Williams Syllabus Atlantic History Seminar

The Invasion of America, 1492-1800 - History 123
Prof. Jim Williams
Hamilton College
Spring 1995

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The primary aims of this course are: (1) to introduce you to the concepts, assumptions, and methods of the historical discipline, (2) to bridge the histories of Europe and America by (3) examining the exploration, exploitation, and colonization of North America from the perspectives of both early modern Europeans and native Americans.
Employing the hybrid discipline of ethnohistory, we will focus on the westward enterprises of the Spanish. French, Dutch, and English, their Iimpact upon the native cultures, and the impact of the native cultures upon them, and their success in transplanting European culture to the New World.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
On a daily basis, students are expected to read the assigned texts and to attend class prepared to participate in discussions. Reading is an inescapable part of learning hlstory. Three essays and three exams are also scheduled throughout the semester. A significant part of your grade is a participation score, which is calculated based on your attendance (as a baseline) and how much and how well you participate in class. It is anticipated that students will miss two or three classes for whatever reason; beyond this number, lack of attendance will begin to damage your participation score. No distinction is made between "excused" or "unexcused" absences, except in the case of prolonged illness or emergencies. Potential conflicts in schedules between this class and college activities (such as sports) must be brought to the attention of the instructor by the first day of the second week; accommodations will not be made on a 1ast-rninute basis. Grades will be assigned as follows:
participation in class discussions 10%
essay I (3 pp. max) 10%
essay II (3 pp. max) 10%
research essay (10 pp. max) 25%
exam I 107-
exam II 10%
comprehensive final exam 25%
NOTE: All work must be completed in this course. Any incomplete work will result in automatic failure for the course. Beware that essays more than one calendar week late will not be accepted.
NOTE: The Hamilton Honor Code applies to all work in this course.

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
Like reading, writing is an inescapable part of learning to be a 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." Since the literary presentation of the historian's research and thought is his or her final and most important task, particular attention will be paid to the problems of historical writing in two short essays and a longer research essay. You will also gain practice in taking essay examinations.
You may choose to rewrite oneof the shorter essays below "B+" for improvement, the highest grade counting. Students are encouraged to use peer review from fellow class members and the writing center before turning in written work. The longer research essay, since a draft is examined and returned, may not be rewritten, no matter how miserable.
Late essays will only be accepted if permission is granted on or before the due date. This is not the same as an unpena1ized extension. Permissions for late essays will not extend beyond one calendar week;
essays more than one calendar week late will not be accepted. A zero will be entered for that assignment, and the tardy student will automatically fail the course according to the provision mentioned above.
REQUIRED TEXTS
James Axtell, The European and the Indian
David Weber, The Spanish Frontier in North America
Miguel Leon-Portilla, The Broken Spears, revised ed.
James Axtell, ed., The Indian Peoples of Eastern America-
James Axtell, The Invasion Within
Patrick Malone, The Sku1kinq Way of War
J.H. Elliott, The Old World and the New
James Merrell, The Indians' New World
Richard Marius, A Short Guide to Writing about History (orange ed.)
All texts for this course are also on two-hour reserve in Burke Library.

EXTRA MEETINGS OUTSIDE OF THE NORMAl CLASS TIME
All students are expected to attend an evening movie presentation during the semester. A one-page review of the film should be completed before spring break. In addition, all students are expected to attend a lecture by Oren Lyons on Thursday, January 26, at 8 pm in the chapel. You should also view the exhibition "Dreams and Visions: Contemporary Artists of the Iroquois and Ojibwa" at your leisure in the Emerson Gallery (opening date is January 16). A one-page review of Lyons's lecture and a separate one-page commentary on the exhibition are due in class January 30. Depending on scheduling and student interest, the instructor may also schedule a field trip to a nearby Indian site after the spring thaw.

COURSE SCHEDULE
You should read the assignment before class on the day listed.

Mon., Jan. 16: Introduction

Wed., Jan. 18: The restless giant: 16th-century Europe
Marius, Short Guide, introduction
Axtell, European and Indian, chap. 1
Weber, Spanish Frontier, introduction and chap. 1

PART I: NEW SPAIN

Fri., Jan. 20: Columbus's first encounters
Weber, Spanish Frontier, chap. 2

Mon., Jan. 23: Columbus's 2d-4th voyages; Aztec culture before Cortes
Leon-Portilla, Broken Spears, foreward, introduction, chaps. 1-7

Wed., Jan. 25: Reading history; common problems to overcome in writing in Marius, Short Guide, 193-246 Hamilton College Style Sheet

Thur.., Jan. 26: Oren Lyons lecture, 8 pm, chapel (required)

Fri., Jan. 27: The conquest of Mexico
Leon-Portilla, Broken Spears, chaps. 8-16

Mon., Jan. 30: Cortes and Motecuhzoma: interpreting primary documents Cortes, excerpts of "Second Letter," handout Marius, Short Guide, 10-50, 60-75
Lyons and "Dreams and Visions" short reviews due in class

