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FFYS 1000: Oceans and Empires

Fall 2015

About this Guide

Welcome! This guide was created to help students in Professor Kevin McDonald's first year seminar class Oceans and Empires find primary source materials for their document analysis assignment.

You will be required to find a primary source related to one of the course themes or topics from a reliable academic or scholarly database or website or from the William H. Hannon Library Archive & Special Collections. 

You can also visit the First Year Seminar LibGuide for more research help.

Images of Primary Sources from LMU Archives & Special Collections

Suggested Topics and Themes

There are many topics and themes that you may want to consider for your project. These include: 

 

  • Empires and Atlantic Islands (Canaries, Madeira, etc.)
  • The Spanish American Empire
  • Dutch Colonies in America (New Netherland)
  • British North American colonies
  • Slavery and the slave trade
  • Pirates and piracy
  • Atlantic Revolutions (U.S., Haiti, Spanish Americas)
  • Estado da India (Portuguese Empire)
  • The VOC (Dutch East India Company)
  • The EIC (British East India Company)
  • Maritime labor
  • Maritime empires and global commodoties
  • The environment and maritime empires
  • Cross-cultural encounters and interactions
  • Maritime technology
  • Mutiny and punishment
  • Pacific islands and empire