Course: History 3881: African-American History
From Slavery to Present
Professor: Dr. Arwin D. Smallwood
Office: 121 Mitchell Hall, Phone: 678-3869,
asmallwd@memphis.edu
Course Description:
History 3881 is an introduction to African-American History from slavery to
present. The course examines the African Diaspora and the African-American
experience during colonial and ante-bellum slavery, the Civil War, emancipation
and reconstruction. This course will also examine the African-American
experience from reconstruction to present including Black Reconstruction, the
rise of the Ku Klux Klan, “The Black Exodus,” thirty years of lynching, the
Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power movement, African-American leaders, and
the current issues of drugs, crime, violence, and the growing rift between poor
blacks and the black middle and upper classes. These issues will be discussed in
the context of American history.
Objectives:
The purpose of this course is to help students better understand the
African-American experience and how that experience has been shaped and impacted
by living in America from slavery to the present. Additionally, this course will
give students a detailed and thorough history of slavery and the Civil Rights
Movement in America. Students will be taught to think and write critically and
to verbalize historical viewpoints. Students will be expected to critically
analyze both events and personalities that have impacted the lives of African
Americans from the beginning of the African Diaspora to present.
Required Books:
Blassingame, John W. The Slave Community.
Cone, James H. Martin & Malcolm & America.
Conniff, Michael L. and Davis Thomas J. Africans in the Americas.
Franklin, John Hope. From Slavery to Freedom. 9th edition.
Smallwood, Arwin D. The Atlas of African-American History and Politics.
Suggested Book:
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Theses and Dissertations
All students will be required to:
1. Attend all classes on time daily
2. Complete all reading assignments before class
3. Take two exams, a final, and turn in one 5 page paper
Assignment Schedule:
1st Exam First Five Weeks
2nd Exam Second Five Weeks
Paper Due Third Five Weeks
Final Exam Third Five Weeks
Grading Policy:
Course grade will be computed as follows:
1st Exam 20%
2nd Exam 20%
Paper 25%
Final Exam 35%
Academic Dishonesty
The University of Memphis Code of Student Conduct defines academic misconduct as
all acts of cheating, plagiarism, forgery and falsification.
The term "cheating" includes, but is not limited to:
• using any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes or tests • using sources
beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports,
solving problems, or carrying out other assignments • acquiring tests or other
academic material before such material is revealed or distributed by the
instructor • misrepresenting papers, reports, assignments or other materials as
the product of a student's sole independent effort • failing to abide by the
instructions of the proctor concerning test-taking procedures • influencing, or
attempting to influence, any University employee in order to affect a student's
grade or evaluation • any forgery, alteration, unauthorized possession, or
misuse of University documents
The term "plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to:
• the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished
work of another person without full or clear acknowledgment • the unacknowledged
use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of
term papers or other academic materials.
Academic dishonesty also includes:
• furnishing false information to any University official, faculty member or
office.
• forgery, alteration, or misuse of any University document, record, or
instrument of identification.
Grading Policy:
Course grade will be computed as follows:
1st Exam 20%
2nd Exam 20%
Paper 25%
Final Exam 35%
(No Make-up exams without valid university approved excuse)
You will be graded on a ten point scale:
A = 90 - 100
B = 80 – 89
C = 70 – 79
D = 60 - 69
F = 0 – 59
Grading System for Paper
I. Structure = 25 points
A. Introduction
B. Body
C. Conclusion D. Footnotes or Endnotes
E. Bibliography
II. Mechanics =25 points
A. Grammar (including proper use of words)
B. Sentence structure and phrasing
C. Overall readability of paper
D. Correct format and usage of footnotes or endnotes
E. Correct format for bibliography
III. Content =50 points
A. Is it apparent that student is familiar with their source?
B. How well does student prove her/his point?
C. Does student use valid comparisons and contrasts?
D. Does the introduction give a thorough overview of paper?
E. Did student integrate book into paper?
F. How well does the paper address its thesis?
G. Does the conclusion bring paper to a proper close?
History 3881 Paper Assignment
Drawing upon Cone’s book Martin & Malcolm & America, write a 5- page paper
explaining the political philosophies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm
X. Explain how the lives of these two men helped shape their political
philosophies and how their views shaped black America during and since the civil
rights movement. Support your arguments by citing examples from the book. or
Drawing upon Blassingame’s book, The Slave Community, write a 5-page paper
explaining how African Americans survived the institution of slavery and how
they helped shape the lives and culture of whites in the South. Support your
arguments by citing examples from the book.
Paper Requirements
Paper Format
Papers should be 5 pages in length with a clear thesis, introduction, body,
conclusion, footnotes or endnotes, and a bibliography. Papers are to be typed,
double-spaced, and written in clear concise prose. A typed rough draft of your
paper should be completed one week prior to the due date.
