HIST 410: The American Revolution

The American Revolution

During its 250th Anniversary, the Revolution is Returning! This course will focus on the impact the American Revolution had for different groups of Americans. Particular emphasis will be on the relationship between ideology and experience, and the impact of the Revolution on such groups as women, slaves, Indians, African-Americans, the poor, merchants, and loyalists.

Through powers of petitions, protests, consumerism, and governing, we will evaluate all of the American Revolutions that occurred in the eighteenth century. Women utilized their consumer choices to protest exploitative taxes. Patriots and Loyalists utilized legal frameworks that rapidly changed—a shift that allowed individuals to be coerced and removed from their lifetime homes.  Enslaved men briefly obtained freedom by providing military support. Indigenous leaders maintained political and diplomatic alliances and preserve their own legitimacy during the conflict.