San Diego Community College District Page 1

Course Syllabus

BLAS 140A (53126)

HIST U.S./BLACK PERSPECTIVES
2010 - SUMMER

INSTRUCTOR: DARIUS SPEARMAN

TELEPHONE: (619) 388-3187
E-MAIL VIA BLACKBOARD

OFFICE HOURS: TBA,

ROOM A-1(E)

CLASS MEETS: TBA, TBATBA

FROM 6/22/2010 TO 8/16/2010;
ROOM WEB

ADVICE: English 51 and passing score on English 51 exit exam

THIS SYLLABUS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
Students will be notified of syllabus changes during a regularly scheduled class. It will be the students
responsibility to ensure they possess the latest version of the class syllabus.

NOTE: Controversial subjects may be the topic of discussion or readings.

REQUIRED TEXTS
1. Hine Darlene Clark, et.al., African Americans: A Concise History (Combined Edition 3/E),
Prentice Hall, 2009, ISBN: 0136002781
2. Davis, Angela. Women, Race, and Class, First Vintage Books Edition, 1983; ISBN 0-394-
71351-6
3. Lapp, Rudolph, Blacks in Gold Rush California, Yale University Press (1995); ISBN
0300065450
4. Voeks, Robert. African Medicine And Magic In The Americas (Online Reading)
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Course Syllabus

COURSE DESCRIPTION & STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

An in-depth study of the African-American experience from African origins to the conclusion of the
Civil War, with emphases on the Atlantic slave trade and American slavery, the African in the New
World and the United States Constitution.

Upon successful completion of the course the student will have gained experience in:

1. Discuss the main features of African culture prior to the enslavement of Africans in
America.
2. Critically analyze evidence that suggest the presence of Africans in the Americas before
Columbus, and compare and contrast aspects of African and Native American cultures.
3. Trace the course of African enslavement in the Americas and explain the European rationale
for the enslavement of Africans.
4. Explain the importance of the mercantilism and the Atlantic economy in the development of
the economic and social systems in the English colonies.
5. Analyze the role played by slave trade in the Atlantic trade, Industrial Revolution, and the
development of European capitalism.
6. Discuss the role of African labor in the economies of the English colonies.
7. Describe the role culture, political institutions, and economic developments played in the
emergence of representative government in the English colonies.
8. Discuss the development of colonial laws legalizing slavery and racial oppression.
9. Explain the role played by African Americans, on both sides of the conflict during the
American Revolution, and the impact of Revolutionary ideas on the institution of slavery.
10. Discuss the philosophical ideas held by the framers on such questions as: the origins and
purpose of government, the relationship between individuals and government, and the
relationship between government and society.
11. Summarize the basic principles of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and identify
fundamental American political values that flow from the Constitution.
12. Identify and discuss Constitutional provisions that legitimized slavery and racial oppression,
and analyze the contradictions inherent in as society founded on the principles of freedom
and equality, and the persistence of slavery and racial oppression.
13. Discuss the emergence of de facto and de jure racial discrimination in the post-revolutionary
America and its impact on African Americans.
14. Explain why African Americans found it necessary to establish separate social, religious,
educational, economic and cultural institutions after the Revolution and identify the specific
institutions they founded.
15. Identify factors that account for the persistence of slavery after the Revolution and discuss
the role that slavery played in western territorial expansion.
16. Discuss the development of an African American culture and analyze its relationship with,
and influences on, the European American culture.
17. Discuss the methods used by enslaved Africans to resist slavery and how this resistance led
to the enactment of laws to suppress it.
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Course Syllabus

18. Summarize the arguments of pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates and explain the
differences among anti-slavery groups such as the Abolitionists and the advocates of free
soil.
19. Analyze the ideological, economic and political issues that led to the break up of the Union
and the Civil War, and explain how slavery was at the core of the conflict between the North
and the South.
20. Compare and contrast the resources and social experiences of the Union and the
Confederacy during the war and explain the role and contributions of African Americans.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS
4 Response Papers (50 points each)
Write a 500-700 word typed paper on a prompt to be determined in class. To adequately address
each question, we would suggest a minimum of 3 main points explored in a fair amount of
detail. The assigned readings should be sufficient to adequately address the topic, and should be
the only materials referenced in your essays. DO NOT CITE FROM OUTSIDE SOURCES.
Key points must be supported and cited with evidence from the required readings. You MUST
cite from at least two sources per paper i.e. (Author, p. 10). Allow the material to speak to you
and for you. Doing so should also permit you to be creative in how you piece the material
together. Be SPECIFIC in your answer. Eliminate the following words from your vocabulary:
this, these, that, they, its.
Please see the Response Paper Grading Rubric for specific details on how you will be assessed
for this assignment.

