American Slavery

Catalog description

This course examines the history of slavery in America from settlement through Reconstruction, in a comparative, trans-Atlantic context. Topics include the origin, character, and institutionalization of slavery in America; slave life, culture, and communities; slave resistance and rebellion; Black and white abolitionist movements; emancipation during the Civil War, and the transition from coerced to free labor during Reconstruction. Students will prepare a 20 page research paper based on primary and secondary sources.