HIST 364
AMERICAN SLAVERY
- Catalog Entry
HIST 364. American Slavery. (A)
Three hours lecture/discussion (3).
Prerequisite: Three hours of History at the 100-level.
This course provides an in-depth study and analysis of the institution of slavery as it developed in the United States. Particular focus will be placed on the institution from the perspective of the slaves themselves. Topics include the Atlantic Slave Trade, Origins of Slavery, Colonial Slave Systems, Slave Culture and Resistance.
- Detailed Description of Content of Course
a. Content
- Slavery in an Historical Context
- Brief historical overview of the institution of slavery prior to 1600
- “meaning” of the institution
- Atlantic Slave Trade
- Origins
- Mechanics
- Effects
- Origins of Slavery in British North America
- In-depth analysis of the historical debate on the origins of slavery in British North America
- Seeks to answer the question of “was the development of slavery in the American colonies economically or racially based?”
- Colonial Slave Systems and Development
- Slavery in the Northern Colonies
- Slavery in the Southern Colonies
- Development of slave law
- Colonial justifications for slavery
- Process of Acculturation and retention of Africanisms
- Slavery in a Revolutionary Age
- Effects of Revolutionary Ideology on slavery
- Abolition of slavery in Northern states
- Changes in the justifications for slavery
- Slavery during the Antebellum decades
- Focus primarily from the slaves’ perspective
- Urban v. rural slave
- Agricultural; industrial; domestic use of slave labor
- Slave culture
- Family
- Religion
- Conjure
- Folktales
- Resistance
- From day-to-day resistance to insurrection
- Analysis of several case studies
- Celia (a slave woman who, after years of subjection to an involuntary sexual relationship with her master, killed him and was put on trial for murder)
- Vesey, Gabriel and Turner “Rebellions”
- Pro-slavery vs. Abolitionist argument
- Black Slaveowners
- American slavery in a comparative perspective
- Detailed Description of Content of Course
This course will be conducted on the basis of a variety of pedagogical tools depending on the class makeup and the topic under discussion. Some of the instructional strategies will be utilized include lecture, group and class discussions, multi-media presentations, student/class debates, and primary source analysis.
For example:
- A multi-media presentation (computer and video) will be used to vividly describe the working and effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade
- After reading and evaluating primary and secondary sources dealing with the origins of slavery in the British North Americans colonies, students will participate in a class debate on the subject.
- Students will gain an understanding of the institution of slavery from both the maters’ and slaves’ point of view from an analysis of such primary sources as Thomas Jefferson’s Farmbook and a selection of slave narratives.
- Students will engage in primary research of their own to help gain a better understanding of the difficulty in recreating a generalized description of slavery.
- In order to gain a better understanding of the complexity of slavery and the existence of what historians call the “art of negotiation” students will participate in an in-class role playing exercise in which half of the class are “masters” and the other half are “slaves” and they are required to prepare strategies of control and survival as well as respond to specific situations.
- Students will recreate the trial of one of the more famous slave insurrections.
An interactive computer presentation focusing on the plantation layout allows students to see the interaction of an entire plantation and how master and slave “lived together but separate.”
- Goals and Objectives of the Course
Broad course goals:
- To interpret major themes and topics of American slavery
- To improve conceptual thinking about the history of slavery and its various aspects within the context of American history-including its meaning for the U.S. both then and now.
- To go beyond memorization of facts and figures regarding slavery and see how the institution affected the lives of those involved, the nation, and the history-and-future-of the United States at large.
- To improve research, writing and analytical skills.
- To take students beyond the more narrow outlook and summary nature of a survey-level course.
- To focus on conceptualizing, analyzing, and questioning nature of history.
More specific course goals:
- To place American slavery in an historical and world context
- To provide an understanding of the historical debate surrounding the origins of slavery in British North America
- To view American slavery in a comparative perspective with other New World slave systems
- To view the institution of slavery as it developed differently in the Northern and Southern colonies
- To analyze the effects of the American Revolution on the institution of slavery
- To provide an understanding of the complex relationship between master and slave
- To acquire a knowledge and perspective of the depth of the slave culture and its complexity
- To understand the depth and variety of resistance
- Assessment Measures
A variety of assessment strategies are appropriate for a course of this nature. The exact assessment measures may vary but will include some combination of the following:
- Weekly response papers which are designed to structure students’ analysis of assigned readings and to provide a basis for class discussion.
- 15 page research paper stressing primary research and analysis.
- Final Project (in the past, this final project has consisted of the creation of a “slave museum” or web page development of the student’s choice).
- Written examinations
- Class participation (both in class group work and simulations)
- Book analyzes of assigned monographs
- Various 5-7 page papers
- Other course information
- Review & Approval
Date Action Reviewed by
January 2005 Reviewed and Approved by Charles McClellan