Unit name | Comparative American Slavery |
---|---|
Unit code | HIST30092 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Wallace |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
‘Comparative American Slavery’ examines the evolution of European ideas of slavery and race by exploring the development and dissolution of various Atlantic slave systems in Mainland North America, South America, and the Caribbean. The demographic fate of enslaved persons and their experiences of the infamous Middle Passage comprise the early discussion before the focus traverses the Atlantic to examine slavery in the Americas. The formation of racialised perceptions of identity and nationhood and how the beginnings of consumer society and other modern processes ensured slavery was expanded and secured are considered, located against the broader development of Atlantic slavery. The experiences of enslaved persons in the Americas – the labour they were expected to perform, laws that governed their lives, and treatment at the hands of slave masters and mistresses – is contrasted against the rich cultural and community lives enslaved persons were able to develop in the midst of adversity. Through engagement with primary and secondary materials, students will connect and critically examine with historiographical debates over comparative slavery, evaluating the complex experiences of enslaved life and the nuances of political, economic and cultural changes in Atlantic slave systems.
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
1) Locate key concepts of nation, race, and ethnicity within the historical context of the early Atlantic through to the nineteenth century.
2) Summarise and evaluate secondary sources, and define and apply the critical concepts contained within them.
3) Critically analyse a range of primary sources and connect them to their historical context and relevant theoretical material on slavery.
4) Make meaningful reflections on slavery and the long-term impact of emancipation, and present these in a scholarly manner appropriate to level H/6.
1 x two-hour interactive lecture
1 x one-hour workshop
One 3000 word summative essay (50%). [ILOs 1-4.]
One two hour-exam (50%). [ILOs 1-4.]