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• 1 media/Vallard Atlas Berkeley edit.jpg 2016-08-09T14:09:14+00:00 Syllabus 167 2024-25 image_header 2024-08-30T15:53:16+00:00

  HIST 2F90 - Money and Power in the Atlantic World, 1400-1850

  Brock University 2024-25
  
  Syllabus Version: September 1, 2024
  
  Instructor: Trudy Tattersall
  Teaching Assistant: Trudy Tattersall 
  Contact Information: Please use the Messages tool in Brightspace to email members of the teaching team.
  Student Hours Via MS Teams: We are always happy to meet with students, and find that those who do take the time to visit with us, generally have better outcomes on their assignments. We will be setting up regular "drop in" sessions via MS Teams, and will update this page when they are confirmed, but we are also frequently available by arrangement. Just send us an email, and we can set up a time!  You can access our MS Teams channel via the Web Content icon on Brightspace.  Check it out...click the link and leave a comment to say hello, if you wish!

  Times and Locations: There are no scheduled lectures or seminar meetings. However, there are weekly online readings and assignments, and you must plan time throughout each week during the academic year to work on these. It is your responsibility to keep up with assignments and stay on schedule. Unless otherwise noted, new Lessons start on Mondays at 8 am, and close on Fridays at 6pm.
  
  This course explores the practice of history through an examination of the early modern Atlantic World. We will combine an emphasis on traditional historical practices with digital research tools, and with frequent access to digitized archival sources.

  ​Additional Description:

  Take a close look at the image above. Few works of art get at so much history, so simply. William Blake, a radical Romantic artist of the late 18th century, depicts three women in mutual embrace and support, portraying an allegory of human mutuality, particularly the way Africa and America supported Europe. The illustration looks peaceful and idyllic. It is from a book about a British officer’s experience in suppressing a rebellion of African slaves in America. Not much mutuality in that event! But the book’s author, John Stedman, used his experience to speak out against slavery and against the gross exploitation of Indigenous Americans. The book, like many of its kind, was not unambiguous. Indeed, some historians have commented that the illustration speaks more to the hypocrisies of Europeans in the colonial world than it does to any actions directed at fostering genuine mutuality. But as we'll see, the world was not divided into simple, good-and-bad characters. Progressive abolitionists could sometimes be misogynistic; conservative anti-democrats could sometimes be forceful critics of empire. In history as in life, contradictions and complications abound.
  

  Europe was very clearly “supported” by African labour and American land – that is, we can see that Europe exploited America and Africa. But Blake saw something more. He meant his illustration as an allegory for an imagined future – of what might be, not of what was. Both Blake and Stedman saw clearly that Europe benefited by grossly unequal and decidedly non-mutual relationships. Both men were particularly active in the campaign to end the slave trade. Their vision of a mutually supportive Atlantic world economy and society was utopian.
  
  The early modern era – roughly 1400-1800 – marks the rise of the West (essentially Western Europe, with the gradual addition of America) in global history. In 1400, Arab, Turkish, and Chinese empires were far more powerful, richer, and technologically advanced than any political force in the West. By 1800, the reverse was true. This course tracks that shift, that series of changes which brought about what we might call “the rise of the West”. That story is complex and even in this full-year course we will only scratch the surface of some of its many facets. But what we will see is that Blake, taken literally, was quite right: Europe was very much supported by Africa and America. Europe’s wealth came through many sources, but the real advances cannot even be imagined without the use of African labour and American land and resources. The Atlantic World (Europe, Africa, and the Americas) was in many ways a unified cultural and economic system, but its major players experienced that system very differently. This course explores that emergent Western dominance, with a keen eye to understanding the very different experiences that shaped it.

  Course Grade Components

  10% -- Module quizzes (Modules 1-4)

  35% -- Weekly Discussions in Brightspace

  5% -- 1st-Term short assignment

  10% --1st-Term longer assignment

  15% -- 2nd-Term early assignment

  25% -- Final project

  = 100%

  Course  Structure

  
  The course does not have fixed class times, but all students must progress through the course at roughly the same pace, week by week. The course consists of an introductory week plus five modules of varying lengths:

  • Module 1. The Pre-Modern West
  • Module 2. Colonial Expansion
  • Module 3. Conflicting Worlds
  • Module 4. Revolutions
  • Module 5. The Early Liberal Era

  Each module has between three and six lessons which we'll complete at the rate of one lesson per week. 
  
  This course operates in two main online locations: in your course e-textbook (where you’re reading this syllabus), and on Brightspace. The e-textbook is not a traditional textbook, of course, but it is meant to function in many regards like one. In it you'll find outlines, learning outcomes, and questions for each week, as well as general guidelines for the assignments. There are also links to video introductions and screencasts, as well as links to relevant online information.
  
  Your Brightspace page is your workbook. The weekly readings and other sources are there, as are the forum where you'll post your comments (like an online seminar), the messages tool, and the tools you'll use to submit your actual assignments.
  
