Mar 28, 2024  
Academic Catalog 2022-2023 
    
Academic Catalog 2022-2023 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

LASS200 Conquest, Commerce, and Colonization 3 cr.


This course challenges the Eurocentric view that American history begins with the arrival of European colonists. Instead, we will consider the indigenous cultures and landscapes disrupted by colonization and conquest. We will also explore the centrality of human trafficking to the American story: how it was central to the transatlantic trade that made the American colonies wealthy and powerful enough to challenge a global empire; how it subsequently defined the system of government crafted to rule the new nation that emerged from the struggle for independence; and how it continued to fuel economic growth in an increasingly divided nation during the nineteenth century. Finally, we will seek to understand the American story not merely through political treatises, documents, and elections, but through material culture; through the cultural landscape; and through the voices of immigrants, women, laborers, and artists. [Formerly titled Pirates,Witches&Slaves]

Prerequisites: LALW100; FRSM100

Lecture/Seminar

All College Elective