
#494 - Contested Continent: A Dialogue with Peter C. Mancall
From Converging Dialogues by Converging Dialogues
June 7, 2026 · 1h 7m
About this episode
Xavier Bonilla dialogues with Peter C. Mancall about the early years of North America, covering various historical aspects and figures.
In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Peter Mancall about the early years of North America. They discuss what is America, importance of Maize and landscape of pre-Columbian America, Native Peoples in the middle of the 15th century, Norse discoveries, Columbus, French in Canada, Cortes in Mexico, British involvement, religion, slavery, and the legacy of early North American history. Peter C. Mancall is Distinguished Professor; the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities; Professor of History, Anthropology, and Economics; and the Linda and Harlan Martens Director of the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute. He is an elected fellow of the Society of American Historians and the Royal Historical Society and an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society and the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. He was the Harmsworth Professor of American History at Oxford University in the 2019-2020 academic year. He is the author of many books, including the recent book, Contested Continent: The struggle for North America, c. 1000-1680 . Get full access to Converging Dialogues at convergingdialogues.substack.com/subscribe
People in this episode
Host: Xavier Bonilla
Guest: Peter C. Mancall
Topics covered
- early North America
- pre-Columbian America
- Native Peoples
- Norse discoveries
- Columbus
- French in Canada
- British involvement
Keywords
- North America
- Maize
- Native Peoples
- Norse discoveries
- Columbus
- French in Canada
- Cortes
- British involvement
- slavery
- early history
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute
Books & works: Contested Continent: The struggle for North America, c. 1000-1680
Places: North America, Canada, Mexico, America
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