  Each week’s lesson plan will follow the same basic structure. It will consist of the following categories:

  • This week's big question (course e-textbook)
  • Video introduction (if available for that week, it will be in the course e-text)
  • Learning outcomes (course e-textbook)
  • Questions to consider, and learning activity (course e-text, plus activities on Brightspace)
  • Background/Lesson (course e-textbook)
  • Toolbox (course e-textbook)
  • Primary sources (listed in course e-textbook, but Discussions take place in Brightspace)
  • Secondary sources (listed in course e-textbook, Discussions take place in Brightspace)
  • Supplemental materials (course e-textbook)

  You'll need to pay attention not only to the weekly readings and discussions, but also to the schedule of assignments. 
   

  SCHEDULE

  NOTE: Unless we announce otherwise, all Lessons and their accompanying Forum discussions will start on Mondays at 8 am, and they will close at 5 pm on the Friday of that week. If you wish to do well in the course, you should budget your time so that you finish each week's Forum posts well before the Friday evening closing time -- with occasional exceptions allowed (we realize life can be complicated)!
   

  Term 1

  Introductions

  Week 1, Starting Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024: Introduction to the Course (NOTE: a shorter-than-usual "week", although the Forum for the week will remain open until the end of Week 2)

  In addition to Reading this page of the e-textbook, also make sure that you read the Course Syllabus and Course Introduction before you introduce yourself in the First Forum in Brightspace.

  Module 1. The Pre-Modern West

  Week 2, Sept. 9-13: Rulers and Subjects (1): Traditional Authority
  Week 3, Sept. 16-20: Rulers and Subjects (2): Christian Europe Divided
  Week 4, Sept. 23-27: Agricultural Revolutions
  Week 5, Sept. 30 - Oct. 4: How to Read Early Modern Books (the first quiz starts at the end of this week)

   

  Module 2. Colonial Expansion

  Week 6, Oct. 7-11: Europe's Empires Expand 

  Oct. 14-18  - Reading Week

  Week 7, Oct. 21-25: Early Modern Africa (the first assignment is due Wednesday, October 23)
  Week 8, Oct. 28 - Nov 1: The Columbian Exchange
  Week 9, Nov. 4-8: The Slave Trade

  Module 3. Conflicting Worlds

  Week 10, Nov. 11-15: Indigenous North American Cultures
  Week 11, Nov. 18-22: Missionaries (the second quiz starts at the end of this week)
  Week 12, Nov. 25-29: Developing Distant Reading skills with Voyant Tools and Visual Reading skills with Early Modern Maps (the second assignment is due Wednesday, Dec. 4)

  TERM 1 NOTES

  • Weekly discussions are the heart of this course, and account for 35% of your overall course grade over 2 semesters. Regular engagement in the discussions will enhance your learning, and ensure you get the most out of the course!
  • For the Term 1, you will do two assignments, each with separate instructions and deadlines. Here are the basics:
    • Assignment 1 deadline: Wednesday, October 23.
    • Assignment 2 deadline: Wednesday, December 4.
    • Each assignment has its own page with detailed instructions.
    • All assignments will automatically submitted to Turnitin.com.
    • You must complete both.
  • There are also two Module Quizzes in Term 1. You must complete both in the time provided. Once you open a quiz you will have 20 minutes complete it. You may write each quiz twice within the period provided. The highest score (each out of 2.5 points) will count.
    • The Module 1 Quiz will be open from Friday, Oct. 4 at noon until Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 5 pm.
    • The Module 2 Quiz will be open from Friday, Nov. 22 at noon until Monday, Nov. 26 at 5 pm.
    • You must complete both.
  • READING WEEK starts on Monday, Oct. 14 (Thanksgiving).
  • There is no December exam in this course.
  • The first week of regular classes in Term 2 starts on Monday, Jan. 6, 2024. Our regular lesson-cycle will ALSO begin again on Monday, January 6th. 

  Term 2

  Module 3. Conflicting Worlds (continued)

  Week 13, Jan. 6 - 10 : Settler Colonialism
  Week 14, Jan. 13 - 17 : The Seven Years War Settler
  Week 15, Jan. 20 - 24 : Settler-Indigenous Treaties
  Week 16, Jan. 27 - 31: Societies and Commercial Expansion
  Week 17, Feb. 3 - 7 : The Practice of Slavery (the third quiz starts at the end of this week)

  
  Module 4. Revolutions

  
  
  Week 18, Feb. 10 - 14 : The American Revolution

  Feb. 17 - 21  - Reading week

  
  Week 19, Feb. 24 - 28 : The French Revolution
  Week 20, Mar. 3 - 7 : The Haitian Revolution
  Week 21, Mar. 10 - 14 : Canada's Revolutions (the fourth and final quiz starts at the end of this week)

  
  Module 5. The Early Liberal Era
  
  Week 21, Mar. 17 - 21 : Abolition
  Week 22, Mar. 24 - 28 : Work and Freedom
  Week 23, Mar. 31 - Apr. 4 : Paper preparation - no forums