Wed., Feb. 1: The Black legend
"The Conquistadors," handout
"Spain Requires the Indians," handout A

Fri., Feb. 3: Spanish Christian missions in New Mexico and Florida
Weber, Spanish Frontier, chaps. 3-5
"Naranjo s Explanation" and "Luiseno Recollection," handout A

Mon., Feb. 6: Indians and imperial competition
Weber, Spanish Frontier, chaps. 6-8
Essay I due in class

Wed., Feb. 8: New Spain withers
Weber, Spanish Frontier, chaps. 9-10

Fri., Feb. 10: Selecting a research paper topic and using the library Marius, Short Guide, 88-98

Mon., Feb. 13: EXAM I
For exam tips, read Marius, Short Guide, appendix, and the handout on preparing for exams

PART II: INDIANS OF THE NORTHEAST

Wed., Feb. 15: Demographic catastrophy: the hazards of quantitative evidence in history
Daniels, "Indian Population in 1492." handout
Selection from Bradford, "Of Plymouth Plantation," handout
Marius, Short Guide, 51-59

Fri.. Feb. 17: Culture of Eastern Americans: birth, youth, marriage
Axtell,ed., Indian Peoples, chaps. 1-3

Mon., Feb. 20: Culture of Eastern Americans: labor
Axtell. ed., Indian Peoples, chaps. 4-5
Research essay topic and list of sources due

Wed., Feb. 22: Culture of Eastern Americans: religion and death
Axtell. ed.. Indian Peoples, chaps. 6-7

PART III: NEW FRANCE

Fri.. Feb. 24: Early northern encounters
"An Ojibwa Recounts," handout A
Marius, Short Guide, 98-122

Mon.. Feb. 27: Early French settlement
Axtell, Invasion Within, prologue and chaps. 1-3

Wed., Mar. 1: Jesuit missions
Axtell. Invasion Within, chaps. 4-6
"A French Traveler Observes" handout A

Fri.. Mar. 3: Culture and ecology of the fur trade: the Martin thesis
Martin, "European Impact on Algonquian Tribe," handout

Mon., Mar. 6: Culture and ecology of the fur trade: a critique of Martin's thesis
Bishop. "Northeastern Indian Concepts", handout Essay II due in class
Evening film: "Black Robe," 7:30 pm. K-J Red Pit

Wed.. Mar. 8: New World effects on the Old World by 1650
Elliott, Old World and the New

PART IV: NEW ENGLAND
Fri., Mar. 10: War in early New England
Axtell, Invasion Within, chaps. 7-8
"Black Robe" reviews due

Spring break

Mon., Mar. 27: Constructing a history research essay
Marius, Short Guide, 1.22-177

Wed., Mar. 29: English missions
Axtell, Invasion Within, chaps. 9-10 .
"Joseph Fish Preaches" and "Red Jacket Lectures,"' handout A

Fri., Mar. 31: EXAM II

Mon., Apr. 3: Violence and wars: King Phillip's War
Malone, Skulking Way of War

Wed., Apr. 5: Violence and wars: scalping
Axtell, European and Indian, chaps. 2 & 8

Fri., Apr. 7: Missionary success: who was "better"?
Axtell, Invasion Within, chaps. 11-13, epilogue

Mon., Apr. 10: Seeds of change--biology and ecology
Research essay first draft. outline. and peer review due

Wed.., Apr.12: Changes in Indian culture
Axtell, European and Indian, chaps. 5 & 9

Fri., Apr. 14: Changes in English culture
Axtell, European and Indian, chap. 10

PART V: MIDDLE AND SOUTHERN COLONIES

Mon., Apr. 17: The Iroquois League and the Iroquois Confederacy

Wed., Apr. 19: The Iroquois response-- the Dutch, English, and French
Richter, "War and Culture," handout

Fri., Apr. 21: The Iroquois in the eighteenth century
Research essays due in class

Mon., Apr. 24: Powhatan's Virginia Indians
Potter, "Early English Effects on Virginia," handout

Wed., Apr. 26: Southeastern Indians
Merrell, Indians' New World, prologue, chaps. 1-2

Fri., Apr. 28: The Catawba Nation forms and adapts
Merrell, Indians' New World, chaps. 3-5

Mon., May 1: Catawbas decline but survive
Merrell, Indians' New World, chaps. 6-7, epilogue

Wed., May 3: Indians, Africans, and Europeans Nash, "The Mixing of Peoples," handout

Fri., May 5: Concluding thoughts: the legacy of the invasion
Weber, Spanish Frontier, chaps. 11-12
Axtell, Colonial America without the Indians," handout

Comprehensive final examination as scheduled by the registrar

ESSAY I: Description
"A historian's mind is a courtroom. There, documents are tested and compared. Eyewitnesses are quizzed. (The dead lie or make mistakes as often as the living. Their memoirs have to be cross-examined.) The historian's mind also takes expert testimony--from other historians and scholars--and tests for bias or contradiction. At some point, the jury determines the likely facts. The historian then turns judge, deciding how those facts mesh and what should be made of them."-Ernest R. May

This assignment is an exercise in weighing two sides of the same story and deciding who is correct (if anyone). Getting the story straight is the first task of history, and sometimes the most challenging. The assignment also forces you to condense many pages of documents into a brief, though richly told, historical account. Sorting through loads of information, selecting the most pertinent bits, and then presenting those bits coherently, seamlessly, and convincingly is an essential part of history ~ most every other task one does in college and life.

