A364 & H511

A364 & H511 Professor Henry

Summer Session II MTR 6:00-8:15 p.m.

The History of African Americans Office Hours By Appt.

The origin of African American history begins with Egyptian civilization then moves to West Africa where there were many great Kingdoms changed by Europeans and a new type of Slavery. It was Europe’s slavery that landed Africans in the Americas and separated them from people and country via the Middle Passage. This course will trace the journey of Africans from Egypt to the West Coast. It will also consider the African/African American’s journey through almost three hundred years of Slavery to their freedom in 1863 as well as Reconstruction, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, their first one hundred year struggle for Civil Rights, and a plethora of other events that will bring us to the present.

It is not the intent of this course to have students memorize dates and facts, but to absorb the larger historical backdrop and develop the ability to understand where African Americans fit in the tapestry of American History. Although memorization is not pertinent in this course students must know the material well enough to discuss it intelligently. The class will last for two hours and fifteen minutes and will be broken up into lecture and group discussion. Student discussions of historical events will be very important. It is also the goal of this learning experience that students: 1) Improve their writing skills while familiarizing themselves with the lives and events of African Americans; 2) learn critical analysis so that the whats, whys and hows, of historical works in general become clearer and 3) undergraduate students especially, understand that primary sources are the building blocks of written history, and that it is how these pieces are arranged by historians that influences our perceptions of the past.

Required Readings

All Students Must Purchase the Following Books:

Diop, Cheikh Anta. African Origin Mystery & Myth, 1987 (reprint), Mercer Cook ed.

Gilmore, Jane E. ed. Jump in Jim Crow. Princeton Paperback, 2000.

Main Text Kelley, Robin & Lewis, Earl eds. To Make Our World A New. Oxford University Press, 2000.

Newton, Fredericka & Huey. War Against the Panthers, Writers & Readers, 1996.

Von Frank, Albert. The Trials of Anthony Burns, Harvard University Press, 1998.

All Graduate Students Must Also Purchase These Books:

Collison, Gary. Shadrack Minkins, Harvard University Press, 1997.

Newton, Huey. Revolutionary Suicide, Writers & Readers, (reprint) 1995.

Course Requirements and Expectations:

(Students must fulfill these requirements to pass)

1.) Your midterm and final exam will be essay questions. The midterm exam will be administered during regular class. Students are expected to take all tests and exams at the appointed times. No exceptions will be made unless we have discussed any difficulties 2 weeks prior to the exams.

2) One 2-3 page critical book review based on the outside reading African Origin Mystery & Myth. A handout will be distributed in the first week of class explaining the expectation for the book review. At the time the handout is given please, please ask questions. Your papers will be due at the beginning of class, none will be accepted afterwards. The only way I will accept a late paper is if there are direr circumstances that were beyond your control (I must have proof of this incident).

2a). Graduate Students are expected to complete all the work the undergraduate students are required to do (except one quiz) plus lead a class discussion, write two ten page papers (one is your final exam), and read a series of Civil Rights books from a reading list beyond Revolutionary Suicide and War Against the Panthers. Your first paper will be a colloquium type paper that will center on the Jump in Jim Crow book which should center around a common issue from at least five of the essays. I expect your final paper to be a historiography of sorts on some area in Civil Rights discussed in the materials.

3) There will be three (3) pop quizzes for the undergraduate and two for the graduate students. Each of these quizzes will be over the materials since the previous quiz (of course this does not apply to the first pop quiz).

4) Each student can miss Two (2) classes--no questions asked-- without any difficulties. Otherwise, once you have missed two classes attendance is mandatory. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of class so please be there. A letter grade will be taken off your final grade for every class that is missed after the first two. You are also expected to participate in class discussion. It will hurt your grade considerably if you do not participate. Those that have problems speaking in class should come see me for helpful hints.

