VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
HIST 564: The Atlantic World in the Post-Colonial Era
COURSE SYLLABUS: Spring 2010

Instructor: Dr. Christina Proenza-Coles
Office: 101-H Colson Hall
Hours: M 2-4, W 2-6, and by appt
Email: cproenza@vsu.edu

Course Description
A study of the social, economic and political developments in Europe, West Africa and the New World, which resulted in the British-led efforts to end the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Emphasis will be placed on the termination of the slave trade and slavery and their consequences on both sides of the Atlantic.

Materials
--Wright, Donald. The World and a Very Small Place in Africa. Available in bookstore.
--Most of the readings listed below are available as a xerox packet and on reserve in the library.
--The remaining readings are here on the course website.

Requirements
CLASS PARTICIPATION: this seminar style course requires that the course material is read very carefully before class; everyone is responsible for significant contributions to every discussion.

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS: these may include written work (short 1-2 page responses to the reading) and oral presentations.

RESEARCH PAPER: 15-20 page paper on a topic approved by the instructor. Students are required to prepare a research proposal, an outline, a bibliography, rough drafts, and a final draft.

GRADING: the research paper will count for 50% of the course grade. Failure to meet any of the research paper preparation requirements will result in a lower research paper grade. The remainder of the course grade will be determined by weekly preparedness and participation.

WEEK 1: Jan 22: Introduction

WEEK 2: Jan 27: Slavery, West Africa, and World History
--Wright, Donald. The World and a Very Small Place in Africa. xi-254 Week 2 Questions Due

WEEK 3: Feb 3: Abolitionism Week 3 Questions Due
--Davis, David Brion. The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Revolution 1770-1823. pp. i-86.E-RESERVES
--Blackburn, Robin. The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery 1776-1848. pp.1-65, 517-550.E-RESERVES
--Robinson, Marilynne. “Freed,” New York Times January 9, 2005.
--Davis, David Brion. “The End of Slavery,” New York Review of Books 30(5) 1989.
--Olaudah Equiano (film in class)

WEEK 4: Feb 10: Liberia and Sierra Leone Week 4 Questions Due
--Grant, John. “Black Immigrants into Nova Scotia, 1776-1815.”WEB
--Sanneh, Lamin. Abolitionist Abroad: American Blacks and the Making of West Africa. pp. 1-90, 183-249.E-RESERVES
--Egerton, Douglas. "Harry Washington's Atlantic Crossings: The Migrations of Black Loyalists." Death or Liberty: African Americans and Revolutionary America. Oxford University Press, 2008. Chapter 8. 194-221. WEB

WEEK 5: Feb 17: The Haitain Revolution Week 5 Questions Due
--Knight, Franklin. "The Haitian Revolution," American Historical Review 105:1 2004 WEB
--Bender, Thomas. "The Age of Revolution: Founding Fathers Dreamed of Uprisings, Except in Haiti." New York Times, 7/1/01. WEB
RESEARCH PROPOSAL DUE

WEEK 6: Feb 24: US, Second War of Independence Week 6 Questions Due
--Du Bois, WEB. Black Reconstruction. xii-83, 580-635, 711-729 E-RESERVES
--Foner, Eric. A Short History of Reconstruction. pp.x-15. E-RESERVES
--Ira Berlin, et. al. Slaves No More. pp. 3-76. E-RESERVES
--Emancipation Chronology, Sample Documents, Thirteenth Amendment

WEEK 7: Mar 3: Post-Emancipation Priorities Week 7 Questions Due
--Brown, Elsa Barkley. “To Catch a Vision of Freedom,” Unequal Sisters. pp.124-141. 1881 Atlanta Washerwomen's Strike web
--Hunter, Tera. To ‘Joy My Freedom. pp. x-44, 98-129. E-RESERVES
--Review of Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins WEB
--Book Review of Race and Reunion by David Blight WEB
OUTLINE AND BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE

WEEK 8: Mar 10: Jamaica Week 8 Questions Due
--Holt, Thomas C. The Problem of Freedom: Race, Labor, and Politics in Jamaica and Britain, 1832-1938. xvii-53, 306-401.
--Drescher, Seymour. "The Long Goodbye: Dutch Capitalism and Antislavery in a Comparative Perspective." American Historical Review 99:1 (Feb 1999) 44-69. WEB
--Film: Life and Debt in Jamaica

WEEK 9: Mar 24: Cuba Week 9 Questions Due
--Helg, Aline. "Race and Black Moblization in Colonial and Early Independent Cuba: A Comparative Perspective." Ethnohistory 44:1 (Winter 1997) 53-74. WEB
--Scott, Rebecca. "The Atlantic World and the Road to Plessy v. Ferguson." Journal of American History (Dec 2007). 726-733 WEB
ROUGH DRAFT DUE

WEEK 10: Mar 31: Brazil Week 10 Questions Due
--Butler, Kim. "From Black Histoy to Diasporan History: Brazilian Abolition in the Afro-Atlantic Context." African Studies Review 43:1 (April 2000) 125-139. WEB
--Drescher, Seymour. "Brazilian Abolition in a Comparative Perspective. Hispanic American Historical Review 68:3 (Aug 1988) 44-69. WEB

WEEK 11: Apr 7: US Race and Nation After Slavery Week 11 Questions Due
--Oshinsky, David. Worse than Slavery. pp.1-108, 249-256.
--Reed, Aldoph Jr. "Socializing Neo-Slavery," The Nation.
--Hale, Grace Elizabeth. Making Whiteness: The Culture of Segregation in the South 1890-1940. pp.3-11, 121-194.
--Film: Ethnic Notions

WEEK 12: Apr 14: Legacies of Slavery at the End of the 20th Century
--Wacquant, Loic. “From Slavery to Mass Incarceration.” New Left Review 13, Jan/Feb 2002, pp. 41-60.
--Wilson, William J. "The Declining Significance of Race." pp. 160-167
--Massey Douglas and Nancy Denton, "The Construction of Ghetto." pp. 178-202
--Oliver, Melvin L. and Thomas Shapiro. Black Wealth/White Wealth. pp.1-52
--Eltis, David. "Europeans and the Rise and Fall of African Slavery in the Americas: An Interpretation." American Historical Review 98:5 (Dec 1993) 1399-1423. WEB

WEEK 13: Apr 21: FINAL PAPER DUE Presentations

WEEK 14: Apr 28: Post-Colonial Identity Politics
--Fanon, Frantz. Black Skin White Masks. TBA
--Clifford, James. “Identity in Mashpee.” The Predicament of Culture. pp. 277-346.
--Cannadine, David. Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire. TBA