HTY 609 (984): Seminar in New England-Quebec Atlantic Provinces History

Instructor:  Professors Richard Judd and Jacques Ferland

Days/Time:  Tuesday 4:00-6:00 pm.

Location:  Stevens 310

Description: This course explores the history of an important region in northeastern North America by employing a borderlands approach. While the histories of the Atlantic Provinces, Quebec, and northern New England are typically constructed within the framework of regional and international boundaries, an emerging historiography hints at the prospect of understanding themes by applying trans-regional and international approaches. Indeed, from the earliest period of European contact with native peoples, the Atlantic Provinces, Quebec, and New England have shared a richly textured history that includes such significant themes as conflict, trade, migration patterns, class tensions, and cultural issues. The course will focus on the period from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-twentieth century. We will begin with an analysis of borderlands and regional approaches. The bulk of our time will be spent in pursuit of topical themes, arrayed in a basic chronological format, that will give us the opportunity to critique the historiography of northeastern North America. In doing so, we will rigorously inspect the stylized ideas that have profoundly underscored historical research on both sides of the international border.The course will be conducted as a reading seminar. The emphasis will be on weekly discussion of readings from the text and works found in the periodical room and stacks at Fogler Library. Reading assignments will be distributed one week in advance of each class. In preparation for each session, all students will read several passages in common. In addition, each student will be responsible for reading an article or chapter and presenting a brief critique to the rest of the class during the seminar.

  • Stephen J. Hornsby and John G. Reid, eds., New England and the Maritime Provinces: Connections and Comparisons.   
  • Elizabeth Mancke, The Fault Lines of Empire: Political Differentiation in Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, ca. 1760-1830 (2005).     
  • Beatrice Craig, Backwoods Consumers and Homespun Capitalists: the Rise of a Market Culture in Eastern Canada (2009).  
  • Stephen J. Hornsby, British Atlantic, American Frontier: Spaces of Power in Early Modern British America (2004).