Readings in American History: Cultures in Contact

The course will examine the dimensions of cultural contact among Native Americans, Europeans, African Americans, and Euro Americans in the eastern half of the United States, from early encounters at Roanoke, to Cherokee removal to Oklahoma. Themes of investigation include: encounter vs. invasion; Indian depopulation by men, microbes, and munitions; religious conversion; cultural persistence, change, and revitalization; slavery by and of Indians; and the changeable image of the Indian. 3 hrs. sem.