HIST 570: Comparative History of Slavery

People who have grown up in the United States usually have at least a general familiarity with the fact of American slavery and often a popular notion of the character of that institution (whether through high school history, Gone with the Wind, Roots, or a similar venue). The object of this course is to survey relatively recent historiography on the history of slavery outside the United States, particularly in the Atlantic World. It is aimed at graduate students with fields in American, world, or European history.

The course is organized roughly chronologically. We will begin by looking at slavery as it existed in the ancient Rome and then in Africa. The majority of the course explores slavery as it was instituted the various European colonies of America during the 16th - 19th centuries. Toward the end of the course we will read about the comparative history of slavery's abolition in the first half of the 19th century and several slave narratives.

The texts offer a variety of theoretical approaches: economic, political, cultural, intellectual, and social. Several works are comparative while others focus more narrowly on a single nation or community. Slave narratives will be discussed in light of the historiography we have read as well as the context of their production.

Reading

Students will read approximately one book per week (where more than one is listed, there will be some division within the class). All readings are on 2-hour reserve at Holland library and most may also be purchased at the Bookie.

Writing

Each week students will write a 1-2 pp. summary/review of the week's reading assignment. Students are responsible for faxing their assignment to me by 11:00 am the Wednesday morning preceding class. (This may be done for free from the History Department office in Pullman.) Students should also make photocopies of their reviews and bring them to class to give to other students. These reviews serve several purposes: 1) they help focus your reading and thinking about the books; 2) they are useful when preparing for exams or teaching; 3) they help me see some common threads for discussion. A certain degree of informality is acceptable, provided that there is evidence of careful thought as well.

Students will select a topic of their own choosing within the vast field of the history of slavery and write a historiographical essay comparing the approaches and conclusions of historians working in that field. In the final two weeks of the semester, students will offer an oral presentation on that topic and submit a 20 pp. paper, due May 1.

Reading Assignments

Week 1: Comparative Framework (1/16)

Week 2: Ancient Greece and Rome (1/23)

William Philips, Slavery from Roman Times to the Early Transatlantic Trade, pp. 3-39

David Brion Davis, The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture (Oxford, 1966), 29-90
Alan Watson, Slave Law in the Americas (U. Georgia, 1989), xi-xv, 1-31

Week 3: Slavery in Africa (1/30)

Paul E. Lovejoy, Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa (Cambridge, 1983)

Week 4: Atlantic World (2/6)

John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1680 (Cambridge, 1992)

Week 6: Spanish Empire (2/13)

Herbert S. Klein, African Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean (Oxford, 1986)

Week 7: Dutch (2/20)

Richard Price, Alabi's World (Johns Hopkins, 1990)

Week 8: English (2/27)

Edmund Morgan, American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia (W.W. Norton, 1975) (WSUOK)

Week 9: Women and Slavery (3/6)

Hilary McD. Beckles, Natural Rebels: A Social History of Enslaved Black Women in Barbados (Rutgers, 1989) (WSUOK)

Hilary McD. Beckles, "White Women and Slavery in the Caribbean" History Workshop 38 (1993):66-82

B. Bushslimani, "Hard Labor: Women, Childbirth and Resistance in British Caribbean Slave Societies" History Workshop 38 (1993): 83-99

E.G. Breslaw, "The Salem Witch from Barbados: in Search of Tituba's Roots" Essex Institute Historical Collections (1992): 217-238

Week 10: French (3/13)

C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution (Vintage, 1989 [1963])

Sue Peabody, "There are No Slaves in France": The Political Culture of Race and Slavery in the Ancien Regime (Oxford, 1996)

SPRING BREAK: 3/20

Week 11: 19th C. Brazil (3/27)

Emilia Viotti da Costa, Crowns of Glory, Tears of Blood: the Demarara Slave Rebellion of 1823 (Oxford, 1994)

Week 12: Abolition of Atlantic Slavery (4/3)

Robin Blackburn, The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, 1776-1848 (Verso, 1988)

Week 13: Slave Narratives (4/10)

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The Classic Slave Narratives (Penguin, 1987)

Week 14: Class Presentations (4/17)

Week 15: Class presentations (4/24)