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Slavery and Slave Life in the American South, 1619-1865 (AM407): Module Details

Aims & Objectives

The module involves the intensive study of a tightly focused set of topics or problems using a large quantity of primary sources.

Context

This module is a 30 CATS module for final-year students taking degrees in History and all joint degrees. It builds on core modules given in the first year, and complements second-year modules offered on colonial and nineteenth century North American history, as well as modules on early Latin American and Caribbean history.

Syllabus

This module examines the institution of slavery in the southern United States. It allows students to study racism and slavery in America, from the early colonial period through to the mature plantation society which existed before the Civil War. Through the study of contemporary documents, students will explore the interaction between race, class and gender in a slave society and gain an appreciation of the experiences of the slave population held in bondage. They will be enabled through the use of written evidence and quantitative data to understand why Americans turned to slavery, why some elements of the white population supported slavery and why others did not. Students will also learn the different social, cultural, religious and economic techniques used by enslaved people to survive the institution of slavery.

Teaching & Learning

The module will be taught through a 2 hr seminar discussion of a set weekly topic, with an additional focus on the selected primary sources such as slave narratives, ex-slave interviews, travel accounts and plantation documents. As third-year students are expected to organise their learning more independently than hitherto, there are no lectures in the module. In 2020-21, due to COVID restrictions, face-to-face seminars will alternate with online seminars.

Assessment:

The assessment for this module is

Oral participation

1500 word essay

3000 word source analysis

2 question take home exam (students have a week to complete this, but there is a word limit for answers)

For details of examination and assessment, please see: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/history/students/assessment/

Expected Learning Outcomes

a) the further development of essay-writing and seminar participation skills

b) an understanding of how the critical analysis of sources contributes to historical debate, and a capacity to undertake such analysis.

c) to provide the opportunity, through writing the dissertation to develop the capacities needed to carry through a project of independent research. This will involve digesting existing historical knowledge, formulating research questions, locating relevant material, handling significant quantities of information, and writing up research findings in a form similar to that employed by articles prepared for academic journals. This exercise not only provides invaluable preparation for students intending to proceed to postgraduate work, it also fosters skills highly relevant to the future careers of most History students.

d) a capacity to handle a variety of cultural evidence (music, fiction, art) as well as more conventional historical sources