Capitalism and Slavery: Problems of Interpretation and Analysis in Atlantic World History (Draft syllabus subject to change) This course examines the historical significance of transatlantic slavery to the emergence of modern capitalism. It begins with a close reading of Eric Williams classic 1944 text, then explores comparative histories of slavery, Atlantic trade, and production, and concludes with a consideration of recent work on the subject. This course will draw on economic, political, social, legal, and intellectual histories of slavery in order to explore the empirical basis and philosophical implications of capitalism s relationship to slavery. This course will also explore how categories like race and gender, in addition to class, figure into political economy. The enduring import of the question of capitalism and slavery to the history of the Atlantic world means that students will also have the opportunity to analyze and debate linkages between earlier forms of bonded labor and economy and newer forms: sweatshop labor, mass incarceration, corporate-professional sports, and human trafficking. Student Assignments and Their Value: 1. Book Review 1 (3-5 pages) 20% 2. Book Review 2 (3-5 pages) 20% 3. Term Paper Proposal (1 page) 5% 4. Term Paper (10-15 pages) 30% 5. Class attendance and participation 25% GUIDELINES FOR STUDENTS GENERAL EXPECTATIONS 1. First and foremost, students are expected to read this syllabus thoroughly as most questions which are likely to arise regarding the organization of the course are addressed here. 2. Students are expected to attend class regularly, participate in class discussions and show respect for each other in class discussions. 3. Deadlines for assignments are final. Extensions may be granted if individual students speak to me personally ahead of time to explain why they need extra time. Even then, extensions will only be granted if the reasons given are considered valid. If you have not discussed an extension with me ahead of the deadline for an assignment I will not accept a late assignment for grading. Except in unusual circumstances, no papers will be accepted late without prior arrangement. 4. Students can expect courteous and understanding responses to their questions and concerns, assistance and supporting overcoming challenges which they are having with their assignments, and that their graded assignments will be returned to them as promptly as circumstances permit. 5. The use of online sources for background material for written assignments is restricted to online resources which can be accessed through the University s library website. This website gives students access to a wide range of academic
databases, other universities library catalogues, and inter-library loans. Any online resource cited in written work which is deemed to be an inappropriate source will not be accepted. 6. It is up to students to familiarize themselves with university rules regarding plagiarism and to follow these regulations. Book Reviews: Students will complete the first book review, after reading Williams Capitalism and Slavery (1944). This assignment is meant to familiarize students with writing a brief analytical summary and taking a position on a historical argument. Based on their reading of Williams, students will argue whether or not the role of slavery was significant to the development of capitalism. Questions to consider include: - Did you find Williams argument compelling? - What questions did his work provoke from you? - Were there arguments or aspects of arguments that you could not accept? Why? During the formal debate (Week 10) and before the submission of the term paper, students can return to their book reviews to see how or if their views of the broad subject of capitalism and slavery has changed. A second book about any book (other than Capitalism and Slavery) on the syllabus. Students may compare, contrast, the second monograph to Williams book or they can simply review the book on its own. Book reviews should be no longer than 5 pages (and no shorter than 3 pages), typed, and double-spaced. Term Paper Proposal: Students may write on any subject of their choice related to capitalism and slavery provided it is pertinent to the course. Students are expected to submit a proposal of their term paper topic to me before they begin to write their term papers. The proposal should consist of not more than three paragraphs, outlining the subject and proposed arguments of the term paper and a list of 3-5 books and/or articles which the student proposes to use as the basis fo their research. The majority of the research material listed on the proposal must be material that the student has found on her/his own, which is not listed on the course syllabus. Please note: The final term paper will still be graded if the student fails to first submit a proposal. However, the proposal is worth 5 percent of the overall grade for the course and students who submit a proposal topic which is deemed inappropriate for the course with be given the opportunity to resubmit the proposal on a different topic. The proposal is therefore a crucial step in the preparations of a good term paper. Any term paper whose subject is deemed irrelevant to the course will receive a failing grade.
