History 371: African American History

From the forced migrations of the Atlantic slave trade, through the negotiations and survival strategies of chattel slavery, to the strategies of living as free citizens in a nation whose commitment to “freedom” has often been racially contingent, the history of Africans and African Americans in North America is central to the history of the United States. This course explores constructions of racial categories and the experience, agency, resistance, and struggles for equality of people identifying themselves as — variously — colored, Negro, black, Afro-American, and African American. We will begin around the time of the protection of slavery in the U.S. Constitution and end with an inquiry into the workings of race in the United States after the Civil Rights overhaul of the 1960s. Readings include primary and secondary sources; papers and discussion required.