Professor Karen Ordahl Kupperman and historian Walter W. Woodward examine the history of the Jamestown colony in-depth, focusing on the personalities involved, including John Smith.

Director of the Massachusetts Historical Society William Fowler follows the history of the French and Indian War, emphasizing its importance as a turning point in U.S. history that remains little taught and little known popularly.

Three scholars present papers on the history of slavery and the African slave trade in New England. The papers are "The Removal of 'Cannibal Negroes' from New England to Providence Island," "A Colonial Tale of Slavery, Freedom, Contract, and Harvest," and "Unruly Slaves, Uneasy Masters, and Unmerited Favor: Wielding Discipline, Wrestling with Conscience, and the Construction of Race in Puritan New England."

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Three scholars present papers on the history of Native American and African slavery and the slave trade in New England. The papers are "Another Face of Slavery: Indentured Servitude of Native Americans in Southern New England," "Freedom and Conflicts over Class, Gender, and Identity: The Evolving Relationship between Indians and Blacks in Southern New England, 1750–1870," and "Enslavement and Indians in Southern New England: Unraveling a Hidden History."

Two scholars present papers on the history of slavery, the slave trade, and African-American life in New England. The papers are "Creoles and Colonization: African Colonization Movements in Rhode Island and Nova Scotia in the Age of the American Revolution" and "William Lanson and the Vagaries of Early Free Black Life in New Haven, Connecticut, 1800-1831."

Professor Jill Lepore describes the war between colonists and Native Americans that broke out in New England in 1675. She emphasizes the impact of cultural memory of events in constructing national identity.

Historian Jayne Triber covers the military history of the Boston Harbor Islands, from colonial times to the Cold War, examining the fortifications and installations that have been built and abandoned on the islands.

Professor Joyce E. Chaplin covers Benjamin Franklin's creation of one of the first accurate charts of the Atlantic Gulf Stream in 1768 and the history of scientific research in the British colonies, both by Franklin and other scientists, that allowed the creation of such a chart.

Professor and author Howard Zinn traces the evocation of divine right and approval as a force in U.S. politics, looking at how it has been used to support economic and military interests. He focuses particularly on how it has been used to justify war and violent action, both in the past and today, in the Middle East.

Professor Leo Marx presents the protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," Jay Gatsby, as "a representative American," using the arc of the character's development to explore popular myths and understandings of U.S. origins, developments, and dangers.