Dr. Erika A Gasser
This course focuses on the trades in three commodities, each of which played a central role in the economic, social, and military development of the American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth-century Atlantic world.
The course is not about the commodities themselves-it is neither a history of addiction nor of weaponry. Instead, students will examine the ways that these products created markets and opportunities for some, but destabilization and destruction for others.
We will consider how these markets drew Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans more closely together, but often in ways that resulted in conflict, dependence, slavery, and cultural devastation.
All 4000-level courses must culminate in a significant historical research paper (at least 12 pages, no more than 15 pages), including primary and secondary sources. Assignments leading to the final product must include a primary source analysis and either an annotated research bibliography or a historiographical essay.
Prerequisite: To take this course, students must earn a C or higher in Hist3000
