HISTORY 3670-01
SLAVERY AND THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC
SPRING 2015
Dr. Norman C. McLeod Jr., Professor
Office: McDonald 204E
Office Hours: MWF 9:00-10:00 AM; TR 9:30-10:30 AM. Office hours are
also available by appointment.
Telephone: 435-652-7827
Email: mcleod@dixie.edu
Class Meetings: MW 12:00 Noon-1:15 PM.
Classroom: Snow 145
REQUIRED BOOKS
David Brion Davis. Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the
New World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006
Peter Kolchin. American Slavery, 1619-1877. New York: Hill and Wang,
2003.
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND MAJOR OBJECTIVES
Students will achieve an understanding of the development, practice, and
influence of hereditary, racial slavery in America from its beginnings in
British North America to its demise in the 1860s. More specifically, they
will achieve an understanding of slavery’s impact on those enslaved, on
those who enslaved them, and on the nation’s overall economic, social, and
political structure.
Because this is chiefly a reading and discussion course, students are
expected to attend all class meetings prepared to discuss the assigned
readings.
GRADED WORK AND ASSIGNMENTS
In addition to the general requirements laid out above, students will be
required to write in History 3670. There will be midterm and final exams,
both of which require essays, as well as a formal writing assignment. This
writing assignment is a research paper devoted to exploring an aspect of
slavery chosen by the student in consultation with the professor. This essay
will be approximately 12-15 pages in length. As well, students will be
required to read and review a scholarly monograph selected from the
historiography of American slavery. The requirements for these writing
assignments will be detailed in separate handouts.
GRADING DISTRIBUTION
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
Research Paper
Book review
Total
100 points
100 points
200 points
100 points
500 points
While students also will be evaluated on class participation, I’ve assigned no
specific point value to said participation. Nevertheless, my evaluation of
your participation is anything but completely subjective. Students need to
be ready, willing, and increasingly able to contribute something relevant
(and tied to the literature we will read) to all class meetings, gatherings that,
once more, students are expected to attend. Rest assured that class
attendance and participation (or the lack thereof) will influence the benefits
derived from taking the course and the grade you earn in the overall
endeavor.
GRADING SCALE
100=
99-91=
90=
89=
88-81=
80=
79=
78-71=
70=
69=
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
68-61= D
60=
D59 and below=F
WEEKLY CLASS SCHEDULE
(subject to change at the professor’s discretion)
Antecedents of a Powerful New World Slavery
WEEK OF JANUARY 12, 14:
Introduction to History 3670. I will be contacting students before the
semester begins so they will have read from David Brion Davis‘s Inhuman
Bondage, “The Ancient Foundations of Modern Slavery” (27-47) for
Monday, January 12, and “The Origins of Antiblack Racism in the New
World” (48-76) for Wednesday, January 14. Under normal circumstances I
will provide you with discussion questions to help direct your reading. We
will discuss some of these questions in class. Part of the process involves
students learning to develop their own questions and pose them in class.
JANUARY 19: MLK Jr. HOLIDAY—CLASS DOES NOT MEET
WEEK OF JANUARY 21:
Read David Brion Davis, “How Africans Became Integral to New World
History” (77-102) and from Gavin Wright’s Slavery and American Economic
Development, “Introduction: What Was Slavery?” (1-13)—this article will
be disseminated in class.
The Development of Slavery in British North America
WEEK OF JANUARY 26, 28:
Read from Peter Kolchin’s American Slavery, 1619-1877 (1-27 and 28-62).
On January 28, Students will receive the general guidelines for the book
review and research paper.
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 2, 4:
Read David Brion Davis (124-40).
Slavery in the American Revolution and Founding of
the Republic
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 9, 11:
Read Peter Kolchin, ( 63-92).
FEBRUARY 16: PRESIDENTS’ DAY—CLASS DOES NOT MEET.
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 18:
While we continue to reflect on Kolchin’s take on the American Revolution
(63-92), read David Brion Davis (141-56 and 157-74). Students receive the
guidelines for the midterm exam to be given on February 25.
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 23, 25:
MIDTERM EXAM ON FEBRUARY 25.
The Beginning of the End: The Trials, tribulations
and Complexities of Slavery in the Nineteenth Century
WEEK OF MARCH 2, 4:
Read Peter Kolchin (93-132).
WEEK OF MARCH 9, 11: SPRING BREAK—CLASS DOES NOT
MEET THIS WEEK.
WEEK OF MARCH 16, 18:
Read Peter Kolchin (133-168).
WEEK OF MARCH 23, 25:
While we continue to reflect on Peter Kolchin’s chapter on antebellum
slavery, read David Brion Davis (203-30).
The World the Slaveholders Made: Rhymes, Reasons,
and Rationales for Slavery
WEEK OF MARCH 30, APRIL 1:
Read Peter Kolchin (169-99) and David Brion Davis (175-92).
WEEK OF APRIL 6, 8:
Read David Brion Davis (193-204 and 250-67).
The Death of American Slavery: The Civil War and
Emancipation
WEEK OF APRIL 13, 15:
Read Peter Kolchin (200-37) David Brion Davis (297-322).
WEEK OF APRIL 20, 22:
Class continues discussing the demise of American slavery. Read David
Brion Davis “Epilogue” (323-31).
WEEK OF APRIL 27, 29:
Read James Horton’s “Slavery in American History: An Uncomfortable
National Dialogue” (35-55) in James O. Horton and Lois E. Horton, eds.
Slavery and Public History: The Tough Stuff of American Memory. New
York: The New Press, 2006. This essay will be provided by your professor.
April 29 is the last regular class meeting of the semester for all courses.
MAY 6: FINAL EXAM, 12:30-2:30, SNOW 145.
CHEATING AND ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE
Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated at Dixie State
College. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism
(generally, presenting or submitting as one’s own the ideas and/or writings
of another without proper attribution or citation) and cheating on quizzes,
exams, and other assignments. Faculty at Dixie State College may discipline
a student who is academically dishonest by
*awarding a failing grade for the specific assignment on which the cheating
occurred.
*failing the student for the entire course.
*immediately dismissing and withdrawing the student from the course.
*referring the student to Student Affairs, where a committee may reprimand,
place on probation, suspend, and/or expel the student.
OFFICIAL EMAIL COMMUNICATIONS
Important class and college information will be sent to your Dmail email
account. This information includes your DSU bill, financial aid/scholarship
notices, notification of dropped classes, reminders of important dates and
events, and other information critical to your success in this class and at
DSU. All DSU students are automatically assigned a Dmail email account.
If you do not know your username and password, go to www.dixie.edu and
select “Dmail” for complete instructions. You will be held responsible for
information sent to your Dmail account, so please check it often.
DISABILITY REMINDER
Students with medical, psychological, learning or other disabilities desiring
reasonable academic adjustment, accommodations or auxiliary aids to be
successful in their academic endeavors may contact the Disability Resource
Center Coordinator Baako Wahabu for eligibility determination. The
Disability Resource Center is located in the North Plaza Building. Call 435652-7516 for assistance.
DSU LIBRARY
The university library is located on the second and third floors of the
Holland Centennial Commons Building.
WRITING CENTER
Assistance with all university writing assignments can be obtained in the
Writing Center, located on the fourth floor of the Holland Centennial
Commons Building, Room 421. Call 435-652-7629.
FOR OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION PERTAINING TO ALL
THINGS DSU, ESPECIALLY THOSE PESKING DUE DATES AND
DEADLINES, VISIT THE UNIVERSITY’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE.