This seminar examines the history of Indigenous peoples and their relations with the English empire, and after 1707 the British empire, from the earliest Anglo-Indigenous encounters and entanglements in the sixteenth century to the crisis of empire and the American Revolution in the late eighteenth century. Through weekly readings and discussions, we will explore a variety of topics in the early modern history of empire and of Indigenous peoples in the Americas and Pacific, such as the rise of commercialization, exploration, trade, transoceanic settlement, dispossession, slavery, women & gender, military expansion, political thought, and environmental change. The seminar interrogates these themes through the close reading and analysis of primary sources, as well as scholarly articles and books. Throughout, students will develop the tools for understanding the foundations, impacts, and legacies of empire and colonialism in the twenty-first century. By the end of this course, students will also have developed knowledge of contemporary Indigenous issues in many English-speaking countries today.
