SPRING 2015
VTAMC 202 STRAUSS (2)
UNIT 1:
BEGINNINGS
IN WHAT WAYS
DID THE
INTERACTIONS
OF NATIVE
AMERICANS,
EUROPEANS,
AND AFRICANS
CREATE A “NEW
WORLD”?
4 Weeks * 11 Class Sessions * 11 Primary Sources * 3 Secondary Sources * 1 Miniseries
5-7 Page Essay * roughly 370 years
I. ASSESSMENT
A. Encounters Essay (due by in class and on Turnitin/Moodle on Feb 9) In 5-7 double-spaced pages (11 pt font), answer this Unit’s question: In what ways did
the interactions of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans create a “New World”?
Drawing on at least 3 primary sources and 1 secondary source, explain at least 3 situations
where the worlds of Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans “collided” with one another.
How did early European exploration and colonization result in cultural interactions among
Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans? You may wish to compare and contrast
different kinds of European exploration (French v. Spanish, for example) as part of your
answer. Finally, forward an argument for how exploration, colonization, and interaction
created something new for each group - new sets of ideas or cultural norms, new
opportunities, and/0r new challenges. Be sure to organize your essay around a major claim (whatever you see as “new”),
supporting claims (your interpretation of the 3 situations where worlds “collide”),
evidence (quotations, paraphrasing of anecdotes, facts, and/or arguments from the
sources), and a compelling introduction and conclusion.
Use proper Chicago-style citations, a creative and informative title, and page
numbers. Use a simple heading (name, class, date, title) but do not include a title page.
Please print on both sides of the paper.
The key to success in this assignment, in addition to answering the question fully and
following directions, is “don’t be boring!” Choose a fascinating example of “the new” that
you develop with a major claim and specific and detailed evidence from the sources.
(Image Above) Tenochtitlan from Praeclara Ferdinadi Cortesii de Nova maris Oceani Hyspania Narratio, 1524.
SPRING 2015
VTAMC 202 STRAUSS (2)
B. Midterm Exam (in-class on Wednesday February 27)
The exam will assess how well you can articulate the complexity of diverse narratives within
the American experience and your ability to evaluate texts for their historical and literary
value. In Part I of the exam, you will be given selections from ten of the texts from Units I
and II. You will have to identify the author of eight of the texts and explain (in a paragraph)
the historical or literary significance of two of the texts.
The exam will also assess how well you can fashion a persuasive literary or historical
argument. In Part II of the exam, you will answer two or three short answer questions
related to the Unit 2 Question: “How revolutionary was the American Revolution?” More to
come on the Unit 2 Handout (distributed on Feb 9).
There will be no review guide or study session so please keep up with the reading, take notes,
make outlines or notecards, and see Prof. Strauss in office hours.
II. TIMELINE
1000-1300
1492
1500
1519-1521
1558-1603
1603-1613
1607
1620
1634
1692
1726-1756
1755-1763
1764
1770
Anasazi communities inhabit southwestern regions; Indian Cultures of
North America
Christopher Columbus arrives in the Bahamas; European Expansion
Native American populations begin to be ravaged by European diseases;
Great Biological Exchange
(Spanish Empire) Hernán Cortés conquers Aztecs in Mexico (vs. 1514,
Bartolomé de las Casas petitions Spanish Crown to treat Native American
peoples as humanely as other subject populations.)
(British Empire) Protestant Reformation and Reign of Elizabeth I; 1584
Walter Raleigh lands on “island” of Roanoke
(The French) Samuel de Champlain explores the Saint Lawrence River;
founds Quebec
Settling the Chesapeake starting with Jamestown; Powhatan confederacy
saves colonists from starving and teaches them to plant tobacco; 1619 20
Africans arrive in Jamestown on Dutch ship as indentured servant
Settling New England: Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor; 1621 First
Thanksgiving; 1630-1643 Puritans to Massachusetts Bay; 1637 Pequot
War; 1638 Anne Hutchinson banished from Bay Colony for challenging
Puritan beliefs; 1675-1676 King Philip’s War destroys power of Native
Americans in New England
Maryland Colony; 1642-1651 English Civil War; 1681 William Penn’s
Pennsylvania; 1688 Glorious Revolution and British Bill of Rights
Salem witchcraft trials
The “Great Awakening”; 1741 Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of
an Angry God
French and Indian Wars; The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West;
3 Legged Stool of Britishness
Regulating the Colonies: 1764 Sugar Act; 1764 Currency Act; 1765 Stamp
Act and Stamp Act Congress; 1765 Quartering Act; 1766 Declaratory Act;
1767 Townshend Acts; 1773 Tea Act; 1774 Intolerable Acts; 1774 Quebec
Act
Sons of Liberty and Boston Massacre; 1773 Boston Tea Party; 1775
Lexington and Concord
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SPRING 2015
VTAMC 202 STRAUSS (2)
1.15
Maps and
Columbus Log
/ Spanish
(primary)
1.17
Lalemant on
Jogues /
French
(primary)
1.21
Rowlandson’s
Captivity
Narrative /
English
(primary)
1.23
Lepore on
Jamestown /
English
(secondary)
1.23
Edwards, First
Great
Awakening /
religion
(primary)
1.26 Berlin on
Slavery
(secondary)
1.28 & 1.30
Equiano’s
Captivity
Narrative
(primary)
2.2 Franklin’s
Writings
(primary)
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3
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SPRING 2015
VTAMC 202 STRAUSS (2)
2.4 Bernard
on Empire
(secondary)
2.6 Paine,
Common
Sense
(primary)
2.6 John
Adams
miniseries
episode
(secondary/
primary)
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