LA 2225 - African American History

This course is a survey of African-American history from its colonial beginnings to the present day. We will study and analyze such topics as the African origins and cultural traditions of African-Americans, the “Middle Passage,” the development of plantation slavery, the impact of the American Revolution on African-American life, and the emancipation of slavery in the post-Revolutionary North and the subsequent development of free black communities. Additionally, we will address and explore antebellum slave culture and slave resistance in the South, the abolitionist movement, and African-American political and military participation during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Finally, this course will provide a framework for understanding the modern African-American experience by looking at African-American history from the late 19th century to the current day, by examining the advent of the Jim Crow South, African-American northern and southern laborers during the industrial revolution, “The Great Migration,” the early to mid-twentieth century fight for political, economic, and civil rights (AKA the Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. Du Bois debates), the Harlem Renaissance, and the modern Civil Rights and Black Power Movements. Other significant themes, such as analyzing African-American history during WWI, WWII and Vietnam will also be explored, as will major issues confronting African-Americans and African-American communities from the 1970’s to the present day, including urbanization, housing, voting rights, economics, politics and culture. - 3 Hours Lecture.

3 Hours Lecture
3 Credits