African American History to 1865

T-Th 1:30-2:45 Arter Hall Room 213 Instructor: Chinua Thelwell. [email protected] Office Hours. T-Th 3-6. Arter Room 214

A survey of key people, events, and themes in African American history to 1865. The course begins in West Africa with a short unit on the societies that African Americans originated from. We than address the crossing of the Atlantic ocean and the experiences that African Americans had as enslaved peoples in the South and free peoples in the North. Rather than focusing solely on the theme of victimization, this class analyzes the many ways in which African Americans rose above their social circumstances. There will also be a great deal of attention given to the many contributions that African Americans have made to the formation of the United States of America.

Learning Commons

If you are not already, you should become familiar with the Learning Commons, located in Pelletier Library (http://learningcommons.allegheny.edu/). Among other things, the staff at the Learning Commons can assist you with study and time management skills, writing, and critical reading. You should know that if you are having trouble in this class, or if I think you can specifically benefit from their services, I may refer you to the Learning Commons.

Disability Concerns

If you have a documented disability, please let the professor know as soon as possible so that he may make the appropriate accommodations. If you have provided documentation of a disability of any kind to the Learning Commons, and will need academic accommodations such as note- taking assistance or extended time on tests, please see John Mangine in the Learning Commons (332-2898) so that appropriate arrangements can be made. For further information, see http://learningcommons.allegheny.edu/support.php.

Religious Accommodation

As a non-sectarian institution, Allegheny College affirms the variety of religious faiths represented within our community and supports individuals' personal practice and expression of religion. If you are observant and need to miss class due to a major holy day of your faith, then please let the instructor know in advance so that appropriate arrangements can be made. For further information, see http://www.allegheny.edu/administration/religiouslife/.

Grading.

GRADE BREAKDOWN: Attendance and Participation= 20%

Midterm Exam=25% Five-to-Seven Page Response to Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl=20% Noncumulative Final Exam= 35%

Attendance

Students are allowed two absences, or the equivalent of one week of class, during the term without penalty. Each absence after the second causes the final grade to be reduced by three points for each additional absence. A student encountering an emergency situation should inform her or his associate dean, as well as the instructor. Relatedly, students are allowed to take notes on their laptops, however, if I find out that you are surfing the internet during class, I will penalize you with one absence, and suspend laptop privileges.

Citation Style

Students will use the Chicago Style citation method, which is readily available online or in the Chicago Manual of Style.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a form of academic dishonesty that includes the following practices: 1) copying, quoting, or paraphrasing documents of any kind (dictionaries, encyclopedias, newspapers, books, study guides, other students papers, etc.) without proper and explicit citation of the source; a citation requires a parenthetical note in the text, footnote, or endnote and/or a list of works cited with all appropriate publication information (including the full name of the source, the publisher, place and date of publication, and page numbers); 2) use of another’s words without quotation marks around them, or use of another’s ideas (even when paraphrased or modified) without proper and explicit citation of the source; 3) turning in another’s work as one’s own or asking another to compose an essay either in full or in part.

Required Readings

1. Darlene Hine, William Hine, and Stanley Harrold The African-American Odyssey. Volume 1

2. Michael Gomez, Exchanging Our Country Marks: The Transformation of African Identities in the Colonial and Antebellum South

3. Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

4. Stephanie Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora.

Semester Schedule

Week 1.

Class 1. Thursday, January 19. Introduction to course.

Week 2.

Class 2. Tuesday, January 24. African Origins. Reading: Chapter 1 AAO

Class Cancelled Thursday January 26.

Week 3.

Class 3. Tuesday, January 31. Middle Passage Reading: Chapter 2 AAO

Class 4. Thursday, February 2. African Americans in Colonial North America Reading: Chapter 3 AAO

Week 4.

Class 5. Tuesday, February 7. African Americans During the Revolutionary War Reading: Chapter 4 AAO

Class 6. Thursday, February 9. African Americans in the New Nation Reading: Chapter 5 AAO

Week 5.

Class 7. Tuesday, February 14. Midterm Examination (Chapters 1 through 5 AAO)

Class 8. Thursday, February 16. Film. Up From Slavery

Week 6.

Class 9. Tuesday, February 21. Film. Up From Slavery

Class 10. Thursday, February 23. The Middle Passage Revisited Reading: Smallwood 1-153

Week 7.

Class 11. Tuesday, February 28. Towards a Diaspora Reading: Smallwood 154-207

Class 12. Thursday, March 1. Life in the Cotton Kingdom

Reading: Chapter 6 AAO

Week 8.

Class 13. Tuesday, March 6. Free Black People in Antebellum America Reading: Chapter 7 AAO

Class 14. Thursday, March 8. Abolitionism Reading: Chapter 8 AAO

Week 9.

Class 15. Tuesday, March 13. Black Resistance Reading: Chapter 9 AAO

Class 16. Thursday, March 15. Westward Migrations Reading: Chapter 10 AAO

Week 10. Spring Break, March 19-27.

Week 11.

Class 17. Tuesday, March 27. Becoming African American I Reading: Gomez 1-87

Class 18. Thursday, March 29. Becoming African American II Reading: Gomez 88-153

Week 12.

Class 19. Tuesday, April 3. Becoming African American III Reading: Gomez 154-243

Class 20. Thursday, April 5. Becoming African American IV Reading: Gomez 244-292

Week 13.

Class 21. Tuesday, April 10. Slave Narratives I Paper Due: Review essay of Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Class 22. Thursday, April 12. Slave Narratives II. Jacob’s discussion continued.

Week 14.

Class 23. Tuesday, April 17. Civil War Reading: Chapter 11 AAO

Class 24. Thursday, April 19. Representing Civil War I. Film Screening Glory

Week 15.

Class 25. Tuesday, April 24. Representing Civll War II. Film Screening and discussion of Glory.

Class 26. Thursday. April 26. Origins Narratives I. Film Screening. African American Lives.

Week 16.

Class 27. Tuesday, May 1. Origins Narratives II. Film Screening and discussion African American Lives.

Final Exam to be administered on Tuesday May 8, at 2pm.