Today we associate the age of the American Revolution with declarations of independence and the future of representative government, but for those living through the war and its aftermath, it was an age of violence and uncertainty. As leaders in colonial governments and their supporters prepared to fight thousands of Loyalists-black, white, and Native American-saw greater possibilities through service to England.
We will investigate how the Constitution defined citizenship and freedom at the expense of slaves and others who later invoked the Constitution to claim greater liberty for themselves and their families. Ultimately, we will consider how people continued to invoke the ideas and rhetoric of the Revolution for various, and often conflicting, purposes.
This course is cross-listed with HIST3011.
