This course is designed to introduce students to the growing
field of Atlantic World studies. Combining traditional 
approaches in history with new perspectives that transcend 
previous divisions between European, American, and Latin 
American history, this course examines conflict and exchange in 
the colonial period. The Atlantic World, 1500-1800 is intended 
to complement and further the students' knowledge of early 
modern Europe and colonial America by comparing contemporary 
developments in these contexts. 

A principal objective of the course is to teach students to 
think critically for themselves about the relationships between 
the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past 
that enable them to understand the present and mold the future,
and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities
of change.  The course seeks to acquaint students with the 
ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the 
elationships between community and individual needs and goals, 
and between ethical norms and decision-making.

In general students will be expected to: 

1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources 
critically.

2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability 
to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and 
the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments 
effectively.

3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and 
essays using processes that include discovering ideas and 
evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and 
polishing the finished papers.

This course is divided into three sections:

Section One examines the state of the Atlantic World on the 
eve of contact, comparing Renaissance Europe to pre-Columbian 
America and Africa before 1500. Readings include The Broken 
Spears and selections from John Thornton, Africa and Africans 
in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800.

Section Two turns to the European colonial powers of the early
modern period, from Spain and Portugal to England, France, and
the Dutch Republic. Readings include Colin Calloway, New 
Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early 
America.

Section Three addresses topics that span the era, such as
slavery, Atlantic exchanges, the counter-plantation zone, and
religion. Readings include Philip Curtin,The Rise and Fall of 
the Plantation Complex: Essays in Atlantic History.