Plagiarism
The use of another individual's ideas or words without proper citation
constitutes Plagiarism. Plagiarism is the worst form of academic misconduct and
will result in a grade of “F.” You can avoid plagiarism by citing your sources
using Kate Turabian's Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and
Dissertations. If you are unsure about what Plagiarism is, please speak with
your T. A. or me.
Late Papers
Papers are due at the start of class on the due date. Late papers will
automatically receive a grade of "F."
Paper Components
Thesis
Your paper should have a thesis, a sentence that states the main point of the
paper.
Introduction
Your introduction should tell the reader in brief what you are going to discuss
in the body of your paper. It should indicate how the paper's contents will be
organized and developed.
Body
Using the paper's thesis as a guide, plan the major sections of the paper's body
and make sure that each section relates directly to the paper's thesis and
logically to the other section(s) in the paper. Provide transitional elements
(phrases, sentences, paragraphs) in the paper's body to logically connect ideas,
paragraphs, and sections.
Conclusion
Your paper's conclusion should summarize the main points of the paper in much
the same manner the introduction prepares the reader for what is to come.
Footnotes or Endnotes
Your paper should contain footnotes or endnotes which cite your sources. Failure
to cite sources is plagiarism which will result in the grade of "F" (see Kate
Turabian for format and style).
Bibliography
Your paper should have a bibliography which lists the names of sources
consulted. (see Kate Turabian).
Specific Instructional Objectives:
1. Discuss Africa: Its climate, geography, and people before European
exploration.
2. Discuss the Trans-Saharan and East African Slave Trades.
3. Discuss Africans and the exploration of the Americas including: the
Caribbean, Central America and the Southwestern United States.
4. Discuss slave revolts and Maroon Communities in the Spanish, Portuguese,
English, French, and Dutch colonies of the Caribbean and the Americas.
5. Discuss the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the European nations (France,
England, Spain Portugal, Sweden, Denmark and Holland) and African nations
(Senegambia, Benin, and Wolof) enriched by the trade.
6. Discuss the legalization of slavery, Slave Codes, and Black Codes in the
thirteen original colonies.
7. Discuss the role of Africans and slavery in the "Triangular Trade" between
Africa, America, the Caribbean, and Europe.
8. Discuss the role of African-Americans in the American Revolution and the
origins of Sierra Leone.
9. Discuss the emancipation of slaves in the North and its impact on North-South
relations.
10. Discuss the rise of the "Cotton Kingdom" and Missouri Compromise from
1820-1860.
11. Discuss the significance of the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act
of 1854, Bleeding Kansas in 1855, the Dred Scott Decision in 1857, and John
Brown's Raid in 1859.
12. Trace the establishment and development of the first Black colleges and
churches in the South during Reconstruction.
13. Discuss Black Reconstruction, the “Freedmen's Bureau" and the establishment
of "Peonage" in the South from 1868-1877.
14. Discuss the role of African Americans in the development of the West in
particular Black Cowboys, Black settlers and the Buffalo Soldiers.
15. Discuss the impact of the "Compromise of 1877" and the "Black Exodus" on the
North and South.
16. Discuss the origins of Jim Crow, and the disenfranchisement of
African-Americans in the South.
17. Discuss the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and thirty years of lynching in
America.
18. Discuss the evolution of African-American education in America from 1865 to
1954 explaining W. E. B. Du Bois's Liberal Arts education and Talented Tenth
theory and Booker T. Washington's Agricultural and Technical education and his
self help philosophy.
19. Discuss the Colored Farmers' Alliance and the role of Black farmers in the
"Populist Movement."
20. Discuss the development of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP) and the National Urban League (NUL) and their impact on
the African-American community of America.
21. Discuss the various phases of the "Great Migration" and its impact on
Northeastern, Midwestern, and far Western Cities.
22. Discuss Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
1914-1920.
23. Discuss the "Harlem Renaissance" and its impact on urban and rural African
Americans.
24. Discuss the contributions of African-American soldiers during World War I
and the War's impact on their lives.
25. Discuss the movement of African-American voters from the Republican to the
Democratic Party during the election of Franklin Roosevelt and the
transformation of African-American politics in America.
26. Discuss the rise of "Black Nationalism" and "Pan -Africanism" in America and
Africa and their roles in decolonization of Africa.
27. Discuss African-American soldiers in World War II and the war’s impact on
the African-American community, including the origins of the Civil Rights
Movement.
28. Discuss Brown v. Topeka, Kansas Board of Education and its meaning for black
education.
29. Discuss Malcolm X and his contributions to people of color around the world.
30. Discuss Martin Luther King and his role in the civil rights movement
including: the Montgomery bus boycott, founding of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Civil Rights marches, Freedom Rides, and
Sit-Ins.
31. Discuss the Black Panther Party, Black power, the Black counter culture and
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
32. Discuss Lyndon B. Johnson and the impact of his "Great Society" programs on
the African-American community.
33. Discuss the reasons for the end of the "Black Exodus" from the American
South in 1980.
