Race in 19th-Century America
History 319, Section F01
Clearihue A201, Tuesday 3:30-6:30
University of Victoria, Fall 2007
Instructor: Alisa Harrison E-mail: ayh@uvic.ca Telephone: (250) 709-9640
Office hours: Tuesdays, 2:30-3:15 or by appointment, Clearihue B230
Website: http://web.uvic.ca/~ayh/
Race is both a fiction, and a fact of American life. In the 19th century, race was a crucial
axis of power. It was perhaps the primary means of bringing order to American society by
defining social, political and economic hierarchies. Through a series of secondary readings
focused on several racialized groups in American society (African Americans, Asian Americans,
Latinos and Native Americans), students in this seminar will examine how race structured both
individual and group relationships, informing group identity while reinforcing inequalities;
processes of racialization; questions of racism and its impact; and the importance of white
supremacy in defining American policy.
Race itself is a construction. But in everyday life and at key moments in 19th-century
history the experience of race was very real and its effects far-reaching. Students will consider a
variety of examples of race and racialization in 19th-century United States history, and they will
explore the uses and limitations of race as a theoretical concept, particularly as it intersects with
other constructs such as gender, sexuality, and class, and abstractions including democracy,
freedom, liberalism and equality.
The principle learning objectives for this course are:
 To understand ‘race’ as a historical term, and as a relationship of power.
 To historicize racism and white supremacy.
 To examine the themes of oppression and resistance in various racialized communities.
Course Requirements and Breakdown:
 Participation (10%)
 Seminar presentations (30%): Sign up in groups of 2-3 to lead one seminar (pairs are
strongly preferred, but groups of three are alright if necessary). A sign-up sheet will be
posted on my office door from 3:00 on Sept. 11 until 3:00 on Sept. 18. You and your
partner(s) will be responsible for facilitating the discussion of all readings assigned for that
day. You will need to deliver a short (15-20 min.) presentation in which you summarize and
provide context for the readings, and share with the class 2-3 primary sources relevant to the
subjects the readings explore. Following the presentation, you will provide a set of problems
and/or series of questions to ground the group’s discussion. You may be as creative as you
wish with the format, i.e. you are welcome to depart from the standard roundtable discussion
arrangement: have fun with this! NOTE: Students will be responsible, in reverse order of
the sign-up sheet, for bringing snacks to class for all to share. Date varies.
 Midterm in-class essay (20%): October 30.
 Film review (20%): The Birth of a Nation. Detailed instructions to be distributed.
November 20.
 Final Exam (20%): December 7-21, date TBA.
Required books available for purchase:
George Fredrickson, Racism: A Short History (Princeton University Press, 2003).
Philip Deloria, Indians in Unexpected Places (University of Kansas Press, 2006).
Books are available for purchase at the University of Victoria bookstore, and on reserve in the
library. All readings that are noted with a single asterisk (*) are available in the History
Department’s reading room. All readings that are noted with a double asterisk (**) are available
online: you can find them in JSTOR and/or on our website (http://web.uvic.ca/~ayh/). Students
must bring copies of all assigned readings to class for discussions.
There are typically 3-4 articles/chapters assigned per seminar; on two occasions you will read an
entire book in preparation for our meeting. It is imperative that you do the readings in full and
on time. Your success in the course (and the success of the seminars) depends on your
engagement with the assigned materials.
Reading tips: Leave yourself ample time to complete your reading before each class. Read
closely, in a way that allows you time to think about the material before coming to our
discussion. When you are reading, among other questions, always ask yourself: What is the
author’s main point? What sources does he/she use to make this point? Is it convincing? Why
or why not? What does this reading teach you? How? When and why did the author write this?
You won’t be able to find conclusive answers to all of these questions, but attempting to answer
them will help you develop a better understanding of the work.
Reading and Class Schedule:
The instructor reserves the right to change the syllabus at any time.
September 11:
Introduction
Video: Understanding Race.
Discussion: What is race? How is race an historical concept?
September 18:
Terminology: Race and Racism
**Barbara Fields, “Ideology and Race in American History.”
George Fredrickson, Racism: A Short History.
September 25:
Antebellum Slavery and the Construction of Race
**Barbara Fields, “Slavery, Race and Ideology in the United States of
America.”
**Laura Edwards, “The Problem of Dependency: African Americans, Labor
Relations and the Law in the 19th-Century South.”
**Walter Johnson, “The Slave Trader, the White Slave, and the Politics of
Racial Determinism in the 1850s.”
**Joanne Melish, “The ‘Condition’ Debate and Racial Discourse in the
Antebellum North.”
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October 2:
Racialization after Emancipation
*Kathleen Clark, “Celebrating Freedom: Emancipation Day Celebrations and
African American Memory in the Early Reconstruction South.”
**David Blight, “’For Something Beyond the Battlefield’: Fredrick Douglass
and the Struggle for the Memory of the Civil War.”
**Martha Hodes, “The Sexualization of Reconstruction Politics: White
Women and Black Men in the South after the Civil War.”
October 9:
Racial Formations: Removal and the Frontier
**Theda Perdue, “Cherokee Women and the Trail of Tears.”
*Douglas Monroy, “Brutal Appetites: The Social Relations of the California
Missions”
*Douglas Monroy, “Heaven, or Some Other Place: A Conquered Los Angeles”
**James A. Sandos, “Between Crucifix and Lance: Indian-White Relations in
California, 1769-1848.”
