William Wood, Edited and with an introduction by Alden T. Vaughan
Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1977
Syllabus 01Week of September 11, 2000
This week we continue to look at the first encounters of Anglo-European settlers with the territory which would come to be known as New England. Our sources are primarily Wood and Mourt's Relation, which you will continue to find on the Internet.
For Monday, September 11
Read, in Wood, part I, chapters 1-9, pp. 15-57
The sequence of subjects in these short chapters is as significant as the materials Wood discusses. See if you can begin to come to an understanding of the logic of his presentation, keeping in mind what his purposes were and also how he personally encountered New England. The Calendar at the course website contains a link to a site devoted to Rhode Island Native Flowers. It is worth a look to provide am example of how contemporary New Englanders encounter their environment. Does the site suggest that we use our locale in similar or different ways?
For Friday, September 15.
Read, in Wood, Part II, Chapters 1-9, pp. 75-97,
and, from the Internet, Mourt's Relation, parts II and III. Links to these are available on the course calendar.
Following his discussion of flora and fauna, Wood turns his attention to the indigenous Native American Population. Much of the material in Mourt's Relation also concerns contact with Native Americans. I want you to be observant of attitudes and prejudices which the narratives contain. You'll find a mixed bag, here, with positive and negative observations. Take note (and notes, if that's helpful) of each. The link on the calendar will take you to an award winning site devoted to the arts and crafts practiced by Eastern Woodland Indians. This will be especially useful to you as you read chapter 5.
For Wednesday, September 13
Read, in Wood, part I, Chapters 10-12, pp. 57-74
Note here the number of "plantations" Wood mentions. This will become significant as you begin to investigate town formation in early New England in the next unit of the course. The link on the calendar brings you to a wildlife refuge begun in the mid-19th century. It was established by a private individual and you will want to think about the motivation behind its establishment.
Further Internet Work. I'd like to have you see what you might be able to find about the plantations Wood mentions. Visit www.google.com and plug in as many of the names of mentioned as you can. Use the original spellings as well as Vaughan's modernizations.
Syllabus 02 Week of September 18, 2000
For Monday, September 18
Complete readings in Mourt's Relation, parts IV and V.
We'll spend some time this period looking at similarities and differences in the contact with Native Americans as experienced by both Pilgrim and Puritan settlers. These are complicated and controversial stories, and our knowledge is filtered through a single point of view... that of the white population. Reminding ourselves that we be misled by these one-sided interpretations, yet we can still learn something about the ways both the white and Native American population sought to exploit the contact with the other. I do not use exploit in a negative sense. I simply mean a conscious attempt to use something to one's own advantage. (As in exploiting internet resources to do research.).
To augment your information concerning Native American Tribes in New England, you may want to visit two useful resources... each of which contains links to historical and contemporary information about a number of the most important tribes in this ares. Clicking on the icons below will carry you to these. Do note that both these sites are created by amateurs, and must be used with some caution.
Wednesday and Friday, September 20 and 22 NO Class
I'll be at the Association for State and Local History Annua Meeting in New Orleans. There will be a field trip later in the semester to make up the time.