34. Discuss the white response to Civil Rights (Conservatism) during the period
1980-2000, including Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, George H.W. Bush and George
W. Bush.
35. Discuss the new challenges for Black America in the 21st century (education,
drugs, crime, and AIDS).
Schedule of Assignments:
Week 1:
- Introduction: "How and Why We Study African-American History"
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 1 & 2 "Africans and their way of life"
- Africans in the Americas. Chapter 1 & 2 “Africa to 1500” and “Africa and
Europe before 1700”
-Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 1 "Africa: It’s
Climate,Geography and People"
Week 2:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 3 "The Slave Trade and the New World"
- Africans in the Americas. Chapter 3, 4 & 5 “Early African Experiences in the
Caribbean, Brazil and the rest of the Americas."
- The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 2 “The Native
American Slave Trade, the Atlantic Slave Trade, and the Political Developments
in North America and the Caribbean”
Week 3:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 4 "Colonial Slavery and cultural blending in
the New World"
- Africans in the Americas. Chapter 6 & 7 “Africans in Mainland Spanish America
and the 13 Colonies”
- The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 2 “The Native
American Slave Trade, the Atlantic Slave Trade, and the Political Developments
in North America and the Caribbean”
Week 4:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 5 & 6 "Blacks, the American Revolution and
the New American Republic"
- Africans in the Americas. Chapter 8 “Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade”
- The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 3 “Free Blacks,
Slaves, and Slavery in the New Republic”
-Review for Exam #1
Week 5:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 7 & 8 "Blacks, Manifest Destiny, the Rise of
the “Cotton Kingdom,” and the Expansion of "The Peculiar Institution" into the
Lower South"
- The Slave Community. "Acculturation, Assimilation and the Africanization of
the American South"
- The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 4 “The Peculiar
Institution” and the rise of Sectionalism in Antebellum America”
-Exam #1
Week 6:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 9 & 10 "Free Blacks and Abolitionist in
America during the Antebellum Period” and "North-South Tension and the coming of
the Civil War"
- Africans in the Americas. Chapter 9 “Emancipation in the Caribbean and Spanish
America”
- The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 4 “The ‘Peculiar
Institution’ and Sectionalism in Antebellum America”
Week 7:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 11, 12& 13 "Blacks, the Civil War and
Reconstruction"
- Africans in the Americas. Chapter 10, & 11“Emancipation in the United States
and Brazil”
- The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 5 & 6 “The Impact of
the Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction and American Racism and Colonialism
on African Americans”
Week 8:
-NO CLASS - BREAK
Week 9:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 14 & 15 "Self Help and Philanthropy: The
expansion of Black institutions and colleges: Booker T. Washington and W.E.B.
DuBois, Churches and Economics (Peonage) 1865 - 1900 and Jim Crow: The New KKK,
Lynching and the Organization of the NUL and the NAACP”
- Africans in the Americas. “African Americans in Post-emancipation Economies”
Chapter 12
-The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 7 The Rise of Jim
Crow, World War I, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Great Migration from the
American South
-Review for Exam #2
Week 10:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 16 & 17, "African-Americans In Pursuit of
Democracy: Blacks and World War I, the rise of the UNIA, Pan Africanism and the
Red Summer 1914 - 1919"
-Black Exodus. "The Great Migration from the American South 1914 -1920"
-The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 7 The Rise of Jim
Crow, World War I, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Great Migration from the
American South
- Africans in the Americas. “African Americans in Post-emancipation Economies”
Chapter 12
-Exam #2
Week 11:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 18 & 19, "The Harlem Renaissance" and the
move from Republican to Democrat: Blacks, the Great Depression, and Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s New Deal”
- Africans in the Americas. “African Americans in Post-emancipation Economies”
Chapter 12
- The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 7 The Rise of Jim
Crow, World War I, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Great Migration from the
American South
Week 12:
-From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 20 & 21, “Two Americas: Black life under Jim
Crow before and during World War II”
- The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 8 The Growth of Black
Political Power in the North, the Great Depression, and Blacks During World War
II
Africans in the Americas. “Race and Politics in the United States” Chapter 13
-Rough Draft of Paper Due, Tuesday, April 1st
Week 13:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 22 & 23 "Blacks and the Cold War, the Civil
Rights Movement and the Rebirth of Black Nationalism" - The Atlas of
African-American History and Politics. Unit 9 & 10 African Americans during the
Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement (1945-1965) and the rise of Black Power,
Black Nationalism, and the African-American Counterculture
Africans in the Americas. “Race and Politics in Latin America” Chapter 14
-Martin & Malcolm & America.
-Paper due
Week 14:
- From Slavery to Freedom. Chapter 24 & 25 "From Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush
– America’s reaction to Black progress”
-Africans in the Americas. “The Americas’ Continuing Ties With Africa” Chapter
15
- The Atlas of African-American History and Politics. Unit 11 African Americans
and the Challenges of the 1990s and Beyond.
Week 15:
-“Last day of class” -review for final exam
(see university exam schedule for final Exam)