This seminar will examine the period of British colonial rule in North America, which lasted from the arrival of the first settlers in Virginia and Massachusetts in the early seventeenth century to the Empire’s defeat in the American War of Independence. Contrary to popular wisdom, understanding “early America” requires taking perspectives other than that of the British colonizers. The thirteen colonies were shaped as much by cultural contact and ethnic pluralism as they were by frontier violence and various forms of unfree labor, most notably indentured servitude and racial slavery. We will discuss the evolution of these and other facets of British North America, always mindful of the fact that these developments were not carved in stone but subject to intense debate across lines of class, color, and region. Early BA and Lehramt students are welcome to participate. Basic knowledge of North American history, which students can acquire in the OK Landeswissenschaften, is recommended.