HIST 478: ATLANTIC SLAVERY Professor Randy M. Browne Xavier University, Fall 2017 Tuesday, 4:15-6:45pm, Alter Hall 310 This course counts toward the minors in Africana Studies and Peace Studies.

Office: Schott Hall 607 Phone: (513) 745-3231 Hours: By appointment. Email: [email protected] To schedule an appointment, go to randybrowne.youcanbook.me

Overview This research seminar explores the history of Atlantic slavery through the lens of the law. From the early 1500s through the 1860s, more than 12 million enslaved Africans were shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. Throughout the Americas and especially in colonial plantation societies, Africans and their descendants struggled to survive under brutal conditions, negotiated new social, economic, and political realities, and navigated complex relationships with one another and with their enslavers.

Focusing on the history of slavery and the law offers rich and diverse perspectives on the everyday lives and survival strategies of these enslaved people as well as the politics of slavery and race in the Atlantic world. We will focus on three major themes or approaches that historians have taken to analyze slavery and the law: 1) The legitimization of race-based chattel slavery in early American colonies through the construction of new laws; 2) The ways that slaveowners and colonial authorities used the law to control enslaved people and, conversely, the ways that enslaved people negotiated legal regimes for their own purposes; and 3) Efforts to make the slave trade and slavery illegal. Common readings for this course focus primarily on slave systems in the Caribbean, but you will also have opportunities to explore the development of slavery in North America and Latin America in your individual research project.

Some of the most valuable learning in this course will take place outside of the classroom as you each engage in your own original historical research and analysis. Each of you will write a research paper that examines some aspect of Atlantic slavery. You will choose a topic and select the primary and secondary sources on which you want to ground your analysis. The result will be an essay about 20-25 pages long, including footnotes and bibliography.

We will spend a good deal of time over the course of the semester learning how to develop a project of this magnitude. We will consider how to frame a historical problem, design a research strategy, construct an argument, organize your analysis, draft your essay, and edit the result. You will also work with your classmates in small writing groups for regular feedback, support, and encouragement. You will end the semester not only with a polished—perhaps even publishable— paper, but also with critical analytical and writing skills that you will be able to use for the rest of your life.

Course Goals and Student Learning Outcomes By the end of the semester, you should be able to: • critically read, compare, critique, and synthesize professional historical scholarship, identifying a historian’s argument, reading, interpretive method, and use of evidence • interpret and evaluate different kinds of primary documents and use them to develop your own interpretation of historical events

1 • locate and identify relevant primary and secondary sources in library catalogs, databases, and online AND • develop, research, draft, and re-write a research paper that a) poses a significant analytical question; b) analyzes a substantive body of primary evidence; and c) presents a coherent historical argument.

Readings There is one required book for this course, which you should purchase immediately: Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research, 3rd edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003 (ISBN 0226065669). DO NOT purchase an e-book; you will need the print book to annotate and use in class.

We will also be reading many articles and book chapters, which will be available on the course Canvas site or elsewhere online. You must print these readings so that you can write on them to take notes and you need to bring these printed readings to class. Students who come to class without the required reading(s) will be asked to leave and get them.

I strongly recommend that students without much background knowledge purchase a copy of the following historical synthesis to consult as necessary: David Brion Davis, Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006).

Student Responsibilities and Course Policies I am glad you decided to enroll in this course and I will do everything I can to help you do well. To succeed, you’ll need to do your part, too. At minimum, this means you need to: • attend all class meetings and arrive on time, ready to participate. • keep up with readings and complete them before coming to class, taking notes as you read (highlighting isn’t as useful as note-taking) to summarize main points as well as identify questions you have, evidence to use in your written work, or things that confuse you. • bring printed copies of readings to class. • participate actively in class discussions and other activities, with curiosity, openness, and energy, every single class. • check Canvas and your Xavier email account regularly for announcements. • save and backup all copies of your coursework to Dropbox or a similar data backup service. • seek help with any technology problems at the Xavier Help Desk—visit the Connection Center Desk or call (513) 745-4357. It is your responsibility to resolve any technology problems you encounter, from printing to Canvas, before the last minute. • come talk to me when you are confused, have questions, or just want to consult—I’m happy to schedule a meeting with you at any point in the semester.

