506:110, Age of European Empires Session 3, July 11-August 17, Tues/Thurs, 6:00-10:00pm Instructor: Resnick-Day Objective of the course: This course seeks to impart a basic understanding of the processes of European colonialism from 1492 to the colonial independence movements of the mid to late 20th Century. A special focus will be brought to bear on the changing justifications given for colonization, and on the arguments made against it over the long term. We will focus on the relationship between these justifications for, and attacks against colonialism, and the power dynamics on the ground. We will also look at the motivations for empire and their methods of control, on the accommodations of subject people to empire and their struggles and revolutions against it, as well as the ways in which they sometimes tried to turn imperial presence to their own advantage. We will pay especially close attention to the conquest of Mexico and to the Haitian Revolution as case studies (and as compelling and complex stories). We Each class we will do a lecture, take a break for food and refreshment, and then either have a discussion in which you will be graded for participation, or take a test. Assignments: Four in-class tests, with identification, short answer and one five paragraph essay each. The lowest grade will be dropped, the rest will be averaged. This will count for 80 percent of your grade. The rest will be class participation and attendance. Please note that this will be an intensive class: we are trying to get a semester’s worth of material into a month, so we will be jumping in from day one, and we will be assessed every week beginning the second week. Please come prepared every class. Electronic Coursepack (free from library website) will include selections from: Blackburn, Robin. The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery 1776-1848. (New York: Verso, 1988). Beckert, Sven. “From Tuskeege to Togo: The Problem of Freedom in the Empire of Cotton.” The American Historical Review, Vol. 109, No. 5 (December 2004), pp. 1405-1438. Cesaire, Aime. Discourse on Colonialism. (New York: New Monthly Press, 2000). Clendinnen, Inga. “Fierce and Unnatural Cruelty”: Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico.” Representations No. 33, Special Issue: The New World (Winter, 1991), pp. 65-100. Dubois, Laurent, Garrigus, John. Slave Revolution in the Caribbean, 1789-1804: A Brief History with Documents. (Bedford St. Martins, 2006). Frederickson, George. Racism: A Short History. (Princeton University, 2002). Headrick, Daniel. Power Over Peoples: Technology, Environments, and Western Imperialism, 1400 to the Present. (Princeton University, 2010). Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything your American History Textbook Got Wrong. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995). Lovejoy, Paul. “The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa: A Review of the Literature.” The Journal of African History Vol. 30, No. 3 (1989), pp. 365-394. Miers, Suzanne and Roberts, Richard, eds. The End of Slavery in Africa. (Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1988). Taylor, Alan. American Colonies: The Settling of North America, Volume 1. (Penguin Books, 2001). Thornton, John K. Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 1998.) Townsend, Camilla. Malintzin’s Choices: A Native Woman and the Conquest of Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, 2006. Townsend, Camilla. “Burying the White Gods: New Perspectives on the Conquest of Mexico.” The American Historical Review. Vol. 108, No. 3 (June 2003), pp. 659-687. Westad, Odd Arne. The Global Cold War. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Week One: Introduction, and Cultural Encounters and Violent Colonization: The Rise of Atlantic Empires, Part I Tuesday, July 12th: Syllabus and introduction, getting to know you. Thursday, July 14th: Encounter, Christianity, and Colonization in the Americas and Asia: The Construction, Wrecking Power, and the Limits of European Empires. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me, Chapter 2 (The True Importance of Christopher Columbus, p. 40-74. Week Two: Cultural Encounters and Violent Colonization: The Rise of Atlantic Empires, Part II Tuesday, July 19th: Case Study: The Conquest of Mexico Camilla Townsend, “Burying the White Gods: New Perspectives on the Conquest of Mexico,” and Inga Clendennin “Fierce and Unnatural Cruelty” Thursday, July 21st: Forced Labor and the Atlantic Slave Trace: Making “Race” and the Rise of Plantation Colonies. Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800. Chapter 1 (The Birth of the Atlantic World, p.13-42 and Paul Lovejoy “The Impact of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Africa: A Review of the Literature.” Week Three: Revolution and Empire Tuesday, July 26th: “Enlightenment” and Networks of Knowledge, Imperial Rivalries and Overstretch, and the American Revolution. Bayly, p.92-96. (Brief summary/overall picture of Imperial overstretch). First test, on Cultural Encounters and Violent Colonization: The Rise of Atlantic Empires Thursday, July 29th: The Global War of the French and Haitian Revolutions: the Rights of Man, the Rise of Nations, and the First Major Blow to Slavery—and the Challenges of Independence in a Colonial World. Dubois and Garrigus, Introduction, other selections to be determined Week Four: Europe (briefly) rules the world in the 19th Century Tuesday, August 2nd: Britain’s Triumph: Industrial Capitalist and Settler Revolutions, “Informal” and Formal Empires of Trade, and the Rise of Antislavery—and of Scientific Racism. Beckert, Sven, “From Tuskeege to Togo: The Problem of Freedom in the Empire of Cotton” George Frederickson, Racism, a Short History, Chapter 1, “Religion and the Invention of Racism,” and Chapter 2, “The Rise of Modern Racism(s): White Supremacy and Antisemitism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries” Second Test, on Revolutions and Empire Thursday, August 4th: The “Second Industrial Revolution” and High Imperialism: Europe Takes Over the World. Selections to be determined from Daniel Headrick, Power Over Peoples, Chapter 6, “Health, Medicine, and the New Imperialism, 1830-1914” and Chapter 7, “Weapons and Colonial Wars, 1830—1914” Miers & Roberts, Chapter 1: “The End of Slavery in Africa” p.1-27, p.42-59. Week Five: World War, Cold War, and Decolonization in the 20th Century Tuesday, August 9th : World Wars and Decolonization—Beginning of the End. Coursepack: Cesaire, Discourse on Colonialism, p.35-46. Third Test on Europe (briefly) Rules the World Thursday, August 11th: Cold War and Decolonization—Making of the “Third World.” Coursepack: Westad, Chapter 1: “The Empire of Liberty: American Ideology and Foreign Interventions,” p.8-39 and Chapter 2: “The Empire of Justice: Soviet Ideology and Foreign Interventions,” p.39-72. Week Six: Final Assessments Tuesday, August 16th: Review for Final Test Final Test, on World War, Cold War, and Decolonization in the 20th Century .