New honors course teaches history thematically

     A new honors course developed by Campbell University history professor, Dr. Lloyd Johnson, is designed to explore Colonial American history both chronologically and thematically using the themes of slavery, religion, politics and society. Offered this fall for the first time, the title of the course is “Society, Politics and Religion in Colonial America.”
The course examines Colonial American history from the first settlements of British North America to the eve of the American Revolution with an emphasis on the social, political and religious developments that occurred in early America.
     “These problems remain central to the history of American life and culture,” said Dr. Johnson. “The origins of slavery, religious revivalism and the formation of representative assemblies, as well as European contact with indigenous peoples are vital issues today.”
Examples of the readings for the history course include James Axtell’s, “Beyond 1492,” Betty Wood’s, “The Origins of American Slavery,” and Edmund Morgan’s, “The Puritan Dilemma.”
    The course, which Dr. Johnson describes as more in-depth and related to current literature, looks at English society during the age of colonization, including the Puritan religious movement, white slavery in the Chesapeake Region, the Great Awakening and other issues and events.
    Dr. Johnson lives in Erwin, N.C., and is the author of a book on Welsh settlers in the South, “The Frontier in the Colonial South: South Carolina Backcountry, 1736-1800.” He has made numerous presentations on his research in Wales, Britain and the U.S. He has also appeared in the BBC documentary, “Roots in Wales.” In addition he has published entries in the “Encyclopedia of North Carolina History,” the “African-American Encyclopedia of History” and the “Encyclopedia of South Carolina History.” Dr. Johnson has also contributed book reviews to the “Journal of Southern History,” “North Carolina Historical Review,” the “William & Mary Quarterly,” “Baptist History and Heritage” and the “Georgia Historical Quarterly.” His article on Welsh in the Carolinas was published in “Western Mail,” a national newspaper of Cardiff, Wales, and he is currently working on a study of colonial settlers of the Cape Fear Region. He will present a paper on transportation in Colonial America at a conference in Marseilles, France, in November.



 

Bulletin 0033-7/21/05