Blog
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There are dozens of books on slavery in colonial America, some of which we’ll talk about on this blog. In my opinion, one of the best overviews of the enslavement of Africans and African-Americans in the colonial period is Betty Wood’s Slavery in Colonial America 1619-1776. It is a short book, clocking in at 86…
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I recently came across a fantastic online resource called The Adverts 250: An Exploration of Advertising During the Era of the American Revolution, 250 Years Ago This Week. It does pretty much what the title suggests–each day, the site’s authors spotlight an advertisement from a colonial newspaper from 250 years ago that day, with an…
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One of the classes I get to teach every few years is a course on the Salem Witch Trials, which I really enjoy because it allows us to spend a whole semester really digging into one historical event from a lot of different perspectives and historical interpretations. There are many fascinating people associated with the…
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When you think about color in the colonial world, what hues come to mind? For most of us, it’s probably “earth” or muted colors, things that mimic colors found in nature. And it makes sense that we think of the colonial world as less vibrant than our own–they certainly had fewer chemical plants to create…
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A question that our history majors often ask is, “How can I have your job?” What they often mean is, “How can I become a professor?” and (whether they realize it or not, “What is it like being a professor?” I’ll tell you what I tell them–it takes a combination of hard work, love of…
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I think it’s really easy for us in the 21st century to look back at the colonial period and forget most of the people who lived through it were experiencing tremendous changes to their lifestyles, homes, diets, and surroundings. Moving from Europe or Africa to the Americas was a huge shift in the types of…
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One of the most fascinating books I’ve read recently was Karen Auman’s The Good Forest: The Salzburgers, Success, and the Plan for Georgia. I chose this book as the first to spotlight on the blog for a few reasons: it’s a recent publication, and it’s about the colony/state that I live and teach in! As…
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Welcome to the Colonial Americas blog! I’m excited to explore the people, events, and histories of the 1500s-1700s with you! I’ll post bi-weekly about a topic that I’ve been reading and researching about. Sometimes that will be a book I recommend. Sometimes it will be a topic that comes up in class, or a question…