  TERM 2 NOTES

  • **The last day to withdraw from D1 courses without academic penalty is Friday, January 17, 2025. **
    • You will have received feedback for 35% of your final grade by Friday, January 10, 2025.
  • Weekly discussions are the heart of this course, and account for 35% of your overall course grade over 2 semesters. Regular engagement in the discussions will enhance your learning, and ensure you get the most out of the course!
  • For the Term 2, you will do two assignments, each with separate instructions and deadlines. Here are the basics:
    • Assignment 2 deadline: Wednesday, February 12.
    • Final Project deadline: Monday, April 7.
    • Each assignment has its own page with detailed instructions.
    • All assignments will automatically submitted to Turnitin.com.
  • There are also two Module Quizzes in Term 2. You must complete both in the time provided. Once you open a quiz you will have 20 minutes complete it. You may write each quiz twice within the period provided. The highest score (each out of 2.5 points) will count.
    • The Module 3 Quiz will be open from Friday, February 7  at noon until Tuesday, February 11 at 5 pm.
    • The Module 4 Quiz will be open from Friday, March 28 at noon until Tuesday, April 1 at 5 pm.
    • You must complete both.
  • ** READING WEEK starts on Monday, Feb. 17.**
  • You must complete all course components to pass the course.

  Learning  Outcomes

  Historians (i) contribute to public debates (ii) by making arguments (iii) that answer research questions (iv) using evidence analyzed according to thoughtful methods. The items on this list are examples of what you might consider learning outcomes for your overall university studies in history. Learning outcomes are meant to help the instructors and you gauge your learning and progress. Your work in this course will help you improve your knowledge, professional practice, and skills related to the abilities listed above. More particularly, you should pay attention to the following learning outcomes in your work in HIST 2F90.
  
  By the end of the course a successful student will be able to...

  KNOWLEDGE:

  • Describe the major developments in the early modern Atlantic world.

  PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE:

  • Communicate ideas/arguments effectively and honestly in all course work.

  SKILLS:

  • Ask good historical questions and form strong arguments that answer these questions using the best evidence we can find.

  
  In addition to this overall set of course learning outcomes, there are also more specific learning outcomes that are listed with each weekly lesson in Brightspace.
  

  Required Readings:

  All readings are available via hyperlink at the end of each lesson page. There are no require textbooks to purchase.

  Reading Expectations:

  Here’s an important note: In 2nd-year history courses it is common to read 40 to 60 pages per week. In this course we will not assign this much in the first few weeks, but we will increase the reading load as the course progresses. See the note about workload expectations that is included in the Introductory Lesson.

  Course Communications:

  This course will not work if you are not checking its online resources regularly. This includes checking this online textbook AND the Brightspace Announcements. You should use the Messages tool, and select email to write the instructor or other students. You are also welcome to "visit" the instructors via Teams; you can find out how to use Teams by going to the Sharepoint through my.brocku.ca. To arrange a phone or video discussion, please send an email first to arrange a time.

  TIP: When you write to anyone in the course in Brightspace Messages, please make sure to choose the email option, NOT instant messages. E-mail  addresses appear in the in the drop-down address options, and the Subject Line will also begin with "HIST-2F90-D01-S01-ASY >". Please add your specific subject after this, and keep the course identifier in the Subject Line.

  Note: Before you ask a question about the course, please make sure you try to answer it yourself by reading the syllabus and other course materials carefully. The instructors reserve the right to ignore frivolous messages.

          * * * Remember: Make sure that you check your Brightspace Announcements regularly!!! * * *

  Forum Discussion Instructions

  Description

  Discussions are the heart of this course. Your grades will reflect the regularity and most especially the quality of your Discussion contributions. Posts should strive to build conversations – that is, they should engage, and offer thought-provoking commentary and questions for deepening the discussions. New posts should engage with the reading material and posts from other participants, and should always bring out evidence from the readings. The point is to analyze our sources through discussion, and to build and develop the conversation with other students to that end.
  
  Brightspace places you in a group of approximately 15-20 students. This will be your discussion group for the entire year. Each week, everyone is expected to contribute to the discussion in their Forum. You read documents every week in preparation for the discussion group, so be aware of what you need to do to prepare, when you’re expected to comment, and plan your time accordingly. Also plan to read all the previous posts for the week’s Forum before you post anything new. When we grade your work, we’ll expect that you’ve done this.
  
  Unless otherwise noted, each week’s Forum will open officially on Monday morning (although there is a soft opening that happens on Saturday for those of you who like to work ahead) and close at 5pm Friday of that week.

  • You are required to provide at least ONE post and ONE response each week. (In other words, at least twice per week.)
  • Plan to post at least once EARLY in each Forum so that you and others in your group can develop a rich discussion online. (You’ll all learn more this way!) 
  • In other words, be sure to post on time so that others have time to read, think and respond.
  • The strongest posts will also show evidence that you’ve read the previous discussion for the week.
  • How long should my posts be? Most posts should be in the range of 100 to 200 words, 300 at most. Sometimes, you may need to say more, others less. But generally, whatever number of words you write, you should be answering one (or more) of our questions, using evidence from that week’s sources, and engaging with your classmates. You do not have to write LONG posts. Some students seem to think they get grades per word. NO! Quality, not quantity.
  • You have a limited time to complete your discussion contribution in the week’s Forum. If you do not post within the time allotted, you will not get credit for that week. 
  • You will be evaluated not on your opinions but on how well you make use of evidence. Read, then write about what you read. That's what most of this course asks of you.

