Slavery in the Americas
PROFESSOR FITZGERALD
History
165
Spring 2011
OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday 2-3, Wednesday 3-4, and Thursday 3-4, and by
appointment, in Holland Hall 532 (down the hidden hall toward the windows facing
the Library). In general, I'm readily available right after class for as long
as needed, and I often read at the Cage between classes. I welcome interruptions. Also, I work a
fair amount in my office, so you can look for me there.
PHONE NUMBER: Office: x3162 (and my home phone is in the
book. Use it with discretion)
E-MAIL: fitz (I try
to check my e-mails morning and late afternoon weekdays, and sometimes on
weekends too; if you have questions about the readings or assignments, this
might be a useful tool. Also, e-mail me promptly if you see a problem with the
syllabus or in getting access to the books)
Note: You should check your e-mail daily too. I sometimes send course announcements or reading assignments out this way.
COURSE OBJECTIVE: This course provides an overview of historical
methods through an examination of slavery, primarily in the New World, using
first-hand sources from the era. Among the topics covered will be the
transatlantic slave trade, the similarities and contrasts between American and
Caribbean slavery, slave resistance, and emancipation. The central topic of
this course is an exploration of slavery, what it did to African Americans, and
what it did to American society.
In addition, the course aims to provide some basic experience in writing college-level papers. Incoming first-year students frequently need help in this area, so multiple short writing assignments should give students the chance to improve. Finally, the course is intended to introduce students to the profusion of online resources available in this field, and how to utilize them.
REQUIRED READINGS: (any edition will do, as long as you check page
assignments individually with me)
Charles Ball, Fifty Years in Chains
Harriet Jacobs [or Linda Brent], Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life. . . .
The Private Mary Chesnut
Ira Berlin, Families and Freedom
Other materials will be distributed in class or online from time to time as
assignments.
READING SCHEDULE (this is tentative, it isn't a contract. I can
change dates as needed)
Feb. 7: Introduction to Class
Feb. 9: Lecture: African Society to the Slave Trade
Reading: handouts--to be distributed in class: Selection from Equiano's Narrative
Feb. 11: The Slave Trade, in Africa and the New World
Reading: handouts--Memoirs of Job Ben Solomon; Venture Smith, "Taken From the Guinea Coast as a Child"; Omar ibn Saud, "A Devout Moslem Sold to the Infidels."
Feb. 14: The Business of the Slave Trade
Reading: Hawkins, "An Alliance to Raid for Slaves, 1567"; Journal of the Slave Ship Arthur, 1677; Park, "West Africa in the 1790s"; Hair, African Narratives of Enslavement"; and "Views of
the King of Asante" and "Views of a King at Old Calibar."
Feb. 16: Slavery and Resistance in the West Indies
Reading: King, Steadman, etc., 298-319, 237-239
Feb. 18: Slavery and Law in the New World Colonies
Reading: Runaway Slave Advertisements, to be distributed in class.
Feb. 21: Slavery and Liberty--The American Revolution and the
Issue of Human Bondage
Reading: Selections from Jefferson Notes on Virginia, 254-62, 277-279, 508-9, 594-5, 641-2
Feb. 23: Lecture--Comparative Slavery in the
Americas
FIRST PAPER DUE AT START OF CLASS
Feb.
25: Slavery and Society after the Revolution
Reading: Ball, xix-81
Feb. 28: Slavery in the early 1800s
Reading: Ball, 81-161
March 2: Slavery and Society
Reading: Ball, 161-221
March 4: Slavery and Society
Reading:
Ball, 221-331
March 7: Upper South Slavery
Reading: Douglass, Chapters 1-9
Mar. 9: Urban Slavery and Freedom
Reading:
Douglass, Chapters 10 to end
Mar. 11: Slavery and Women's Lives
Reading:
Jacobs, 1-65 (Introduction to the end of Chapter XIII)
Mar. 14: Slavery and Sexuality
Reading: Jacobs, 65-118 (Chapter XIV to end of XXVIII)
Mar. 16: Life on a Deep South Plantation
Reading: Jacobs, 118 to end (Chapter XIV to end)
Mar. 18: In Class Film—To Be Announced
SECOND PAPER DUE IN
CLASS
March 21, 23, 25: Spring Break--
March 28: Insurrections
Reading: Nat Turner's Confession.