October 16:
Asian American Identities and Exclusions
**Diana L. Ahmad, “Opium Smoking, Anti-Chinese Attitudes, and the
American Medical Community, 1850-1890.”
**Sarah Griffith, “Border Crossings: Race, Class and Smuggling in Pacific
Coast Chinese Immigrant Society.”
**Erika Lee, “The Chinese Exclusion Example: Race, Immigration and
American Gatekeeping, 1882-1924.”
October 23:
Race, Sex and Gender
**Kirsten Fischer, “Sexualized Violence and the Embodiment of Race.”
**Peggy Pascoe, “Gender Systems in Conflict: The Marriages of MissionEducated Chinese-American Women, 1874-1939.”
*Gail Bederman, “’Civilization,’ The Decline of Middle-Class Manliness and
Ida B. Wells’ Anti-Lynching Campaign.”
October 30:
Midterm Exam
November 6:
Film: The Birth of a Nation.
November 13:
No class: Reading Break
November 20:
Comparative Approaches
**Theda Perdue, “Cherokee Planters, Black Slaves and African Colonization.”
**Robert F. Engs, “Red, Black and White: A Study in Intellectual Inequality.”
**Albert Hurtado, “When Strangers Met: Sex and Gender on Three Frontiers.”
November 27:
Representations: Native Americans
Philip Deloria, Indians in Unexpected Places.
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December 4:
Representations: Slavery
*Ira Berlin, “Coming to Terms with Slavery in Twenty-First-Century America”
*John Michael Vlach, “The Last Great Taboo Subject: Exhibiting Slavery at
the Library of Congress”
*Fath Davis Ruffins, “Revisiting the Old Plantation: Reparations
Reconciliation, and Museumizing American Slavery.”
December 7-21: Final exam, date TBA
Note: First term examinations begin on December 7th and end on December 21st. Instructors do
not control the exam schedule. The University calendar states: “Students should wait until the
final examination timetable is posted before making travel or work plans.”
Course Policies
Submitting Written Work
Unless otherwise specified, written work should be typed in 12-point font, double-spaced on one
side of each page, and placed on a page with 1” margins on all four sides. All pages after the
first must be numbered. All papers must be stapled in the top left hand corner. Please do not
submit work in any kind of folder or cover, or held together by clips of any sort. Do not submit
work by e-mail. Barring any special arrangement between student and instructor, one full letter
grade will be deducted for each day an assignment is late.
Absences and Incomplete Work
I expect that students will attend class regularly, and will complete all reading and written
assignments in full, on time and to the best of their abilities. However, I realize that on occasion
this may not be possible: as the former Beatle John Lennon says, life is what happens to you
while you’re busy making other plans. In the event that you cannot come to class or cannot
complete an assignment, please inform me as soon as possible (e-mail is fine). You will be
penalized for unexplained absences and late work; however, if you take the responsibility for
informing me about your absence and explaining why your work is incomplete or late I will
generally make allowances and there will either be no penalty (i.e. in the case of emergency or
illness) or the penalty will be greatly lessened. If lateness and/or absence become habitual, I will
set up a conference at which the two of us will discuss the most appropriate consequences.
Participation
Adequate participation in this course means regular attendance at seminars; willing engagement
with the readings both on your own and with your colleagues; and willingness to share your
ideas verbally in discussions. Sharing ideas means speaking thoughtfully, as well as listening
carefully and responding respectfully and critically to me and, more importantly, other students.
NOTE: Regular oral participation is a requirement of this course.
Plagiarism
You will be penalized harshly if you submit plagiarized work. The University’s official policy
on plagiarism is attached to this syllabus. If you are still in any doubt about what constitutes
plagiarism, please see me or consult the following useful document:
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
From the University of British Columbia:
http://www.arts.ubc.ca/FOA/doa/plagiarism.htm.
Classroom Conduct
It is absolutely crucial that every student feels able to express him or herself freely in this class.
It’s a cliché, but to my mind there truly are no stupid questions; chances are, if you are
wondering about something, others are (or have been), too. I encourage you to challenge me,
each other and yourselves as we explore topics that are provocative and often difficult. All of us
will work toward a better understanding of what critical thought is and how to engage in critical
debates with other people. Note that there is a major difference between disagreeing with
another person’s opinion or perspective and denigrating that person or his or her input: we all
need to be vigilant about understanding and respecting this difference. There is no place for any
demeaning, disrespectful or hateful speech in this class. If you ever believe that you have been
mistreated by another student or by me, I encourage you to report this to me privately so that we
can confront and learn from such experiences.
Office Hours
In addition to scheduled office hours each week, students are welcome to make additional
appointments or to consult with me via e-mail. I encourage you not to wait until the day before a
due date or an exam to rush in for a last-minute meeting; the earlier you seek assistance, the
more helpful I can be, the more you will learn, and the more successful you will be in this
course. I’ll also remind you that you need not be having trouble with the material to schedule a
meeting. I am happy to see any students who wish to discuss the course content, whether this is
due to problems understanding it or to a particular interest the student wishes to explore in more
depth than regular class time allows.
Enjoy the semester! 
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