  NOTE: We wish to encourage early posting, and we want all of you to be engaging with one another regularly in the Forum discussions. A good basic post examines the viewpoint of the author(s), works with the evidence in the source(s), and situates the source(s) you are using as evidence in a broader framework.
  
  People who post at least once before the end of the day on Wednesday of each week and whose posts meet the other standards for good contributions will generally earn the strongest grades.
  
  Tip: take notes as you read, and as you go outline evidence and analysis for what yu think are three or four good takeaway points from the readings. Then, go to the Discussion, explain one or two of those points. If others have already posted, try to build on those posts. How do you build? Add evidence that supports, or disagrees, with what's been said. Explain why your analysis is different.

  Few of our questions for discussion in the Forums have simple, correct answers. Therefore, try to establish positions or arguments based on evidence in the assigned sources, rather than simply stating facts or opinions.
  
  What is a good post?
   

  A good post should:
  (a) answer the big question (not totally, but should get at the question)
  (b) should make a point, an argument
  (c) should support that point with evidence from the readings
  (d) should lead with the argument (make your point, then show the evidence that supports)

  There will be variations, of course, especially on responses to your classmates. But always use evidence. 
   

  What is a good response?

  Good responses should:
  (a) engage with your colleagues in meaningful, thoughtful dialogue
  (b) agree or disagree with their interpretation of evidence -- BUT provide further reasons for your response, and if your analysis is the same, don't just say you agree, explore why - maybe pointing to different evidence.
  (c) Come back later; look for responses to your post(s). Respond to them; maybe another of those three or four points you developed before posting can now be useful. 
  (d) ask for clarification, once again based on good reasons
  (e) challenge your colleagues in a friendly way to provide more examples / take their thoughts further
  (f) In ALL instances, support these reasons with evidence from the readings

   

  What is not a good post?

   

  A few things we often see that are not useful:
  (a) recounting details of the sources as if their meaning is obvious - discuss and analyse evidence, don't merely recount it
  (b) posting late as if you're the first to post, which almost invariably means you're saying things that have already been said. Think of this like you were in a seminar: you make a nice comment, the prof nods approvingly, you feel good - two minutes later the guy across the table says the exact same thing. Are you impressed? Do you think the prof is? In our Discussions, don't be that second guy.
  (c) posting a mini essay that aims to answer all of the questions for the week! You have been in rooms when one person dominates the conversation...don't be that person! Remember, the discussion is like an online version of a seminar; not the online version of a short essay. Aim for 150-200 words.
  (d) simply agreeing with a person's post or restating what they say. Respond to what other have written. You will, no doubt, have to repeat some details/content to get to your point, but that point should build on what others have said, not merely repeat it. 
   

  
  
  How many times should you post?

  Twice per lesson should be a minimum. But don't imagine that five gets you bonus points. You're also evaluated on the quality of your posts.
   

  Discussion Assessment

  You are required to post each week -- minimally twice each week for the best Forum contributions and therefore the best grades. Some weeks have more activities than others, but they are all listed on the module page and in the Course Schedule so you will have plenty of time to prepare yourself for all activities. We will provide Forum grades 2 times in the year - at the end of each term. To help you understand the standards for the weekly discussions, this scale (together with the comments above) might be helpful:

  • A Range - Thoughtful, timely and excellent contributions (at least two each week, with one of these usually in the first half of the week) that stimulate discussion and provide insightful comments with solid grounding in the sources and other students’ comments for the week.
  • B or C Range - Effective contributions that invite comment and demonstrate some knowledge of the sources and other students’ comments. Again, most students who receive grades in the B range will post twice a week before Friday. (These are clearly on the right path, but could still be improved.) Those who wait until Friday to post  can expect to earn a C+ at best.
  • D Range - Little or no effort given to posting, and / or the contribution was divergent from the discussion and the readings, and / or the post demonstrated little effort to engage with other students’ ideas.
  • F - No contribution.

  
  In general good posts add to the conversation (initiating something new, building on others' posts) and utilize good supporting evidence from the readings.
  
  We do recognize that life can be complicated in normal times, and these times are not so normal. Therefore, if you miss posting to the Forums for up to two weeks (in other words, one per semester), we will not deduct any grades from your Forum grade. See below for the consequences of missing more than two Forums.

  Because student contributions are so important for the course, your Forum engagement grades will be determined on the basis of not just regular posts in the weekly discussion activities but by creating engaging, thought-provoking commentary and responses to questions that we provide, as well as by initiating new discussion threads that show creative and critical engagement with the topics.
  
  Remember...
  
  History is not the past; the past is gone, it's over. History is what we make of the traces of the past that remain to us in documents, oral tradition, archaeology, and material culture. We can only access the past through honest use of evidence. Without evidence, we're just making stuff up.

  
  Failure to participate in Discussions will lose you points!! Students are expected to contribute each lesson to ALL Discussions. Discussions are allocated over a third of your grade (35 points). Failure to contribute to more than 2 (1 per semester) Discussions will be penalized 1.5 out of the 35 points per late or missed week thereafter. Late Discussion posts will not be accepted for credit.

