HIS 216 From Slavery to Freedom to Civil Rights: The African American Experience
Until the passage of the thirteenth amendment, the inherent hypocrisy of the Declaration of Independence’s phrase "all men are created equal" and the sin of slavery haunted the nation. But freedom did not end the struggle. This course will trace the history of African Americans from their ancestral origins in Africa into the colonial era and through the modern day—exploring issues of race, culture, enslavement, freedom, rights, and discrimination. It will examine the condition of African American slaves and anti-slavery/pro-slavery politics and economics, and ultimately follow the experience of enslaved and free African Americans into the Civil War and Reconstruction, before transitioning to the quest for equal citizenship in the Civil Rights Movement and the modern day. Students will focus on figures including: Olaudah Equiano, Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson, and the Obamas.