Class Discussion/Participation (300 Points)

Your participation in the weekly discussions, your ability to answer questions, and to initiate
dialogue based on the required readings, will be graded. Each student is expected to have read
the assignments and have given them careful thought. You will be given a weekly prompt for
discussion and will be graded based on the posted rubric. Each weeks discussion is worth 20
points.
Computer Skills Advisory
Enter level of computer skills expected or types of assignments requiring computer skills. (In
most college courses students are expected to have a basic familiarity with computer terms and
use: word processing, document manipulation, spreadsheets, email, and online services. These
skills can be learned at any of the colleges or Continuing Education.)

ATTENDANCE AND GRADING

Attendance Requirements
Students may be dropped after four (4) week without an active log in OR after having missed
four (4) assignments. The 4 week/4 assignment rule is at my discretion, though, so please keep
me informed of any issues as they arise and allow me to help you work through them.
It is the students responsibility to drop all classes in which he/she is no longer participating.
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Course Syllabus

Deadline to drop classes with no W recorded is 6/30/2010.

Withdrawal deadline is 7/24/2010. No drops may be accepted after this date.
Students who remain enrolled in a class beyond the published withdrawal deadline,
as stated in the class schedule, will receive an evaluative letter grade in this class.
Grading will be on a point scale and will be assigned as follows:
GRADING SCALE
A = 500-450 Points
B = 449-400 Points
C = 399-350 Points
D = 349-300 Points
F < 300 Points
Points for individual assignments will be broken down as follows:
Response Papers: 200 points
Class Discussion: 300 points

Credit/No Credit
Beginning Fall 2009, the title credit/no credit will change to pass/no pass in accordance
with Title 5, section 55022.

All assignments are considered due by the posted due date:

LATE WORK WILL BE FORGIVEN ONCE (FOR ANY REASON) YOU MAY TURN IN ONE LATE
ASSIGNMENT WITHIN ONE WEEK OF THE POSTED DEADLINE. AFTER THAT NO LATE WORK
WILL BE ACCEPTED

HONEST ACADEMIC CONDUCT

Students are expected to be honest and ethical at all times in their pursuit of academic goals.
Students who are found in violation of district Procedure 3100.3, Honest Academic Conduct,
will receive a zero (0) grade on the assignment in question with no opportunity to make up the
grade. Additionally students may be referred for disciplinary action in accordance with
Procedure 3100.2, Student Disciplinary Procedures. This policy applies to all work submitted in
class or online including, but not limited to, emails, discussion postings, assignments, essays,
and exams.

DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES (DSS) STATEMENT

Please meet with me to discuss any academic accommodations that may be necessary for
students with disabilities. An alternate from of this syllabus and other class handouts is available
upon request. Further accommodations can be made upon arrangement with myself and the
Department of Disability Support Programs and Services (DSPS), Room A-115 (619) 388-3513
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Course Syllabus

COURSE SCHEDULE:
Date Topic Assignment
Week 1: UNIT 1: Ancient Africa and Survival in the West June 22 June 27

Discussion #01: Introduction to Africa in Historical Hine, CH 1

Context
Week 2: Africans in the Americas June 28 July 4
Discussion #02: Acculturation - Healing as Resistance Lapp, CH 1
Discussion #03: The Middle Passage Voeks (Online Article)
Hine, CH 2
RESPONSE PAPER 1 DUE
Week 3: UNIT 2: Blacks Survival in a Slave Society July 5 July 11

Discussion #04: African American Frontiers Hine, CH 3-4

Discussion #05: The Enslavement of Blacks in Colonial
America
Week 4: Slave Life & The Free Black Dilemma July 12 July 18
Discussion #06: African Americans and the Revolution Davis, CH 1
Discussion #07: Women, Race & Class and the Hine, CH 5
Definition of Gender
RESPONSE PAPER 2 DUE
Week 5: UNIT 3: Reform, Expansion and Sectional Strife July 19 July 25

Discussion #08: African American Slavery Hine, CH 6-7

Discussion #09: The "Free" Black Dilemma Lapp, CH 3
Week 6: Expansion and Manifest Destiny July 26 Aug 1
Discussion #10: The Reform Era Hine, CH 8-9
Discussion #11: The Underground Railroad Davis, CH 2
RESPONSE PAPER 3 DUE
Week 7: UNIT 4: The Civil War and Reconstruction August 2 August 8

Discussion #12: Blacks on the Frontier (Revisited) Lapp, CH 4-5

Discussion #13: America's First Black Regiment Hine, CH 10-11
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Course Syllabus

Week 8: Reconstruction August 9 August 15

Discussion #14: Slavery by Another Name Hine, CH 12
Discussion #15: The Meaning of Emancipation Davis, CH 4-5
RESPONSE PAPER 4 DUE