| Unit name | Early America (Level C Special Topic) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HIST10031 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Jones |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
HIST13003 Special Topic Project |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
While the United States of America is the world's leading power, its roots are recent. This unit charts the rise of British settlement in the Americas from the discoveries of John Cabot in the late fifteenth century to the American War of Independence (1775-1783). Commencing with the dreams of Elizabethan courtiers and the actions of small groups of seventeenth-century settlers, the unit will examine how and why the colonies grew. In the process students will consider how the colonies varied from location to location, from the frozen fringes of Newfoundland to the tropical islands of the West Indies. To do this they will make extensive use of contemporary documents generated by or about those involved in the colonisation process: including letters, pamphlets and newspapers. Such sources will be used to examine what motivated people to found colonies, the nature of the life and society which they created in the Americas, and the evolving relationship between Britain and its colonies.
By the end of the unit students should have:
1. identified, analysed, and deepened their understanding of the early history of North America up to the War of Independence;
2. understood the historiographical debates that surround the topic;
3. learned how to work with primary sources;
4. developed their skills in contributing to and learning from discussion in a small-group environment.
Weekly 2-hour seminar
Access to tutorial consultation with unit tutor in office hours
2-hour unseen written examination (summative, 100%)
The examination will assess ILOS 1-4 by assessing the students’ understanding of the unit’s key themes, the related historiography as developed during their reading and participation in / learning from small group seminars, and relevant primary sources. Further assessment of their handling of the relevant primary sources will be provided by the co-requisite Special Topic Project (HIST 13003)
K.R. Andrews, N.P. Canny, and P.E. Hair (eds.), The Westward Enterprise: English Activities in Ireland, The Atlantic, and America, 1480-1650 (Liverpool, 1978)
R. Applebaum and J.W. Sweet (eds.), Envisioning an English Empire: Jamestown and the Making of the North Atlantic World, (Philadelphia, 2005)
E.T. Jones, 'Bristol, Cabot and the New Found Land, 1496-1500', in P.E. Pope and S. Lewis-Simpson (eds.), Exploring Atlantic Transitions: Archaeologies of Permanence and Transience in New Found Lands (Boydell and Brewer, 2013).
P.J. Marshall (ed.), The Eighteenth Century: Oxford History of the British Empire Volume II, (Oxford, 1998)
P.E. Pope, Fish Into Wine: The Newfoundland Plantation in the Seventeenth Century, (London, 2004)
D.B. Quinn (ed.), The Roanoke Voyages, 1584-1590: Documents to Illustrate The English Voyages to North America under the Patent Granted to Walter Raleigh in 1584, (London, 1955)
