Term or Semester:
Day and Time:
Tuesdays, 10:00am - 1:00pm
Quarter Dates:
January 7 - March 11, 2025
Semester Dates:
January 7 - April 15, 2025
Campus:
UCDC
Description:
This course offers an introduction to the history of slavery in the Chesapeake region
(Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia). In historical narratives emphasizing the
march of progress through American history—growing democracy, economic prosperity,
and technological prowess—slavery is often cast as an aberration, archaic and doomed to
die out. Examining the history of slavery in the region around what became the U.S. capital
challenges this view.
This class explores the history of slavery in the Chesapeake region from two main
perspectives. From the vantage point of U.S. history, we will investigate the importance of
slavery to regional and national growth—emphasizing the importance of slavery to the
nation’s economic growth and to the evolution of its politics. From the perspective of the
African diaspora, we will study the struggles of enslaved people to resist their enslavement
and their efforts to build families, communities, and cultures, despite slavery’s hardships.
From both perspectives, we will emphasize the contributions of African-descended people
to American society, in both economic and cultural terms.
About the Instructor:
Requirement for ALL semester students:
The four weeks from March 24 to April 18 will be spent in a special topics module taught by Dr. Jimmy Ellis (or designated instructor) on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 9:30p.m. This module will account for 15% of the seminar final course grade.
Your selected seminar will begin the week of January 6 and your seminar instructor will officially be your instructor of record for the term, responsible for computing and submitting final course grades at the end of the term.
**NO additional registration required."
Course ID:
UCDC191M01W25