PRELIMINARY COURSE SYLLABUS Quarter: Winter 2021
Course Title: Black Activists and the Fight against Slavery Course Code: HIS 60 Instructor: Andy Hammann, PhD
Course Summary
“The degradation, the wrongs, the vices, that grow out of slavery, are more than I can describe. They are greater than you would willingly believe.”
Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Many activists in the fight against slavery were enslaved or formerly enslaved Americans. Because they experienced, firsthand, slavery’s terrible and, in a sense, indescribable realities, they opposed its persistence with singular conviction and urgency. This course examines several aspects of their prolonged fight, focusing on Black Americans who self-emancipated via the Underground Railroad; established clandestine (“maroon”) communities in the South; published narratives of enslavement; founded and edited antislavery newspapers; and led organizations like the American Anti-Slavery Society.
We will read selections from primary sources including Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs; Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy, by Moses Grandy; and The North Star newspaper, founded by Frederick Douglass; and we will dig into Stanford’s vast “Black Abolitionist Papers” online archive. We will also consider connections between the historical fight against slavery and the current Black Lives Matter movement.
Grade Options and Requirements
NGR (no grade requested) is the default option. No credit is given.
CR/NC is an option for students who wish to receive credit. The only requirement is that you attend at least 5 of the 6 lectures.
Readings
All assigned readings, except for the last one, will be primary documents from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I will make them available in PDF form on the Canvas site.
For the last week, students will need to purchase a copy of the following book.
Please contact the Stanford Continuing Studies office with any questions 365 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305 [email protected] 650-725-2650
PRELIMINARY COURSE SYLLABUS Quarter: Winter 2021
Donald Yacovone, ed., Freedom’s Journey: African American Voices of the Civil War (Chicago: Lawrence Hill Books, 2004.
For each week, I will also offer a short list of scholarly works that students with particular interest in that week’s topic might want to read in the future.
Please contact the Stanford Continuing Studies office with any questions 365 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305 [email protected] 650-725-2650
PRELIMINARY COURSE SYLLABUS Quarter: Winter 2021
Tentative Weekly Outline
January 26
TOPIC: Wartime I – American Revolution and War of 1812
Assigned Readings • None
February 2
TOPIC: Self-Emancipation
Assigned Readings • Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass – excerpts (or My Bondage, My Freedom) • Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl – excerpts • Moses Grandy, Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy – excerpts
February 9
TOPIC: Underground Railroad
Assigned Readings • Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass – excerpts (or My Bondage, My Freedom) • Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl – excerpts • Moses Grandy, Narrative of the Life of Moses Grandy – excerpts
February 16
TOPIC: Organizations and Newspapers
Assigned Readings • Frederick Douglass, My Bondage, My Freedom – excerpts
February 23
TOPIC: Revolts
Assigned Readings • Excerpts from The North Star, Frederick Douglass’ Paper, and Douglass’ Monthly
Please contact the Stanford Continuing Studies office with any questions 365 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305 [email protected] 650-725-2650
PRELIMINARY COURSE SYLLABUS Quarter: Winter 2021
March 2
TOPIC: Wartime II – Civil War
Assigned Readings • Elijah P. Marrs, The Life and History of Rev. Elijah P. Marrs – excerpts
Please contact the Stanford Continuing Studies office with any questions 365 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305 [email protected] 650-725-2650