HIST 1401 - Empires of the Americas: History of Indigenous and Colonial Power

Goals: To understand some of the events and interactions among key actors that shaped the history of the Americas.

Content: Before the arrival of Europeans in this hemisphere Inca and Aztec states extended trading and tributary empires to encompass millions of people from diverse ethnic groups. A century later the Powhatan Paramountcy and Iroquois Confederacy wielded power in the context of encroaching British and French colonial ambitions. This class examines the colonial history of the Americas (North and South) in a way that takes indigenous power seriously and pays careful attention to the distinctive forms of governance and diplomacy through which native polities projected power and also engaged and contested efforts to extend sovereignty by European imperial powers (Spain, Portugal, France, Britain, and the U.S.).

Taught: Every other year

Credits: 4