Term Paper: The term paper should be between 10-15 pages, typed, double-spaced and a minimum of 11-point font. Single-spaced papers in any font smaller than 11-point font will immediately be returned as unmarked. Information on proper footnote/endnote style for the discipline of history is available from me for students who would like it and all assignments must be properly footnoted/endnoted. You can also refer to any recent addition of the Chicago Manual of Style for guidance on proper referencing style. If still in doubt, please come and see me before you hand in your assignment. History essays must have a clear argument properly supported with evidence, with an introduction, conclusion and a bibliography. Students should use at least 8-10 sources for their term paper. It is expected that independent research will generate the majority of the sources referenced in the term paper. Materials should not be listed in the bibliography unless they are actually cited in the paper. Class Attendance and Participation: This will be based on a random taking of attendance by the instructor and on participation in class discussion. Week 1: Introductions, go over course guidelines and expectations, syllabus questions Week 2: Conceptualizing the Problem: Capitalism and Slavery Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (Durham, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994). 1-106. Robin Blackburn, The Making of New World Slavery: From the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800 (Verso), selections. Week 3: Conceptualizing the Problem, continued. Eric Williams, Capitalism and Slavery (Durham, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994). 106-212. Adam Rothman, Slave Country: American Expansion and the Origins of the Deep South, Preface, 1-117, Epilogue. Week 4: European and African Trade in the Early Modern Atlantic G. Ugi Nwokeji, The Slave Trade and Culture in the Bight of Biafra: An African Society in the Atlantic World (Cambridge, U.K. and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010), selections.
Joseph C. Miller, Way of Death: Merchant Capitalism and the Angolan Slave Trade (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1996), selections. John Thornton, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800 (Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 1998), selections. Week 5: Consolidation of Atlantic Slavery Short Book Review Essay Due Walter Rodney, How Europe Became the Dominant Section of a World-wide Trade System, in How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (Bogle-L Overture, London, 1972), 84-101. Nuala Zahedieh, Trade, Plunder, and Econmic Developmetn in Early English Jamaica, 1655-89, Economic History Review, vol. 39, (1989), 205-222. Joseph E. Inikori, The slave trade and the Atlantic Economies, 1451-1870, in Verene Shpherd and Hilary McD Beckles (eds.), Caribbean Slavery in the Atlantic World: A Student Reader(Kingston, JA: Ian Randle Publishers, 2000), 290-308. Week 6: Comparative Histories and Elusive Connections Franklin Knight, Slavery and Lagging Capitalism in the Spanish and Portuguese American Empire, in Barbara L. Solow (ed.) (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 62-74. C.L.R. James, French Capitalism and Caribbean Slavery, in The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution (Vintage Books, 1963), 47-61. W.E.B Du Bois, Negroes and the Crisis of U.S. Capitalism, Monthly Review (1953). Week 7: Challenging the Thesis: Critiques and Revisions Seymour Drescher, Econocide: British Slavery in the Era of Abolition (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010 [1977]), Chapters 1-6. David Eltis, Economic Growth and the Ending of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), Chapter 1-2 and 11-13. Week 7: Empirical and Epistemological Responses Term Paper Proposal Selwyn H. Carrington, The Sugar Industry and the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1775-1810 (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2002).
Cedric J. Robinson, Capitalism, Slavery and Bourgeois Historiography, History Workshop Journal, vol. 23, no. 1 (1987), 122-140. Week 8: Contemporary Historiography, Part One: New Global Histories Edward E. Baptist, The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism (New York: Basic Books, 2014), selections. Sven Beckert, Empire of Cotton: A Global History (New York: Random House, 2014). Kenneth Pomeranz, The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000). Week 9: Contemporary Significance, Part Two: The Case for Reparations Anita Rupprecht, Excessive Memories: Slavery, Insurance and Resistance, History Workshop Journal, Issue 64, Autumn 2007, pp. 6-28 CARICOM. Reparations Commission Press Statement delivered by Professor Sir Hilary Beckles (Chairman) on behalf of the CARICOM Reparations Commission Press Conference, December 2013. http://caricom.org/jsp/pressreleases/press_releases_2013/pres285_13.jsp Week 10: Reparations Debate and Class Trip to African Burial Ground/Wall St. Slave Market Given what we have read this semester, do you think that there is a case to be made for reparations? Students come to class prepared to divide into groups and debate the merits and limitations of reparations. Students are encouraged to draw on their own research and class readings in order to make their cases. Week 11: Legacies of Bondage Final Term Paper Due Film Screening: Stephanie Black (dir.) Life and Debt. 1h 26m, 2001. Final Paper -TBA