Also, handouts from the Virginia and national press about the uprising
March 30: Accommodation and Resistance
Reading: Rawick, the American
Slave, assignment to be announced
Apr. 1: Abolitionism, White and Black
Reading: Handout of Selections from David Walker's
Appeal
Selections
from Garrison's Liberator,
Abolitionism and Women’s Rights, the Grimkes
April 4: The Great Reaction: Proslavery Thought in America
Reading:
handout, Finkelman, 54-88
Apr. 6: Lincoln, the North, and Slavery
Reading: Selections from the Lincoln-Douglas Debates
Selections from Lincoln speeches
Apr. 8: Secession and Slavery
Reading: Selection from pro-Secession speeches
Online: Ordinance of Secession from Texas
Online: Ordinance of Secession from Texas and from South Carolina
April 11: One Female Slaveholder and the Outbreak of War
Reading: Mary Chesnut's Diary, 1-85
Apr. 13: One Female Slaveholder and the War
Reading: Mary Chesnut's Diary, 150-218
April 15: Lecture, War, Lincoln, and How Emancipation Happened
THIRD PAPER DUE AT START OF CLASS
April 18: Wartime Liberation: The Family Implicatiosn
Reading: Berlin, 3-55
April 20: Black Soldiers and their Wives
Reading: Berlin, 55-117
April
22 and 25: EASTER BREAK
April 27: Soldiers and Refugees
Reading: Berlin, 119-191
April 29:
Soldiers and Refugees
Reading: Berlin, 193-243
May 2: Southerners and the Last Days of Slavery
Reading:
Chesnut's Diary, 218-263
.
May 4: First Freedom
Reading:
Emancipation
Narratives, and Southern
White Views
May 6: Class Discussion—Online Resources and Doing History
May 9: The Black Codes and What Ex-Slaveholders Wanted
Readings to be announced
May
11: African Americans and Radical Reconstruction Reading: Recon
May 13: Class Discussion—No Reading
FOURTH PAPER DUE IN CLASS
May 16: Reserve Day
Finals Week, May 23, Monday 2-4: FINAL EXAM
GRADING POLICY: Each paper is worth one sixth of the grade, as is the final exam and the participation portion of the grade. If you are one of those people who absolutely cannot talk in class, come see me. We can work something out, but this is a seminar, you need to work on this.
PLAGIARISM: My wife is one of the primary authors of the campus plagiarism policy, so I’m obliged to honor it. Plagiarism is using somebody else’s words, or their exact ideas, without acknowledgement. Please consult me if an issue comes up.
SPECIAL ACCOMODATIONS: Students who have a certified disability probably already know the procedure for informing professors. Please tell me early in the semester, with the appropriate documentation, and remind me periodically (especially before exams) that I need to respond to your situation.
PERSONAL ISSUES: Professors get a lot of excuses from students, but if something is going on in your life that affects your classroom work, you probably should let me know privately.
OTHER NOTES: Attendance is mandatory, as is class participation and keeping up with the reading. Attendance is taken periodically, and unexcused absences (more than three times per semester) can affect the final grade. You are expected to be prepared by doing the reading for the day specified, ready to talk about it intelligently. This isn't a lecture class; you do most of the talking.
E-mail is an excellent way to ask questions or follow up on issues that you don't want to raise in class, or think of after class. It can help with paper assignments too, when you need clarification. Feel free also to email to the class list, "history-165," if you'd like to do so. Just be polite when you criticize other people's ideas.
Also, check your e-mails regularly, because sometimes I have to communicate to class when something important comes up.
Final note: Most professors suspect themselves of some unusual virtue, and here’s mine: I tend not to mind when people disagree with me, or with one another, because it means you are paying attention. Just be polite about it, and remember that we are talking about sensitive topics.