Attendance Attending class is crucial and required—and is particularly important in an intimate seminar such as ours. You can’t participate if you don’t show up, and much of the learning you will do this semester will take place in class. However, I understand that you may have an occasional emergency, scheduling conflict, or illness that prevents you from attending a particular class meeting. Therefore, you can miss one class with no direct adverse effect on your grade. I do not distinguish between “excused” and “unexcused” absences, and I do not need to know why you missed a particular class. You are still responsible for turning in any assignments due in class before the deadline and for any material that you miss while absent (please ask one of your classmates, not me, to review what you missed while absent). If you miss more than one class for whatever reason, I will reduce your final

2 grade by one full letter (e.g., if your final grade is a “B,” but you missed class two times or more, you will instead earn a “C” for the course). More than three absences will result in failure of the course.

Deadlines I will not accept any late Reading Journal entries––short written assignments due before class, as indicated on the schedule below––under any circumstances. If you do not submit your Reading Journal entry to Canvas on the day indicated on the syllabus by 1pm, Canvas will not accept it and I will not grade it. All other assignments submitted late will generally be marked down one letter grade per day late. However, if you run into a scheduling problem, you may request an extension (except for Reading Journal entries). I will consider requests for extensions on a case by case basis and only if you contact me at least 24 hours before the due date to discuss your situation.

Email If you have questions that cannot be answered by consulting the syllabus or addressed in class, please feel free to email me. Note, however, that emailing your professor is not the same as emailing (or texting) your friends. For some tips, see “How to Email Your Professor (Without Being Annoying AF)” (https://medium.com/@lportwoodstacer/how-to-email-your-professor-without- being-annoying-af). During the week (M-F), it may take me up to 24 hours to respond to emails, though I will do my best to reply sooner. I will not normally respond to emails over the weekend.

Classroom Etiquette Please be courteous to your fellow students and me so that everyone can learn in an inclusive and civil environment. At minimum, this means you need to: • show up to class on time. Attendance will be taken and announcements made at the beginning of class. If you arrive after attendance has been taken, please be as unobtrusive as possible. You will be counted absent unless you check in at the end of class. Extreme tardiness—arriving more than 15 minutes late—counts as an absence. • put your phone, laptop, and any other devices somewhere you will not be tempted to look at them during class (this means someplace other than your lap). Unless you have a documented need to use a computer or other device and have the appropriate paperwork from the Office of Disability Services, you should take notes by hand. It is impossible for your classmates––not to mention you––to pay attention and participate while people are texting, checking out Instagram, debating Snapchat filters, etc. Also, studies have shown that taking notes by hand improves comprehension—see http://www.npr.org/2016/04/17/474525392/attention-students-put- your-laptops-away?. • not leave the room before class is dismissed (occasional bathroom or medical emergencies are an exception and we will generally have a mid-class break for everyone). • not begin packing up or gathering your belongings before the end of the class period. I will do my best to end class on time, but feel free to politely let me know if we are running over time. • be respectful when discussing and disagreeing with the ideas and opinions of others. Argument is an important part of intellectual discussion, so I expect and encourage lively debates that will give you opportunities to work through problems, ask questions, and evaluate answers and interpretations together. I also expect you to show respect toward others and their views, even if they are very different from your own. Likewise, you can expect me to show respect for you, your time, and your work—even when we disagree about a particular issue.

