The early colonial period in the Americas is one of history’s most traumatic, astonishing, and consequential eras. This class compares and contrasts histories of encounter, resistance, conquest, and colonialization in four regions of indigenous America: Hispaniola, the Valley of Mexico, the St. Lawrence River Valley, and the Chesapeake. Each section will begin with regional geography and indigenous/European contexts. In the process, we will be interrogating the dynamics that gave rise to the complex and profoundly unequal American societies of the early colonial period, with their stratified, diverse populations of colonized and independent indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans, Europeans, and growing populations of mixed ancestry.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills