Description

The American Revolution began as a North American conflict between the newly formed United States and Great Britain over the question of whether the thirteen colonies could become an independent nation. The entrance of France, the Netherlands and Spain into the war in the late 1770s made the Revolution a conflict which could be fought anywhere these five countries shared borders, whether in North America, Europe or Asia. The class will also examine the experiences of both Native Americans and African Americans in the Atlantic World as they experienced the war in far ranging ways. The class will use both primary and secondary sources and culminate in a research paper of topics chosen by individual students.