Academic Integrity Academic and professional life requires a trust based upon integrity of the written and spoken word. Accordingly, violations of certain standards of ethical behavior will not be tolerated. These include

3 theft, cheating, plagiarism, and unauthorized assistance in assignments. All work submitted for academic evaluation must be your own. Of course, the activities of other scholars will influence your work. However, the direct and unattributed use of another’s efforts—plagiarism—is prohibited, as is the use of any work untruthfully submitted as one’s own. You should be aware of the university policy on academic honesty (http://www.xavier.edu/library/xu-tutor/Xaviers-Policy- on-Academic-Honesty.cfm) and note that penalties generally begin with failure of the course. I will refer all instances of academic misconduct to the appropriate dean, who will document the infraction in your student file and pursue disciplinary measures. So, the best defense is prevention: learn to recognize what plagiarism is and how to properly cite the documents or sources you use, whether you are directly quoting someone else’s words or paraphrasing their thoughts or ideas, and don’t try to cheat. If you have any questions, just ASK!

Student Support Services—tutoring, disabilities, writing, and mental health The University offers a variety of support services to help students succeed in and out of the classroom. If you are unsure of where to begin, contact the Office of Student Success—514 Conaton Learning Commons—which is available to assist students with a variety of challenges and offers personal consultations, success coaching, and referrals to on-campus resources. See www.xavier.edu/student-success or call (513) 745-3036 to learn more.

The Office of Academic Support (http://www.xavier.edu/academic-support/) offers tutoring, Supplemental Instruction (SI), and study groups. The Office of Disability Services provides accommodations and support for students who have a documented disability. Students can contact either of the above offices at (513) 745-3280 to set up an appointment. They are both located in the Conaton Learning Commons, room 514. The Writing Center — Conaton Learning Commons, room 400 — offers free one-on-one tutoring. Students can contact the Center at (513) 745-2875 or http://www.xavier.edu/writingcenter/ to set up an appointment.

Life—and especially life at college—can get very complicated and stressful very quickly. Students sometimes feel overwhelmed, lost, experience anxiety or depression, struggle with relationship difficulties or diminished self-esteem. However, many of these issues can be effectively addressed with a little help. McGrath Counseling Services (located in the McGrath Health and Wellness Center) helps students cope with difficult emotions and life stressors. McGrath Counseling Services is staffed by experienced, professional psychologists, social workers and counselors, who are attuned to the needs of college students. Their services are FREE and completely confidential. Find out more at http://www.xavier.edu/health-wellness/counseling/index.cfm or by calling (513) 745-3022.

Assignments and Evaluation • Participation: = 20% of your grade. Your participation grade will be based on the quality and frequency of your contributions to class. In a small seminar such as ours, participation is particularly important, which is why it counts for a significant portion of your grade. Do not expect to simply come to class and listen to me (I will not lecture, in any case). Instead, you should be prepared to engage in thoughtful conversation of the course material and your research project with me and your classmates at every class meeting. The rubric that I will use to assess your participation is on Canvas, and you will be given a mid-term participation self-evaluation and grade.

• Reading Journal entries = 20% of the course grade. For the first seven weeks of class, you will complete a short written response to a reading question or prompt. These journal entries will help you process your notes and annotations and more deeply analyze the readings, and they will serve as the building blocks for the development of your research project. Each journal entry

4 should be about 250 words long and submitted to Canvas by 1pm the day of our class meeting. You should also bring a printed copy to class. While you are free to use the first person and discuss your personal reaction to the reading, be sure that you address the question or prompt and use specific evidence from the reading. Completed responses will be graded High Pass (100), Low Pass (75), or Fail (50). I will drop your lowest grade.

• Research Assignments = 25% of your grade. Your final goal in this seminar is to develop a polished research paper of approximately 20-25 pages. After we have established a solid foundation by reading and discussing important scholarly articles and book chapters that take a variety of approaches to the history of slavery and the law during the first seven weeks of the semester, we will turn our attention to developing individual research projects and papers. Every week you will have an assignment that requires you to demonstrate progress toward that end and to exchange constructive feedback with your writing group. These assignments will be graded High Pass (100), Low Pass (75), or Fail (50).

