Class 1: Introduction with thoughts on England as an exemplar of Western monarchies in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, religious ferment in renaissance England, Quaker origins and flight to the New World, the nature of frontiers, and other good stuff.
The object of our introductory session is to engage the class' "Wayback Machines" and begin our thinking about our largely invisible common past. Obviously the outline contains way too many subjects and could be taught as a course on its own, but the origins of our country is also a very large and complex subject, and simplifying it for purposes of brevity does less good than does illuminating its complexity. The founding of what became North Carolina is unique in several ways, not the least of which is the near total absence of a ruling elite for its first hundred years or more during which time uncommonly shrewd, courageous, and wise Red, White, and Black folks created a creole society sheltered by the outer banks, the dismal swamps and the allure of great wealth elsewhere. It is a nifty theme that we will return to repeatedly for the next several weeks.