Dr. Jim Williams
Peck Hall 261
Office hours: MTWR, 9:30-10:00, 3:15-3:45; other times by arrangement
Office phone with voicemail: 898-2633
E-mail: jhwillia AT mtsu DOT edu
Web page: www.mtsu.edu/~jhwillia
You may find the following handouts useful and are welcome to copy them:
The goal of this course is to promote the intellectual and personal development of all the participants. We do this by exploring slavery in its various forms in Europe, Africa, and the Americas from 1400 to 1650. We demonstrate our progress toward the course goal orally in class and in numerous writing assignments.
This course examines the following topics:
These will be discussed on the first day of class and agreed upon by all members of the class. It is the student's responsibility to inform the instructor of problems, to notify the instructor of circumstances that may interfere with the student's completion of work, or otherwise to seek assistance in order to finish the course successfully.
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated in any form in this course. Whether you intend to break the rules is irrelevant. The most likely way that you can behave dishonestly is to commit plagiarism. There are several types of plagiarism, and you are responsible for understanding all of them. Be particularly careful in this class not to copy word-for-word from one of the books (or any other source) without putting those quoted words in quotation marks. If you are found to have committed plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty, you will receive a zero on that assignment, and your penalty may increase to failure in the course, depending on the circumstances. Dr. Williams will also notify the dean of judicial affairs, who may apply additional sanctions (probation, expulsion, etc.) according to university policy. If you have questions about academic dishonesty and university policy, please consult your student handbook, the student affairs web site, or Dr. Williams.
Nick Hazlewood, The Queen's Slave Trader: John Hawkyns, Elizabeth I, and the Trafficking in Human Souls, ISBN 0060935693
Stuart B. Schwartz, ed., Tropical Babylons: Sugar and the Making of the Atlantic World, 1450-1680, ISBN 0807855383
T. H. Breen and Stephen Innes, "Myne Owne Ground": Race and Freedom on Virginia's Eastern Shore, 1640-1676, ISBN 0195032063 [Note: There is also a 25th-anniversary edition of this book that you may also use.]
Students should also own and use a style manual such as Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
Students are encouraged to use the University Writing Center to improve their written work in this course. The center is located in Peck Hall 325, and students may use the computer lab in Peck Hall 326. The center staff may be reached by phone at 904-8237 or by E-mail at uwcenter@mtsu.edu. Their web site is www.mtsu.edu/~uwcenter. The staff of faculty and graduate assistants will work with students at any stage of the writing process on issues such as organization, unity, coherence, opening and closing paragraphs, diction, and grammar, but they will not proofread or edit student writing. Appointments are strongly encouraged but not mandatory; tutoring sessions are in 30-minute blocks.
If you have a disability that may require assistance or accommodation, or you have questions related to any accommodations for testing, note takers, readers, etc., please speak with Dr. Williams as soon as possible. Students may also contact the Office of Disabled Student Services (898-2783) with questions about such services.
There are no examinations in this course.
I. Class participation (200 points): The instructor will take attendance each day, once in the first hour of class and another time in the second hour of class. For each hour of class, the instructor will assign each student either one, two, or three participation points, as follows: one point for silent attendance; two points for some participation; three points for outstanding participation. At the end of the course, the instructor will add each student's points and translate those points into a numerical grade on a scale of 100 using the top students as a guide. Please note: The top student(s) may or may not fall into the A range. This determination is left to the judgment of the instructor.
II. Analytical essays on The Queen's Slave Trader and "Myne Owne Ground" (200 points each). These essays (approximately three pages each) will be assigned at the appropriate time.
III. Article presentations (50 points): Each student will choose an article or book chapter related to Atlantic slavery and will present the article to class. Instructions will be given when articles are selected.
IV. Short analyses of primary documents (100 points): At several points in the course, students will be asked to read primary sources and write short analyses of them. Four analyses should be completed (25 points each).
V. Final course essay (250 points): In lieu of examinations, all students will complete a final essay that describes and explains the variety of slave experiences in the Atlantic world from 1400 to 1650. The topic will be discussed throughout the course. Students should take notes for the final essay from the first day forward. For the final essay, there is no page minimum or maximum, though it is usually (though not always) the case that longer essays explore the assignment more fully and therefore earn a better grade.
The best essays will use a wide variety of course materials, will cover the span of time (rather than make big leaps over periods of time), will use ample examples and evidence, and will be clearly organized. All essays MUST have an argument (thesis) that addresses the assigned question. Dr. Williams is happy to read drafts of your essay or discuss your ideas before you turn in the final version. Or you may visit the university writing center for advice on organizing your thoughts and presenting them clearly with strong evidence.
All written work must be typed, double spaced, in twelve-point font, with no smaller than one-inch margins all around. Number all pages. Do not use cover sheets or covers of any kind. Staple the pages together. Click here to see the guidelines I use to determine the differences between A, B, C, D, and F papers. Important: Your name should appear only on the back of your essays; I grade anonymously.
Monday, June 5: Introduction
Tuesday, June 6: Slavery in the world before 1400; definitions of slavery
Part 1: The Fifteenth Century
Wednesday, June 7: Slavery in the Islamic world, Africa, and the Americas before 1500
-->Read "Muslim Attitudes toward Africa and Africans" and Thornton, "The Origins and Early History of
the Kingdom of Kongo" [handouts]
Thursday, June 8: Europeans and Africans in the Atlantic islands;
Spanish society in the time of Columbus
Last day to drop without a grade
-->Read Tropical Babylons, chap. 3; Implicit
Understandings, chaps. 3 and 4 [handout]
Part 2: The Sixteenth Century
Monday, June 12: Commerce and slavery in West Africa
-->Read Thornton, Africa and Africans . . ., chaps. 1-4;
Implicit Understandings, chap. 8 [handouts]
Tuesday, June 13: Columbus and the enslavement of Indians
Wednesday, June 14: Sepulveda and Las Casas--the debate on the humanity of Indians
Thursday, June 15: The beginnings of the African transatlantic slave trade
-->Read Tropical Babylons, chaps. 4, 5, and 7
Monday, June 19: John Hawkyns
Last day to drop with a grade of W
-->Read The Queen's Slave Trader to page 94 (1st voyage)
Tuesday, June 20: John Hawkyns
-->Read The Queen's Slave Trader to page 179 (2nd voyage)
Wednesday, June 21: John Hawkyns
-->Finish The Queen's Slave Trader to end (3d voyage)
Part 3: The Seventeenth Century
Thursday, June 22: Portuguese Brazilian slavery
-->Read Tropical Babylons, chap. 6
Monday, June 26: Slavery in New Spain
Tuesday, June 27: Slavery in the West Indies
Essays on The Queen's Slave Trader due in class
-->Read Tropical Babylons, chaps. 8 and 9
Wednesday, June 28: Slavery in Virginia
-->Read "Myne Owne Ground," all
Thursday, June 29: The "terrible transformation"
Monday, July 3: Writing day. Work on "Myne Owne Ground" essays and final essays. Email drafts, if you wish, to Dr. Williams for comments.
Tuesday, July 4: INDEPENDENCE DAY--no classes
Wednesday, July 5: Slavery in the Atlantic world on the eve of explosive growth; final thoughts
Essays on "Myne Owne Ground" due in class
Thursday, July 6: Final essays due no later than 12 p.m. in Dr. Williams's office, Peck Hall 261. You may turn in essays early to my mailbox in the History Department office (Peck Hall 223) or to the box on the wall next to my office door. Please do not slide papers under my office door! Under no circumstances will papers be accepted via email.