1) Week 8: Be prepared to discuss your topic in class—including a) the historical issue you want to explore and b) the primary and secondary sources you are planning on using. 2) Week 10: Formal topic proposal due Oct. 22. Individual follow-up meetings with me Oct. 24. 3) Week 11: Preliminary annotated bibliography due Oct. 31. Also, bring one primary source to class (please bring enough copies for everyone). 4) Week 11: Introductory paragraph and one-page outline due Nov. 3. Outline workshop in class the following week (Nov. 7). 5) Week 13: Rough draft due Nov. 17. Rough draft workshop in class the following week (Nov. 21).

• Final Paper = 30% of your grade (due Dec. 5 in class) .

• Final Paper Presentation = 5% of your grade (Dec. 5).

Grading Scale

A: 100% to 94.0% A-: < 94.0% to 90.0%

B+: < 90.0% to 87.0% B: < 87.0% to 84.0% B-: < 84.0% to 80.0%

C+: < 80.0% to to 77.0% C: < 77.0% to 74.0% C-: < 74.0% to 70.0%

D+: < 70.0% to 67.0% D: < 67.0% to 64.0% D-: < 64.0% to 61.0%

F: < 61.0%

Note that an “A” grade signifies exceptional, uncommonly high academic performance. It is not an ordinary grade given for satisfactory or even good performance, nor for hard work.

COURSE SCHEDULE *Please note that I may change the following schedule in the event of extenuating circumstances or to improve the course. Any changes will be announced in class and on Canvas ASAP.

5 Week 1 Orientation and Introduction Tue., Aug. 22 APPROACH I: Legitimizing Slavery in the Americas

WEEK 2 Servants, Slaves, and the Law in the Early English Caribbean Tue., Aug. 29 • Hilary McD. Beckles, “Plantation Production and White ‘Proto-Slavery’: White Indentured Servants and the Colonisation of the English West Indies, 1624–1645,” The Americas 41, no. 3 (1985): 21-45 • Jerome S. Handler, “Custom and Law: The Status of Enslaved Africans in Seventeenth- Century Barbados,” Slavery & Abolition 37, no. 2 (2016): 233-255 • Booth et. al., Craft of Research, 35-48 • Barbados laws for servants and slaves (1652), selections (in class) • Reading Journal #1 due

WEEK 3 Slave Codes and Colonial Legal Regimes Compared Tue., Sept. 5 • Edward B. Rugemer, “The Development of Mastery and Race in the Comprehensive Slave Codes of the Greater Caribbean during the Seventeenth Century,” William & Mary Quarterly 70, no. 3 (2013): 429-458 • Ariela Gross and Alejandro de la Fuente, “Slaves, Free Blacks, and Race in the Legal Regimes of Cuba, Louisiana, and Virginia: A Comparison,” North Carolina Law Review 91 (2012): 1699-1756 • Le Code Noir (1685), selections • Las Siete Partidas (1265), selections • “Santo Domingo Draft Legal Code for the Moral, Political, and Economic Governance of the Negroes of the Island of Hispaniola” (1784), selections • Reading Journal #2 due

APPROACH II: Law and Power in Plantation Societies

WEEK 4 Domination and Resistance Tue., Sept. 12 • Diana Paton, “Punishment, Crime, and the Bodies of Slaves in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica,” Journal of Social History 34, no. 4 (2001): 923-954 • Randy M. Browne, Surviving Slavery in the British Caribbean (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017), Introduction and Chapter 2, “Challenging ‘The Right of a Master to Punish’” • Reading Journal #3 due

WEEK 5 Obeah Case Study Tue., Sept. 19 • Trial of a Slave in Berbice, for the Crime of Obeah and Murder, British Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons ([London], 1823) • Reading Journal #4 due

