Course Syllabus

Course Information
(course number, course title, term, any specific section title)

HIST 6332 (U.S. Slavery). Spring 2011

Professor Contact Information

(Professor’s name, phone number, email, office location, office hours, other information)

Stephen G. Rabe. 972-883-2009. rabe@utdallas.edu. Office: JO 5.614 Office Hours: M 1-2; M

5:45-6:45; T 5:45-6:45

Course Pre-requisites, Co-requisites, and/or Other Restrictions

(including required prior knowledge or skills)

None.

Course Description

This course will analyze the origins, evolution, growth and destruction of racial slavery in
America from 1619-1865 and the evolution of racial relations in the United States from 1865-
1898. Topics of special interest will include: the idea of slavery; the problem of slavery in
Western culture; the international slave trade; the origins of slavery in America; the legal
framework of slavery; slavery in the Age of Revolution; Thomas Jefferson and slavery; slave life
and culture; the slave family; slave resistance; the role of freedmen in a slave society; the
economics of slavery; abolitionism; the destruction of slavery; Civil War politics;
Reconstruction; the onset of Jim Crow and segregation. Special attention will be given to the
issues of slavery and race relations in Texas.

The format of the class will be discussion and debate. We will also be viewing documentary
films each seminar session.

Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes

Through seminar discussions, readings, audiovisual materials, and written work, student will
improve their reading, writing, and speaking abilities. Students will also gain a comprehensive
understanding of the history of slavery in Colonial America and in the United States and the
evolution of racial relations in the United States.
Required Textbooks and Materials

Thomas Holt, et al., eds., Major Problems in African-American History: From Slavery to
Freedom, 1619-1877. Vol I.
Lawrence Goodheart, et al., eds., Slavery in American Society. 3rd ed.
Peter Wood, Strange New Land: Africans in Colonial America.
David Blight, ed., Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
Randolph Campbell, An Empire for Slavery: Slavery in Texas, 1821-1865.
Barry Crouch, The Dance of Freedom: Texas African Americans during Reconstruction
Wiilliam D. Carrigan, The Making of a Lynching Culture: Violence and Vigilantism in Central
Texas, 1836-1916.

Suggested Course Materials

None

Assignments & Academic Calendar

(Topics, Reading Assignments, Due Dates, Exam Dates)

TOPICS AND ASSIGNMENTS:

January 11
Slavery in Western Civilization
Goodheart, pp. xv-xxvi, pp. 3-17 (2 essays).
Holt, pp. 218-33 (2 essays).

January 18
International Slavery
Holt, pp. 36-81 (7 documents, 2 essays).
Goodheart, pp. 21-33 (1 essay).
Documentary Film on Slave Trade.

February 1
Origins of Slavery in America
Holt, pp. 82-109 (6 documents; 2 essays).
Goodheart, pp. 34-82 (2 essays).
Wood, pp. xi-xv, 1-12.
Documentary Film on Slavery in Virginia

February 8
Slavery in Colonial America
Holt, pp. 110-94 (15 documents; 4 essays).
Wood, pp. 13-83.
Documentary Film on Slavery in South Carolina

February 15
Slavery in the American Revolution
Goodheart, pp. 83-95.
Wood, pp. 84-97.
Materials on Thomas Jefferson and George Washington (handouts)
Documentary Film on Slavery during the American Revolution

February 22
Slavery in Texas and the United States
Campbell, pp 1-114.
Carrigan, pp. 1-47.
Documentary Film on Expansion of Slavery.

March 1
Slave Life and Culture
Campbell, 115-52.
Goodheart, pp. 99-149 (3 essays).
Holt, pp. 195-218, 234-44. (7 documents; one essay)
Documentary, Yonder Come Day

March 8
Slave Family & Gender
Goodheart, pp. 153-93 (3 essays).
Holt, pp. 245-92 (8 documents; 3 essays).
Campbell, pp. 153-76
Elizabeth Rabe essay on slave children, pp. 10-24 (handout).
.
March 22
Freedmen
Holt, pp. 294-332 (6 documents; 2 essays).
Campbell, pp. 177-89
Goodheart, pp. 247-58 (1 essay).
Documentary film on Slave Narratives

March 29
Slavery and Society
Goodheart, pp. 197-246 (4 essays)
Campbell, pp. 190-230.
Carrigan, pp. 48-80.

April 5
Abolitionism.
Blight, Douglass, all.
Documentary, Frederick Douglass

April 12
The Destruction of Slavery
Campbell, pp. 231-60.
Holt, pp. 334-367 (7 documents; 2 essays).
Goodheart, pp. 259-76 (1 essay).

April 19
Reconstruction
Holt, pp 368-417 (9 documents; 3 essays).
Crouch, pp. 3-182.
Carrigan, 81-111.

April 26
Jim Crow
Crouch, pp. 185-214.
Carrigan, 112-208.
Documentary on Ida B. Wells.

Grading Policy
(including percentages for assignments, grade scale, etc.)

Faithful attendance at 14 seminar sessions; vigorous and informed participation in seminar

discussions; submission of a series (8-12) of papers (1,000-1,250 words in length) based on
assigned readings. Final grade will be based on instructor’s evaluation of student’s entire effort
in class.

Course & Instructor Policies

(make-up exams, extra credit, late work, special assignments, class attendance, classroom
citizenship, etc.) Class attendance is essential and critical to good academic performance in a
graduate seminar. Students must also complete each reading assignment on time in order to
facilitate seminar discussions.

University policy on classes can be found at: http://provost.utdallas.edu/home/syllabus-

policies-and-procedures-text