  Late Submission Policy:

  Unless otherwise outlined, the penalties for late submission of assigned coursework are 10% of the assignment grade for the first day late and 5% per day thereafter, unless accompanied by medical documentation, or documentation of other serious reasons. See Medical Exemption Policy and the medical health certificate at
  https://brocku.ca/registrar/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/Medical-Certificate.pdf .
   

  Reminder:
  
  Relationship between regular online participation and grades:

  Forum discussions are the heart of this course. Your grades will reflect the regularity and most especially the quality of your weekly contributions. Posts should strive to build conversations – that is, they should engage, and offer thought-provoking commentary and questions for deepening the discussions. New posts should engage with the reading material and posts from other participants, and should always bring out evidence from the readings. The point is to analyze our sources through discussion, and to build and develop the conversation with other students to that end.
  
  We will provide you detailed instructions for Forum discussions via Brightspace Announcements.

  Important dates:

  (check the section on important dates in the relevant online University calendar)

  • Friday, January 10, 2024, is the date by which you will be notified of 15% of your course grade.
  • Friday, January 17, 2024, is the last date for withdrawal from the course without academic penalty.

  
  Academic  Policies

  Academic Integrity:

  The principle of academic integrity, particularly of doing one’s own work, documenting properly (including use of quotation marks, appropriate paraphrasing and referencing/citation), collaborating appropriately, and avoiding misrepresentation, is a core principle in university study. Academic misconduct is a serious offence. Students should consult Section VII, “Academic Misconduct”, in the “Academic Regulations and University Polices” entry in the Undergraduate Calendar, available at  http://brocku.ca/webcal to view a fuller description of prohibited actions, and the procedures and penalties.

  Plagiarism software:

  You will submit most of your assignments through Turnitin.com, a phrase-matching program online. See the assignment details on Brightspace for more information. If you have a good, principled reason for objecting to uploading your assignments to Turnitin.com, please notify the instructors before the end of Week 3 to discuss alternative ways to submit your assignments. Alternatives will include some mechanism for you to demonstrate your adherence to the principles of academic integrity.

  Academic Accommodation:

  As part of Brock University's commitment to a respectful work and learning environment, the University will make every reasonable effort to accommodate all members of the university community with disabilities. If you require academic accommodations related to a documented disability to participate in this course, you are encouraged to contact Services for Students with Disabilities in the Student Development Centre (4th floor Schmon Tower, ex. 3240, https://brocku.ca/health-wellness-accessibility/sas/). You are also encouraged to discuss any accommodations with the instructor well in advance of due dates and scheduled assessments.

  Academic Accommodation due to Religious Obligations:

  Brock University acknowledges the pluralistic nature of the undergraduate and graduate communities such that accommodations will be made for students who, by reason of religious obligation, must miss an examination, test, assignment deadline, laboratory or other compulsory academic event.

  Students requesting academic accommodation on the basis of religious obligation should make a formal, written request to their instructors for alternative dates and/or means of satisfying requirements.

  Medical Exemption Policy:

  The University requires that a student be medically examined in Health Services, or by an off- campus physician prior to an absence due to medical reasons from an exam, lab, test, quiz, seminar, assignment, etc. The Medical Certificate can be found at: https://brocku.ca/registrar/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/Medical-Certificate.pdf.
   
  

   

   

  Your next step is to read How to Succeed in this Course.

• 1 media/Blaeu Map 1635 Selection.jpg 2016-06-28T20:28:24+00:00 Early Modern Africa 39 image_header 2016-09-03T10:17:12+00:00

  This week's big question

  
  Learning outcomes

  
  At the end of this week you should:
  • have a basic understanding of the West African economy and society in the early modern era;
  • know how slavery’s place in the West African economy expanded in this period;
  • be able to explain the basis for the integration of West Africa into the emerging Atlantic economy;
  • be able to discuss the difficulties of interpretation posed by the major primary sources for early modern African history.

  Questions to consider, and learning activity

  This week read the secondary text by John Thornton before you read the documents or look at the images. Thornton is one of the world's leading historians of early modern Africa and this text situates the subject nicely in the Atlantic world! 
  
  We have two sets of images this week: one a set of Western European paintings of Africans in Europe and the other a set of more documentary images from the University of Virginia.  Base your image comments on ONE of these sets.
  • What can the documentary images tell us about early modern West African life?  Do these images (and the documents) highlight limits we face in our understanding of Early Modern African life?
  • What do the paintings from the Walters Museum tell us about Africans in Europe in the early modern era? What can they tell us about how Europeans saw Africans? What can they tell us about Africa itself?
  • We havet three different versions​, made 200 years apart, of Don Alvaro, King of Kongo receiving the Dutch Ambassador. Can we see significant differences/similarities in these representations? How can we account for these? What does it mean that when reading a book on the subject one of them might be presented as an image of this meeting?
  ​
  • The written primary sources point more to a world of economy and government. What can those tell us about the nature of civil society in early modern West Africa? How do those compare with the images?
  • Like last week, few of our primary sources, including images, were produced by Africans.  What does that tell us about the sources we use in writing African history in this era? Do you see differences in the perspective of the descriptions this week versus last?
  • How was West Africa drawn into the Atlantic world? Were Africans victimized in this story? If so, how?
  • What are the most significant similarities and differences between pre-modern West Africa and pre-modern Western Europe?

