HIST 5914


Comparative Race and Slavery:  Slave Resistance and Revolt in the Atlantic World

Spring 2004
Dr. Crandall Shifflett
441 Major Williams Hall
Mondays 2:00-5:00 MajWm 427
Office Hours: Mon 1:00-2:00 
Phone: 231-8372
mailto:shifflet@vt.edu

Required Readings

John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680 (1992)
Norman E. Whitten, Jr., and Arlene Torres, "An Interpretive Essay on Racism, Domination, Resistance, and Liberation," in Whitten and Torres, Blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean (1998)
Joseph C. Miller, Way of Death: Merchant Capitalism and the Angolan Slave Trade, 1730-1830 (1988)
Emilio Viotti da Costa, Crowns of Glory, Tears of Blood: The Demerara Slave Rebellion of 1823 (1994)
Maggie Montesinos Sale, The Slumbering Volcano: American Slave Ship Revolts and the Production of Rebellious Masculinity (1997)
CLR James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Overture and the Santo Domingo Rebellion (1963)
Franklin W. Knight, "The Haitian Revolution," AHR, 105:1 (2000)
Richard Price, Maroon Societies:  Rebel Slave Communities in the Americas (1973)
Mary C. Waters, Black Identities:  West Indian Dreams and American Realities (1999)
Joâo José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil:  The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia (1993)
David Eltis, The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas (2000)
Peter Wood, Black Majority:  Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 Through the Stono Rebellion (1975)
Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death:  A Comparative Study (1982)
Stuart Schwartz, Slaves, Peasants, and Rebels:  Reconsidering Brazilian Slavery (1992)
Barbara Bush, Slave Women in Caribbean Society (1990)

The Transatlantic Slave Trade

January 19: Introduction; Reading and discussion:  Miller, Way of Death, Parts 1-2 (Kenny)

January 26: Class cancelled
Students turn in choices of slave revolts for essays

Perspectives on Race and Slavery

February 2: Miller, Way of Death, Parts 3-5. Special Guest: Joseph Miller, T. Cary Johnson, Jr., Professor, University of Virginia

Slavery and the Atlantic World

February 9: John Thornton, Africa and the Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World (Terry/Chrystal)

Norman E. Whitten, Jr., and Arlene Torres, "An Interpretive Essay on Racism, Domination, Resistance, and Liberation," in Whitten and Torres, Blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean(Robert) (1998)

Prospectus due

February 17 (Tuesday), 5-8 p.m. Orlando Patterson, Slavery and Social Death (Chris/Quita) David Eltis, The Rise of African Slavery in the Americas, (Kim)

February 23: Price, Part III(Chrystal)/Franklin Knight, AHR(Kenny); Peter Wood, Black Majority:  Negroes in Colonial South Carolina from 1670 Through the Stono Rebellion(1975) (Quita) Working bibliography due

March 1: Maggie Montesinos Sale, The Slumbering Volcano: American Slave Ship Revolts and the Production of Rebellious Masculinity (1997)(John)

Spring Break March 6-14

Resistance and Revolt

March 15: CLR James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Overture and the Santo Domingo Rebellion (1963)(Robert)
Price, Maroon Societies, "The French Caribbean," "Jamaica," and "The Guianas"(Kim)

March 22: Emilio Viotti da Costa, Crowns of Glory, Tears of Blood: The Demerara Slave Rebellion of 1823 (1994) (John); Price, Maroon Societies,"The Spanish Americas" (Chris) Submit working draft

March 29: Class Presentations

April 5: Class Presentations

Recent Perspectives

April 12: Joao José Reis, Slave Rebellion in Brazil (John) Price, "Brazil" (Kenny)

April 19: Stuart Schwartz, Slaves, Peasants, and Rebels: Reconsidering Brazilian Slavery (Terry)

April 21 Wednesday: submit full draft

April 26: Barbara Bush, Slave Women in Caribbean Society (Chrystal)

May 3: Mary Waters, Black Identities (Chris)

May 6: submission of polished paper

Class sessions and assignments

Each week, a discussion leader (assigned on a rotating basis), should prepare a brief synopsis of the assigned readings: two to three broad questions to focus class discussion, and organize beforehand how he/she will lead the class through a discussion of the material. These are graded assignments, designed to assess your comprehension of the readings and to give you experience in leading a class, keeping them focused on the important issues and knowing when and how to move to new topics.

Each student will write a term paper of about 15-20 text pages (minimum, double-spaced with one-inch margins; no max.), footnoted in Chicago style, plus a bibliography of sources.  The essay should be a comparison of two slave revolts: U.S. with a Caribbean or South American revolt. The essay should reflect your mastery of the course material and progression of thought and perspective on slave revolts in the transatlantic world. Further details

Grading

All class assignments collectively constitute fifty percent of the final grade and final essays count fifty percent. Any unexcused absence lowers class assignment by one letter grade. A late essay receives a one-third reduction (e.g., A to A-, C+ to C) per day.

Handy Maps
1.  British Guiana, Surinam, and French Guiana
2.  Colombia and Venezuela
3.  West Indies
4.   Jamaica

Links
The Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record