMERICAS

Mon., Feb. 26: Cultural change in Latin America
Lunenfeld, chaps. 42-45
Reading response essay 3 due

Wed., Feb. 28: English and French colonies
Lunenfeld, chaps. 35-37 ,

Fri., Mar. 1: Anthropology + history = ethnohistory
Axtell, chaps. 1-2

Mon., Mar. 4: The invasion within
Axtell, chap. 3

Wed., Mar. 6: European impact on Indians
Axtell, chaps. 4-5

Fri., Mar. 8: Midterm examination .

Mon., Mar. 11: Indian impact on Europeans
Axtell, chap. 6 .

Wed., Mar. 13: White Indians and scalping
Axtell, chaps. 7-8..

Fn., Mar. 15: English Impact on Indian culture
Axtell, chap. 9

Spring break

Mon., Mar. 25: Indian impact on English colonial culture
Axtell, chap. 10 - Reading response essay 4 due

Wed., Mar. 27: African societies in the Americas
Thornton, chaps. 5-6

Fri., Mar. 29: African culture in the Americas
Thornton, chaps. 7-8

Mon., Apr. 1: African religions and resistance in the Americas
Thornton, chaps. 9-10

PART V: ECOLOGICAL EXPANSION

Wed., Apr. 3: Premodern ecology
Crosby, chaps. 1-3

Fri., Apr. 5: Atlantic islands
Crosby, chaps. 4-5

Mon., Apr. 8: Plants
Crosby, chaps. 6-7
Reading response essay 5 due

Wed., Apr. 10: Animals
Crosby, chap. 8

Fri., Apr. 12: Disease
Crosby, chap. 9

Mon., Apr. 15: Disease, death, plants, and animals in the Americas
Lunenfeld, chaps. 46-53
Research essays due in class

Wed., Apr. 17: Consequences of the Columbian exchange Crosby, chaps. 11-12

PART VI: A GLOBAL ECONOMY

Fri., Apr. 19: European long-distance trade
Tracy, introduction and chap. 1

Mon., Apr. 22: Iberian and northern European trade compared
Tracy, chaps. 2-3
Reading response essay 6 due

Wed., Apr. 24: Trade in the seventeenth century
Tracy, chaps. 4 & 6

Fri., Apr. 26: Caravan trade
Tracy, chaps. 10-11

Mon., Apr. 29: Asian commerce
Tracy, chaps. 12-13

Wed., May 1: Europeans-villains, innovators, or courageous heroes?
Lunenfeld, chaps. 17-19

Fri., May 3: Conclusion--the rise of Europe to global power

Final examination: Monday, May 6, 1:00-2:50 p.m.