5) Cheating on exams and other forms of intellectual dishonesty, notably plagiarism, will not be tolerated. "Plagiarism is another word for stealing -- stealing somebody else's ideas. Since ideas are what a university is all about, cheating is taken seriously here and penalized severely. To avoid even the suspicion of plagiarism, remember the following: Students must not allow others (friends, not even tutors) to conduct research or prepare their papers. Students must not submit work done in one course for another course. Students must not glance at other students' tests during an exam nor use notes or books where these are not allowed in examinations. Other people's ideas must be cited in footnotes or endnotes. This includes not just quotes but also ideas, opinions, theories, and even general facts and statistics if they are not common knowledge. If you look at any scholarly journal with footnotes at the bottom of the page, you will see that they cover a fourth to a half of the page. In fact, the more citations the more impressive your research looks. This is not the chore you might think it is if you jot down book titles and page numbers as you take notes. Plan ahead. For minor infractions penalties will result in an "F" on the paper or test. An accused student has the opportunity to respond before any action is taken. All penalties are reported to the chairperson, deans of the college, the faculty, and students. They check an offender's record and more penalties are imposed if there are prior offenses. So take care to thank the people from whom you got your ideas (that's what footnotes are). And do your own work -- it's the best way to learn in the long run."

6) Incompletes in this class will be granted if and only if there has been a meeting of the minds (by professor and student) two (2) weeks before the end of classes. WARNING There will be no exceptions made to this rule unless there is a life-threatening emergency.

Grading:

The grading system will be based on a scale from 0 to 400 for the undergraduates and 0 to 475 for the graduate students. Four hundred and four hundred seventy-five are the maximum points available...

Here is the Breakdown:

Undergraduates

100- Midterm

100- Final Exam

25- Class Participation

75- Pop Quizzes (25 points each)

50- Book Review

50- In Class Questions and Written Statements for Discussion

Graduate Students

100- Midterm

100- Final Exam (Second Ten Page Paper)

75- Class Participation (25), Leading Class Discussion (50)

50- Pop Quizzes (25 points each)

100- First 8-10 Page Paper

50- Book Review

Required Assignments

June – 24- Monday

Read essay, Diop Sample in Class ,and go over A364 & H511 syllabus

June – 25 – Tuesday

Have Read Diop 1-92 and, (Kelley Bk) Collin Palmer 3-28

June – 27 – Thursday

Have Read Diop 93-184 and Colin Palmer 29-52

July – 1 – Monday

Have Read Diop 185-274 and Book Review Due

July- 2 – Tuesday

Have Read Peter Wood 53--83

July 4^th NO CLASS

Over the Break Read Peter Wood 84-102 and Daniel Littlefield all of the essay in the Kelley Book

for July- 8 – Monday

July- 9 – Tuesday Graduate Students Read 1^st half of Shadrack Minkins

Have Read Von Frank 1-111

July- 11 - Thursday

Von Frank 112-333

July- 15 – Monday

Have Read Deborah White 169-226 & Discuss Midterm

July- 16 - Tuesday Midterm

July – 18 – Thursday Graduate Students Read all of Jump in Jim Crow

Have Read Noralee Frankel 227-280

July – 22 – Monday Graduate Students 8-10 page essay on Jump in Jim Crow is Due

Have Read Jump in Jim Crow Essays – L. Edwards, J. Dailey, and S. Kantrowitz, also Barbara Blair (Kelley Book) 281-344

July - 23 - Tuesday

Have Read James Grossman (Kelley Book) 345-408

July – 25 – Thursday

Have Read William Trotter 409-444

July – 29 – Monday

Have Read Harding, Kelley, Lewis 445-495

July – 30 –Tuesday Graduate Students also read Revolutionary Suicide

Have Read Fredericka Newton 1^st half

August – 2 – Thursday

Have Read Fredericka Newton last half and Discuss Final Exam

August- 5 - Monday Final Due Take Home Essays and Graduate Students Historiographical Essay