Contested Continent: The Struggle for North America, c. 1000–1680

North America was forged from the experiences of millions of Indigenous women and men as well as Europeans and Africans. Contested Continent, the first volume of the Oxford History of the United States series, is a far-ranging history of North America concentrating on the period from c. A.D. 1000 to 1680—from the arrival of Norse explorers to an explosion of revolts that underlined the stubborn struggle to master the continent some two centuries after Columbus’s landfall. This history spans the continent from the North Atlantic to the West Indies and includes the entire Atlantic basin. Peter Mancall and David Kennedy emphasize the experiences of diverse peoples while, at the same time, telling a new story about the origins of major aspects of American culture. They illuminate the rise of a booming trans-Atlantic economy based on the extraction of abundant American natural resources; the central role that European migrants and their descendants played in the enslavement of Africans and the displacement of Indigenous peoples; and the spread of self-governing polities where many enjoyed religious freedom. None of these developments was inevitable. Conflicts broke out frequently as different peoples battled over precious resources. Europeans’ appetites for material gain and expanding Christendom brought horrific consequences for those brutalized, enslaved, and vulnerable to infectious diseases. Join us to hear Mancall and Kennedy present their sweeping history of developments crucial to the eventual founding of the United States, underscoring the titanic struggles between the peoples who had populated the Americas for centuries and the migrants from the Old World who initiated changes that created a New World that offered boundless opportunities for some and crushed the aspirations of others. A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Organizer: George Hammond  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices