HI3S9-30 Forging Slavery, Finding Freedom: Enslaved Lives in Nineteenth-Century Brazil, Cuba, and Atlantic Africa
Introductory description
The course aims to give students a thorough overview of themes, ideas and questions in the development of a broad range of Atlantic slave societies, particularly through the prism of space and human movement. It additionally aims to develop students’ comparative understanding of these themes through specific focus on three nineteenth-century slave societies. In so doing, it develops students’ ability to think comparatively and beyond national boundaries. It reinforces the aims of other School courses in fostering the attitudes and values of critical thinking, a research-led approach to learning, and thinking about history in terms of arguments and interpretations rather than as a set of objective truths.
Module aims
This undergraduate final-year Advanced Option module uses the theme of movement, space and place as a window onto the comparative social, political and economic history of nineteenth-century Atlantic slave societies. One of the defining elements of enslavement was the lack of the right to control one’s own movements; at the same time, Atlantic slavery involved the greatest forced movement of human beings in modern history. Geographical knowledge and human movement were tools for the structuring of colonial and post-colonial slave societies, polities and economies, but they also became a means by which such projects might be subverted, not least by the enslaved themselves.
After introducing some key concepts and ideas, the module begins with an overview of the dynamics of slave trading in the making of an “Atlantic World” and the states and societies that composed it. Subsequent thematic weeks consider the role of human movement in a series of key areas: the creation of new societies and cultural mixtures in the Americas; the central importance of gender in shaping slaves’ approach to space, place, and “resistance”; war and rebellions in the Atlantic World; and the movements of ideas, as well as people, in formulating abolitionist movements and arguments. While providing a pan-Americas overview on these issues, the module focuses particularly on the three societies that came to characterise the “second slavery” of the nineteenth century: Brazil and Cuba as primary case studies, with the United States as an important secondary case study for the purposes of drawing important contrasts and connections. The final weeks consider post-emancipation responses and draw comparative conclusions.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Theoretical Groundings (1): Comparative Approaches to the History of Atlantic Slavery
Theoretical Groundings (2): Second Slavery, Diaspora, Spatial History
The Atlantic Slave Trade: Demography and Geography
The Atlantic Slave Trade: Experience and Agency
Week Seven: The Abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade: The Role of Britain
The Slave Trade and its Abolition: Brazil
The Atlantic Trade to Cuba
Internal and Regional Slave Trades in Brazil and Cuba
Cultures and Societies in the Diaspora
A Case Study: The Yoruba in West Africa, Brazil, and Cuba
Gender and Slavery in Comparative Perspective
Gender and Manumission in “Iberian” Slave Societies
Geographies of “Resistance”: The Revolutionary Atlantic
Slave Rebellions in Brazil and Cuba
Abolition of Slavery in Brazil
Abolition of Slavery in Cuba
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- demonstrate a thorough understanding of themes and historiographical debates in the study of slave societies of the Atlantic World
- demonstrate a nuanced knowledge of two main slave societies of the nineteenth century: Brazil and Cuba
- demonstrate advanced skills in comparative history, qualitative and quantitative approaches, macro- and micro-historical approaches
- demonstrate advanced skills in the critical evaluation of primary source materials
- demonstrate discussion and group presentation skills
- demonstrate advanced skills in independent research and academic writing
Indicative reading list
Reading lists can be found in Talis
Research element
The course offers the opportunity to undertake a source-based essay which will involve the student in identifying, and interpreting critically, a range of both primary and secondary source materials.
Subject specific skills
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to demonstrate:
- A thorough understanding of broad themes and historiographical debates in the comparative study of Atlantic slave societies
- Nuanced appreciation of two main slave societies of the nineteenth century: Brazil and Cuba
- An ability to distinguish between the general and the particular, and to compare across regions, countries and time periods
Transferable skills
- Skills in the critical evaluation of secondary and primary materials
- Discussion and group presentation skills
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Seminars | 18 sessions of 2 hours (12%) |
| Tutorials | 4 sessions of 1 hour (1%) |
| Online learning (independent) | 260 sessions of 1 hour (87%) |
| Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
No private study requirements defined for this module.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A3
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
|||
| 1500 Word Essay | 10% | Yes (extension) | |
Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| 3000 Word Essay | 40% | Yes (extension) | |
Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| 3000 Word Source-Based Essay | 40% | Yes (extension) | |
Reassessment component is the same |
|||
Assessment component |
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| Seminar Contribution | 10% | No | |
Reassessment component |
|||
| 1000 word reflective essay in lieu of Seminar Contribution | Yes (extension) | ||
Feedback on assessment
Written feedback on essays
Student/tutor dialogues in one-to-one tutorials
Courses
This module is Optional for:
- Year 3 of UENA-VQ32 Undergraduate English and History
- Year 4 of UENA-VQ33 Undergraduate English and History (with Intercalated year)
- Year 3 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History
- Year 4 of UHIA-V104 Undergraduate History (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of UHIA-V101 Undergraduate History (with Year Abroad)
- Year 3 of UHIA-V1V5 Undergraduate History and Philosophy
- Year 4 of UHIA-V1V9 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with Intercalated Year)
-
UHIA-V1V8 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of V1V8 History and Philosophy (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 4 of V1V8 History and Philosophy (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 4 of UHIA-V1V6 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with Year Abroad)
- Year 3 of UHIA-V1V7 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics
-
UHIA-VM14 Undergraduate History and Politics (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of VM14 History and Politics (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 4 of VM14 History and Politics (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 4 of UHIA-VM12 Undergraduate History and Politics (with Year Abroad)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VM13 Undergraduate History and Politics (with a term in Venice)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VL13 Undergraduate History and Sociology
- Year 4 of UHIA-VL17 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VL16 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with Year Abroad and a term in Venice)
- Year 4 of UHIA-VL14 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with Year Abroad)
This module is Option list A for:
- Year 3 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History
- Year 4 of UHIA-V101 Undergraduate History (with Year Abroad)
- Year 4 of UHIA-VM15 Undergraduate History and Politics (with Intercalated Year)
This module is Option list B for:
- Year 3 of UHIA-V1V5 Undergraduate History and Philosophy
- Year 4 of UHIA-V1V6 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with Year Abroad)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics
- Year 4 of UHIA-VM12 Undergraduate History and Politics (with Year Abroad)
- Year 3 of UHIA-VL13 Undergraduate History and Sociology
- Year 4 of UHIA-VL14 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with Year Abroad)