6 APPROACH III: The Politics of Antislavery

WEEK 6 Abolitionism Tue., Sept. 26 • Christopher Leslie Brown, “Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade,” in Gad Heuman and Trevor Burnard, eds., The Routledge History of Slavery (New York: Routledge, 2011), 281-97 • Marcus Rediker, The Slave Ship: A Human History (New York: Viking, 2007), 308-42 • Marisa J. Fuentes, Dispossessed Lives: Enslaved Women, Violence, and the Archive (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016), 124-43

WEEK 7 Emancipation and “Freedom” Tue., Oct. 3 • Diana Paton, No Bond But the Law: Punishment, Race, and Gender in Jamaican state formation, 1780–1870 (Durham: Duke University Press, 2004), 19-82 • James Williams, A Narrative of Events, since the First of August, 1834, by James Williams, an Apprenticed Labourer in Jamaica (1837), at http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/williamsjames/ williams.html/

Individual Research Projects

WEEK 8 Getting Started: Topics and Sources Tue., Oct. 10 • Be prepared to discuss your topic in class—including a) the historical issue you want to explore and b) the primary and secondary sources you are planning on using. • Craft of Research, 31-48

WEEK 9 Crafting a Proposal Tue., Oct. 17 • Craft of Research, 51-67

WEEK 10 Individual Meetings Tue., Oct. 24 • 1-2 page proposal due Sun., Oct. 22 by 1pm • Craft of Research, 68-81 • We will meet one-on-one to discuss your proposed topic and help you craft a formal paper topic proposal.

WEEK 11 Research Agendas: historical questions, subquestions, and evidence Tue., Oct. 31 • Bring your preliminary annotated bibliography to class. The bibliography should identify the main primary sources or body of evidence you plan to use for your study AND at least 4 secondary sources that provide background or frame questions you wish to consider in your project. Also, bring at least one of your primary sources (or at least a 5-page sample) to class. Be prepared to discuss this primary document. Who wrote it? What kind of text is it? Why did you select it? What does it tell you? What doesn’t it tell you? What questions does it raise? Where do you go from here? • Craft of Research, 84-100

7 WEEK 12 Outline Workshop Tue., Nov. 7 • Email copies of your introductory paragraph and your 1-2 page outline to me and to your writing group by Fri., Nov. 3 by 1pm. • Bring to class a two paragraph critique of the outlines of the other members of your writing group—the first paragraph describing what is best and most successful about the outline, the second paragraph a) suggesting practical ways the author could refine the outline to better achieve his or her goals for the project b) responding thoughtfully to questions the outline raises for you about the substance of the research project. • Craft of Research, 105-51

WEEK 13 Research Workshop Tue., Nov. 14 • We will meet to give progress reports on our research and writing. Bring what you have written so far (including a revised outline) AND come prepared to discuss challenges you are facing and exciting discovering you have made. • Rough draft due via email to me and your writing group by Fri., Nov. 17 by 1pm. You MUST have at least 12 pages completed to receive a passing grade for this assignment. • Craft of Research, 173-99

WEEK 14 Rough Draft Workshop Tue., Nov. 21 • For class, bring with you: a) your own draft in hard copy, b) marked up hard copies of the drafts written by the other members of your writing group, and c) a 1-2 page critique of the drafts you read. Your critique should describe 1) what is most successful about what your partner is trying to do in this project and 2) areas where the project could be strengthened, with practical suggestions about ways to achieve those goals. • Craft of Research, 203-10, 232-48

WEEK 15 Individual Meetings Tue., Nov. 28 • We will meet one-on-one to discuss your draft, the feedback you received at the previous week’s workshop, and your final revisions. • Craft of Research, 249-69

WEEK 16 Paper Presentations Tue., Dec. 5 • FINAL PAPER DUE • You will briefly highlight the major findings of your project in class and we will discuss what we have learned collectively and individually • Course evaluations

8