TOPIC: You are a journalist in Mexico during the era of Cortes and Montezuma. You are there to get the story straight for the readers back home. Your editor has given you three pages at most to relate to your readers the story of the relationship between Cortes and Montezuma from their first meeting to Montezuma's death. Although you probably were not an eyewitness to the events, you have "interviewed" the participants and may quote from the sources as if you gathered them yourself. NOTE: This assignment does not cover the entire story of the Spanish conquest! Use only the relevant chapters in Broken Spears and the excerpt from Cortes's "Second Letter." Select the most important aspects of the relationship, those that will best convey a good understanding of Montezuma's and Cortes's relationship. Your writing must be concise and crisp, void of all flab and unnecessary detail. Assume the character and write as if for a newspaper. The more exciting and vivid your story is, the likelier you are to receive a promotion out of the colonies.

You may discuss the assignment and your ideas with classmates, but in the end the written work must be your own. Acknowledge these conversations at the end of the essay with a simple statement of such collaboration. Footnotes or endnotes are not necessary. Use in-text citations to the two sources, such as (Cortes, 240) or (Broken Spears, 93). All information that is not common knowledge must be cited; that
means more than just quotations deserve citation. See Marius's section on using and punctuating quotations. All students are encouraged to discuss their ideas, clarify their thoughts, or seek other guidance from the instructor, who will expect the essay to observe the rules of grammar and style discussed in class.

Late papers will be accepted only if permission is granted on or before the due date. Nevertheless, they will receive a grade reduction of 1/2 letter grade per calendar day (including weekends). It is easiest on
everyone to be punctual. Essays must be typed and double-spaced. Number all pages, the first at the bottom, the rest at the top. You should begin page one with a title, preferably something clever to urge the reader forward. DO NOT shroud your essays in plastic covers or unnecessary title and bibliography pages or blank cover sheets. Simply staple the pages together at the upper left and write your name and the date on the back of the last page.

ESSAY II: Argument
"There is more to do than in a courtroom, for hearsay evidence is welcome, and the historian is usually looking for answers beyond act and motive. Different views of an event may be as important as a single
verdict. How a story is told may yield as much information as what it says. . . . Finally, it is time to write, to decide on an interpretation and how to arrange the evidence for readers."-Natalie Zemon Davis and Ernest R. May

The primary purpose of this assignment is to develop your skills in constructing an argument based on your reading of primary documents.

TOPIC: "Indian (Males/Females) Had the Better Life" (3 pages maximum). Your sole source will be Axtell, Indian Peoples. After considering the variety of Indian experiences throughout the life-cycle, which sex-male or fema1e--do you think had the best quality of life in the colonial period? Obviously, you will first have to decide what "quality of life" means to you, and then you will have to generalize unconscionably about the diverse Eastern woodlands. However, you should mention specific Indian and European group names when possible. DO NOT write an entire essay that speaks only of "the Indians" and "the Europeans. "

In one sense, your argument is opinion, if by that word you mean point of view. That opinion (or perspective) must be informed, believable, and convincing. Conceivably, one could write an equally good essay answering the question both ways. Most times in interpreting the past, there is no absolutely right or wrong answer, only much gray area between; this is what makes history fun for some and exasperating for others! The good historian's task is to construct the most plausible and probable argument for a particular issue based on a careful reading of evidence at hand. HINT: The best arguments probably will not follow life-cycle chronologically. In other words, it is desirable to take no and rearrange them into the most logical argument, which probably will progress sequentially from chapter 1 to chapter 7.

Instead of notes, place page references to the assigned book in parentheses at the end of quotations or pertinent sentences or sections of your text that deserve citation. EXAMPLE: Iroquois women felt
especially constrained by their role as farm laborers (98). Consult the style manual or Marius for proper use and punctuation of in-text citations.

Because writing should not be a solitary enterprise, you must share a draft of your paper with a classmate and ask for his or her comments. This does not mean you may have someone do the work for you. At the end of your paper, have the classmate sign a statement that he or she read the draft and offered suggestions about content, the argument, and mechanics.

Number all pages, the fi rst at the bottom, the rest at the top. You should begin page one with a title, preferably something clever to urge the reader forward. DO NOT shroud your essays in plastic covers or unnecessary title and bibliography pages or blank cover sheets. Simply staple the pages together at the upper left and write your name and the date on the back of the last page.

The same late policy applies to essay II as to essay I, described above.