In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries immigrants to America gladly gave up the hunger, poverty, and oppression of the Old World to embrace the opportunity of the New. But that opportunity came at a price. Left behind were family, friends, traditions, language, and, in some cases, even the name that told you who … Continued
No matter when or where it was done, from colonial New England to antebellum Georgia, slave labor was hard, often dangerous work. Yet the tasks slaves performed and the amount of control they exercised over them varied greatly. Slaves built boats, crafted chairs, cooked meals, forged iron, steered ships, and plowed fields. Some worked in … Continued
In one lesson plan after another, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois forever stand opposed. In the late nineteenth century both sought uplift for African Americans, but one believed it came through accommodation and manual training, while the other urged resistance and the liberal arts. Is that the entire story? Was Washington a narrow, … Continued
During the 17th and 18th centuries, many “freethinking” Europeans embraced Deism, a theology that subjected religious truth to the authority of human reason. In colonial America, Deism found few adherents, but those who were attracted to it tended to be wealthy and educated, leaders in colonial society and politics. Today, debate swirls around the role … Continued
The men and women of the American Revolution were united as consumers before they came together as rebels. Through the mid-1700s, as the wealth of the colonies increased, Americans from Portsmouth to Savannah bought the same imported goods. Their shared desire for and dependence upon British cloth, ceramics, tea, and other items created a common … Continued
Over the past thirty-five years, historians, literary critics, and the general public have come to recognize the author of “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself” as one of the most accomplished English-speaking writers of African descent. Equiano’s autobiography is universally accepted as the fundamental … Continued
The first “20. and odd” Africans to arrive in British North America are generally believed to have landed in the Chesapeake in 1619 aboard a Dutch man of war. Though this watershed marks the beginning of the African slave trade to the lands that would eventually become the United States, its importance to the broader … Continued
This seminar offers a revolutionary interpretation of the American Revolution. It restores ordinary men and women to the story we tell ourselves about national independence. Moving the focus of interpretation away from the Founding Fathers, it asks questions about resistance to imperial power on the community level. What were the sources of popular mobilization? How … Continued
In the 1850s, as the nation inched toward civil war, opponents of slavery claimed Thomas Jefferson as an ally, citing his ringing proclamations of inalienable rights. At the same time, proponents of slavery said he was on their side, quoting his views on Negro inferiority and pointing to his failure to free his slaves. Both … Continued
The story seems familiar. A North American colonial empire, firmly established since the 1500s, is, by the 1700s, funneling great wealth to the mother country in Europe. The colonies are ethnically, ecologically, and geographically diverse. Slavery, an important part of the colonial economy, is widespread; yet some of the African-descendant population live as free people. … Continued