HIST 250 AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY 1

Course Description

This course surveys the African American experience from its origins in pre-colonial West and West Central Africa to the emancipation from slavery in the mid-nineteenth century. Although the course lectures and readings focus on the history of African Americans in what is now considered the United States, we will also examine the experiences of people of African descent in the Caribbean and, to a lesser extent, Latin America. Topics covered in this class include, but are not limited to, the following: the social structures and cultures of West and West Central Africa; the Atlantic slave trade; the development of slavery and the origins of "race" in the Americas; the formation of African American cultures; gender relations within the slave community; the experiences of free blacks; antebellum black political and social movements; and the role of slavery and expansion in the United States Civil War. Through a variety of sources - including historical monographs, primary documents, and audio recordings - this class seeks to increase students' awareness and appreciation for the complexity of the history of people of African descent in the western hemisphere, primarily the United States.

Course Policies

Students are required to attend class regularly and participate in discussion of the course readings. Occasionally, there will be short quizzes to assess whether or not students are doing, and understanding, the class readings. Attendance, discussion, and quizzes will constitute the overall class participation grade. Students with more than two unexcused absences in discussion section will have their final grade lowered by a letter grade. Students with four or more unexcused absences in discussion section will fail the course. For logistical purposes, students are asked to direct all communications regarding absences and other sundry matters to the GTFs of their respective discussion sections.

There will be two exams (midterm and final), both of which will consist of identifications and short essays. The exams will be based primarily on material covered in lecture. As I make it a policy to not share my lecture notes with students, I urge you to attend class regularly. Students will also have to write two short papers (3-5 typed, 12 point, double-spaced pages) during the course of the term. The first paper will be an analytical essay addressing Olaudah Equiano's narrative. I will provide more direction on this first paper by week 2. The second paper will be a book review of Wilma King, Stolen Childhood.

Late papers will be lowered one-half letter grade for every day that they are beyond the deadline. The GTFs reserve the right to refuse to grade papers that are handed in well past the deadline.

Required Texts

The following books are available at the University Bookstore. There is also a course reader that is available at the University Bookstore. Articles within the reader are required reading and are indicated in the syllabus by (R). The books and the reader are also on reserve at Knight Library.

Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings. New York: Viking Penguin, 1995.
Sidney W. Mintz and Richard Price, The Birth of African American Culture: An Anthropological Perspective. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992.
Wilma King, Stolen Childhood: Slave Youth in Nineteenth-Century America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995.

Course Evaluation

Equiano essay (25%); King book review (25%); Midterm exam (20%); Final exam (20%); Class participation (10%)

NOTE: Outside of extraordinary (and I do mean extraordinary) circumstances, I do not believe in allowing students to do extra credit work. Instead, you should devote the time that you would spend doing extra credit work on the assigned work. Also, "incompletes" will only be given to students who have completed three of the assignments, have at least a "C" average, and have a sufficient reason to need an incomplete.

Course Schedule