  Background

  
  There are several reasons why African history is complex. One is its interrelationship with Europeans. In fact, a great deal of the surviving written and artistic primary sources about the early modern African world were created by Europeans. Maps are a good example. To get a quick sense of the changing knowledge and understanding of Africa that Europeans had from about 1500 to 1900, see the gallery of maps that The Guardian has compiled, and examine the map below.
  ​
  
  
  Another reason for the complexity of its history is that Africa, like Europe, is highly regional. What’s true in Scotland, may not be true in Italy, or in Poland; what's true in West Africa may not be true on the Mediterranean north, or on the Indian Ocean coast. Thus, in this course on the Atlantic World, we’ll only look at central West Africa. This is where most complete integration into the Atlantic World took place; it's where most of the slave shipments occurred, and it's where the impacts of the trade were most powerfully felt. Slavery wasn't invented when European traders began to appear in the 15th century. It has an ancient history in Africa, as it does in much of the world.  But the arrival of European slave ships in ever increasing numbers in the years after 1500 marked a sharp rise in the trade. Our examination this week looks at West Africa in that early period of expansion.
  
  What we’ll see is a much messier story of expansion than one might have imagined.  While no doubt smaller and less organized than European states, West African states were well developed and could be quite powerful.  Several small empires rose and fell in this period, some building their strength very much on indigenous African resources and conflicts, others emerging from the opportunities afforded by increased trade with Europeans.  West Africa’s history in this period was still very much driven by African issues.  That would change over the next centuries, as some states were increasingly drawn to depend on the slave trade. But even then one cannot simply understand the history of Africa as an adjunct to European expansion. The primary sources available to us, however, may help explain why Westerners often view Africa as supplementary to its own history. West Africa was a pre-literate society and thus most of the sources available to us are of European provenance.  As you’ll see, there are some exceptions, but not many, and thus most of our views are by outsiders – travelers, merchants, adventurers, many of whom were acute observers, but still not of the society under observation.
  
  Early modern West Africa had a rich and sophisticated economy, and much of that was based on trade. Slaves were, in some places and some times, part of that trade, but it was not until the arrival of Portuguese and then other European traders that slaves came to form such a major component.  Our readings this week are directed at understanding something of the nature of society and trade in early modern West Africa, and in particular at understanding the importance of slavery.  Indeed, some of the documents point us to understandings of West African "civil society" – that is, society that is neither of the public world of the state and trade, nor of the private world of the family, but of the worlds of associational life, social relations, and local politics of family, kin, and tribe. It is here that we best understand West Africa on the eve of its integration into the Atlantic World.Toolbox
  
  *** new text about perspective ***

  Note-taking, quoting, and paraphrasing

  When you take notes, remember to put all quotations in quotation marks, and include a clear indication of where the quotation is from (i.e., include page numbers). You should ideally also have a system to indicate when you have summarized someone else's ideas in your own words (i.e., when you have paraphrased). If you are not clear about the difference between a quotation and a paraphrase, make sure you check.

  Keeping a clear line between your ideas and words, and those of others people, will help you avoid plagiarism, and it will help you express your own ideas more effectively.

   

  Primary sources

  
  Documents from William H. Worger, Nancy L. Clark, and Edward A. Alpers, eds., Africa and the West: A Documentary History, volume 1 (New York, Oxford University Press, 2010).  12pp.
      No. 4, Pereira’s description of the west coast of Africa (1508);
      No. 5, Spain regulates importation of slaves (1518);
      No. 6, Alfonso of São Tomé attempts to regulate trade (1526);
      No. 7, British attempts to break Portuguese monopoly (1564);
      No. 8, A Jesuit justifies the slave trade (1610);
      No. 9, Dutch efforts to break Portuguese monopoly (1654).
  
  John Barbot, "A Description of the Sea-Coasts of North and South Guinea" [ca.1680], reprinted in Awnsham Churchill, comp., A Collection of voyages and travels: some now first printed from original manuscripts, others now first published in English, volume V (London, 1732), 27-37, 43-48 (15 pp.).
  
  By the 16th century, as trade developed between the Africa and Europe, we begin to see more representations of Africans in European art. For example, look closely at the 12 works of art from The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.

  Secondary source

  John K. Thornton, A Cultural History of the Atlantic World, 1250-1820 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, of 2012), 74-99.
   

  Supplemental material

  
   
• 1 media/Historical Thinking Logo.png 2017-02-04T12:15:37+00:00 NEW: Toolbox Overview 30 Updated: Jan. 2019 image_header 2019-01-23T15:00:34+00:00

  This page collects the Toolbox entries from the individual course lessons in one spot for easier review.

  From "Introductory Week"

  This course teaches you not only about the history of certain times and places, but also about the practice of history. To practice a trade, you need tools. Under this heading we will provide you with tools or exercises that will help you improve your reading, writing, inquiring and thinking in this course -- and we hope also in your life beyond the course.
  
