HIST 354T The Anglo-American World in the Eighteenth Century: War, Society, and Politics, 1700-1775 (Not offered 1999-2000)+

This tutorial will focus on the complex and constantly changing relationship between Great Britain and its North-American colonies in the decades culminating in the American Revolution. Central to that relationship was a series of global wars, which in the New World manifested itself as an increasingly successful attempt by the British to expand the boundaries of their North-American empire. With the Seven Years War, that effort brought all of French Canada into Britain's orbit, much to the delight of Americans throughout the thirteen colonies. Yet within a dozen years of the end of the war those same colonies were on the verge of declaring their independence. Among the subjects to be considered will be: the nature and structure of society and government on both sides of the Atlantic in the era of the imperial wars; the differing ways in which the British and Americans mobilized for, fought, and experienced warfare in the New World; and the various consequences of the wars in the mother country and the colonies, including the growing rift between them that followed the coming of peace in 1763. In exploring these subjects we will cover topics as diverse as the role of Native Americans in the imperial wars, the life of the common colonial soldier, the rise of George Washington, the military career of Colonel Ephraim Williams, and the Tory sympathies of the large and powerful clan of which he was a member. Each student will write and present orally an essay of approximately 7 pages every other week on the assigned readings for that week. Students not presenting an essay will be responsible for offering a critique of the work of their colleague. Evaluation will be based on students' written work, on their analyses of their colleague's work, and on a final written exercise. Groups A, B, and D. Enrollment limited.

R. DALZELL