Empires of Captivity: The Resurgence of Atlantic Slavery in the Age of Emancipations
LAST 343
Spring 2021 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
AFAM 343 |
| Course Cluster and Certificates: Caribbean Studies Minor |
The dawn of the 19th century was marked by a series of challenges to Atlantic slavery, epitomized first by the unprecedented victories of the Haitian Revolution and then by the implementation of municipal bans and bilateral treaties that sought to limit the international trade in African captives. Yet seemingly paradoxically, this same period saw the rapid expansion of new zones of enslavement stretching from the U.S. South to Cuba, Brazil, and beyond. Proslavery forces mobilized across these jurisdictions in order to reverse the tide of abolition and to participate in (or simply to profit from) a burgeoning illegal trade in captives. Meanwhile, people of African descent who were enslaved or re-enslaved during this period built upon the precedent of emancipation in Haiti and other antislavery jurisdictions as they mounted claims to freedom for themselves, their families, and their communities. They continuously pushed forward the halting pace of general emancipation, laying the foundations for struggles for recognition and restitution that continue to the present day. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA LAST, SBS LAST |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CBST-MN)(LAST) |
Major Readings:
Readings will include selections from the following texts, which include classics of the field as well as recent interventions by new generations of scholars. We will be reading these texts not only for content, but also to explore how the study of this period has transformed over time. (Final list of readings to follow)
W. E. B. Du Bois, THE SUPPRESSION OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (1896)
Eric Williams, CAPITALISM AND SLAVERY (1944)
Walter Johnson, RIVER OF DARK DREAMS: SLAVERY AND EMPIRE IN THE COTTON KINGDOM (Belknap, 2013)
Miranda Spieler, EMPIRE AND UNDERWORLD: CAPTIVITY IN FRENCH GUIANA (Harvard University Press, 2012)
Ada Ferrer, FREEDOM'S MIRROR: CUBA AND HAITI IN THE AGE OF REVOLUTION (Cambridge University Press, 2014)
Leonardo Marques, THE UNITED STATES AND THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE TO THE AMERICAS (Yale University Press, 2016)
Rashauna Johnson, SLAVERY'S METROPOLIS: UNFREE LABOR IN NEW ORLEANS DURING THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS (Cambridge University Press, 2016)
Zora Neale Hurston, BARRACOON: THE STORY OF THE LAST 'BLACK CARGO' (Amistad, 1931/2018)
Ana Lucia Araujo, REPARATIONS FOR SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE: A TRANSNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE HISTORY (Bloomsbury, 2017)
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Examinations and Assignments:
Major assignments include participation, two short papers (3-5 pages), a final paper proposal (1 page), and a final paper requiring additional research (8-10 pages). |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Students will write weekly reactions to assigned readings, to be graded for completion rather than content. These papers are intended to give students an opportunity to assemble their thoughts and questions before class. |
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