  This week (the Introductory Week) we will get you to acquire an overview of the principles of thinking historically. Historical thinking is a variation on critical thinking. To start learning about it, you should read the following introductions from The Historical Thinking Project (click on the links):

  • The general introduction to the 6 components of historical thinking;
  • The introductions to the concepts of perspective and evidence in historical thinking.

  One of the purposes of the Forum exercise this week is to get you to think about your perspective as an interpreter of evidence about and from the past.

  Module 1

  From "Rulers and Subjects (1)"

  Probably the most basic and important skill all historians practice is the analysis of primary source evidence. Therefore, if you've ever taken a history course in university before, you've probably already had some good practice with this skill.
  
  This week you should think some more about use of sources and about the overall goal of a history education when you watch the following web video. Click here to start the video in a new window.
  
  The webcast is by Sam Wineburg, an excellent educational psychologist in the United States. Wineburg is the author of a book with the intriguing title Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts. In order to move beyond naive readings of source materials, Wineburg and many other educators recommend that you pay careful attention to the following additional skills when reading primary sources:

  • close reading,
  • contextualization,
  • corroboration, and
  • sourcing.

  The webcast introduces these skills and explains their relevance to the process of historical interpretation. Watch the webcast before you post in the Forum this week, and make sure to take notes. When you read sources for this week's Lesson -- and for all remaining Lessons -- make sure that you pay attention to these dimensions of source analysis.

  Note that a student at the beginning of the webcast refers to AP History, which is an American "advanced placement" exam that many high school students take.

  From "Rulers and Subjects (2)"

  In last week’s Toolbox you learned about the skills of primary source analysis. The resources provided by the web tutorial “Why Historical Thinking Matters” broke down these skills into 4 main parts:
  • close reading,
  • contextualization,
  • corroboration, and
  • sourcing.

  In this week’s Toolbox, you will learn a little about a related skill that is important for primary source analysis, as well as most other aspects of historical research and thinking. That skill is chronological thinking.
  
  Historians usually think chronologically (usually in stories or narratives). In fact, organizing evidence chronologically is crucial for effective contextualization, corroboration, and sourcing. A current example of the importance of chronology is found is the controversy in the American election campaign about when presidential candidate Donald Trump started opposing the War in Iraq in the early 2000s. What happened when? This seems like a straightforward question, right? Answering it in some cases can become complicated and even politically charged. That’s why it’s good to pay attention to and become good at clear, basic chronological thinking.
  
  Most cases of historical chronology are not so controversial today, but they can be important nonetheless. For example, in this week’s Lesson we are comparing and practicing close reading of three sources from 1649. What order do you think the documents were written? The question matters, because writers in the English Civil War were responding to events and ideas that were changing quickly, and they were often responding to one another, sometimes in anger, and sometimes with charges that could lead to imprisonment or even death (Charles I!!!).
  
  Be aware that the answer to the “simple” question of what order these three sources was written is not so simple. You can look for dates in the documents. That can help, for sure. The problem is that each of these documents had complex histories. This means that each was written in stages.
  
  One main challenge for the Lesson is to find clues in the sources. The best clues will be passages in the sources. Dates in the text are potentially valuable, but they are not the only clues. Passages from the texts that discuss ideas or events that provide clues are also REALLY VALUABLE. Think like a detective. Ask questions about your evidence. When you do so, you are also thinking like a historian!

  From "Agricultural Revolutions"

  The main skill to practice this Lesson is the analysis of secondary sources. In effect, you'll be learning an important of source analysis that is related to historical thinking. We could call this "historiographical thinking". The section above provide you with more details about historiography.
  
  A historical thinking skill that is related closely to historiographical thinking is the recognition and analysis of perspective. Not only can we analyze differing perspectives in primary sources from the past, but we can also recognize how people's perspectives (including our own) are complex and varied "today". This is of course also true of the writings of historians who try to make sense of the past. In this course (and in all your other history courses -- or courses on other subjects) practice comparing perspectives in all the sources you examine.
  
  One further aspect of historical thinking that is worth reviewing for this Lesson is the skill of identifying continuity and change. After all, it is the issue of change that Kerridge and Overton discuss in their related but importantly different interpretations of British agricultural history. Note that continuities and changes can take place in the short, medium, or long term. In other words, our view of change depends on the perspective that we take. This is one of many examples of how the elements of historical thinking are interrelated with one another.
  
  Follow the links in the two paragraphs above to read more about perspective, and continuity and change.
  
  You can use the chart below as a rough guide to aspects of European and Atlantic World history. These chronological categories can help you think in general terms about continuity and change. Please be aware that the periods outlined on the chart are not "facts" but rather generally agreed upon headings for periods. In a way, they are short-hand for interpretations of lots and lots of sources.
  

  Module 2

  From "Tranfcribing (!) Early Modern Sources"

  • There was no Toolbox entry for this week.

  From "Europe's Empires Expand"

  Before you read this Lesson's sources, make sure you review the Toolbox entries from the three Lesson's of Module 1. In the First Module you practiced the effective analysis of primary and secondary sources, and you also learned about the importance of paying attention to the different perspectives historians take when they analyze sources. Don't forget what you've learned in these Lessons. Your goal should be to build on your skills throughout the course.
  
  In your Forum entries for this week's Lesson, you will continue to practice the analysis of primary sources. Pay particular attention to the perspectives in each document. In a way similar to historians having different interpretations of the same questions, so too did people in the past have different interpretations of their worlds. You can consider questions such as:

  • Who was the author and what economic or social or religious or political interests did that person have?
  • When did he or she create the source?
  • What is the source about and what did the author think about that subject?

  You can probably think of other general questions that will help you to think about the perspective in any source. These are questions that are related to the skills of "sourcing" that you learned about in Module 1. To find our more about the general kinds of questions you should always have in mind when you consider a source's perspective, see the two Historical Thinking worksheets available through the link. The particular questions to think about for this week (in the Lesson above) will also help. Together, these general and particular questions will guide you as you look for differences (and similarities) in the perspectives of each primary source.

  From "Early Modern Africa"

  Because our focus for this Lesson is what, if anything, we can learn about early modern Africa from European sources, it is appropriate that we revisit the historical thinking skills that we practiced last week: the analysis of primary source evidence, and the careful attention to people's perspectives in the past. Another reason for revisiting these skills is that the links from the Historical Thinking Project website are working again. Please pay special attention to those links. Note that the text below is largely the same as last week's. Review is always important, and these skills are crucial for you to master.
  
  In your Forum entries for this week's Lesson, you will continue to practice the analysis of primary sources. Pay particular attention to the perspectives in each document. Just as historians have different interpretations of the same questions, so too did people in the past have different interpretations of their worlds. You can consider questions such as:
  • Who was the author and what economic or social or religious or political interests did that person have?
  • When did he or she create the source?
  • What is the source about and what did the author think about that subject?

  You can probably think of other general questions that will help you to think about the perspective in any source. These are questions that are related to the skills of "sourcing" that you learned about in Module 1. To find our more about the general kinds of questions you should always have in mind when you consider a source's perspective, see the two Historical Thinking worksheets available through the link.

  From "The Slave Trade"

  In past weeks we have introduced you to several of the concepts of historical thinking, and in particular, you have focused on the skills of working with sources. In addition to these tools for historical thinking, you should also understand the challenges of thinking about the ethical dimensions of historical analysis. The authors of the introduction to ethical thinking in history highlight what they call a "difficult paradox": historians try to understand the past lives of people in terms that are fair to those people, but at the same time the accounts of the past that historians create do make moral judgements about past people's actions and beliefs.

  Read the short introduction to ethical dimensions of historical analysis. While you should not forget about "the depths to which humanity can sometimes fall" (as we acknowledge in our introduction above), your challenge for your writing and learning this week is to practice understanding slave owners and traders in their own terms. In other words, you have to try to avoid imposing today's values and beliefs on them, even though we cannot agree with what they did or believed.

  From "The Columbian Exchange"

  • There was no Toolbox entry for this week.

  Module 3

  From Workshop Introducing Voyant Tools

  • There was no Toolbox entry for this week.

  From "Indigenous Cultures," "Missionaries," and "Colonial Societies"

  • The Toolbox entries for these weeks required you to review previous Toolboxes from Modules 1 and 2.

  From "Settler Societies and Commercial Expansion"

  This week's Toolbox entry introduces you to an important skill related to thinking historically: drawing inferences. 
  
  Inferences are the best guesses that we can make, based on the available evidence. They are necessary, because we NEVER have complete and perfect knowledge of the past. In fact, most of our knowledge of the past is based on very fragmentary evidence. Like detectives, historians have to collect whatever evidence they can in the search for answers to questions that interest them, and once they collect the evidence they have to piece its meaning together like judges or storytellers.
  
  How do you make strong inferences as opposed to plain and flimsy guesses? You use the skills of source analysis that we learned about earlier in the course ("Rulers and Subjects [1]"): close reading, corroboration, sourcing, and contextualization.
  
  Before you post to the Forum this week, make sure you review these skills, and when you post you should try to practice making strong inferences. We're including them below for your convenience:

  Probably the most basic and important skill all historians practice is the analysis of primary source evidence. Therefore, if you've ever taken a history course in university before, you've probably already had some good practice with this skill.

  This week you should think some more about use of sources and about the overall goal of a history education when you watch the following web video.

  Click here to start the video in a new window.

  The webcast is by Sam Wineburg, an excellent educational psychologist in the United States. Wineburg is the author of a book with the intriguing title Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts. In order to move beyond naive readings of source materials, Wineburg and many other educators recommend that you pay careful attention to the following additional skills when reading primary sources:

  • close reading,
  • contextualization,
  • corroboration, and
  • sourcing.

  The webcast introduces these skills and explains their relevance to the process of historical interpretation. Watch the webcast before you post in the Forum this week, and make sure to take notes. When you read sources for this week's Lesson -- and for all remaining Lessons -- make sure that you pay attention to these dimensions of source analysis.

  Note that a student at the beginning of the webcast refers to AP History, which is an American "advanced placement" exam that many high school students take.

  From "The Seven Years War"

  Like last week, this week's Toolbox is about drawing inferences. The skills of inference drawing are really important, and each of you can improve your work in this area.