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African American History

Module description

This module will examine the history of African Americans in the United States from colonial times to the present and well as discuss the ways in which “race” has shaped the course of American History. It will emphasise the active role African Americans have played in shaping the European settlements in North America since the sixteenth century and thereby offer an alternative perspective on the “American Experiment”. It will introduce you to a wide variety of primary sources and analyse how they reflect the experience of people of African descent. No prior knowledge of American History is necessary, and the module is designed for non-specialist students. It is recommended for interdisciplinary pathways as it also deals with political science, sociology and cultural studies.

Module aims - intentions of the module

You will need effective communication and analytical skills, oral and written, to complete many of your modules and in a job after you graduate.  This module aims to help you develop your skills in researching, interpreting, and analysing both primary and secondary material, and in reporting on your work.  It provides you with an opportunity to explore an area of history in more depth, and helps you to develop the depth of understanding you will require to study more specialised areas of history.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate an understanding of the key developments in the history of people of African descent in North America
• 2. Critically evaluate the key concepts and factors which shaped the experience of black people of African descent in North America
• 3. Summarise and evaluate different historical perspectives relating to the history of black people of African descent in North America

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Analyse the key developments in a complex historical environment
• 5. Demonstrate an ability to handle profoundly different approaches to history in a deeply contested area
• 6. Demonstrate an ability to understand and deploy complex historical terminology in a comprehensible manner

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Select, organise and analyse material for written work and oral presentations of different prescribed lengths and formats.
• 8. Present complex arguments orally.
• 9. Present an argument in a written form in a clear and organised manner, with appropriate use of correct English
• 10. Through essay development process, demonstrate ability to reflect critically on your own work, to respond constructively to feedback, and to implement suggestions and improve work on this basis

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• African-Americans in the Early Republic
• Slave Resistance and Rebellion
• The American Civil War
• The Age of Jim Crow
• The First World War and the Great Migration
• The New Negro
• The Second World War: The "Forgotten Years" of the Negro Revolution
• The Civil Rights Movement
• Black Militancy and Nationalism
• Race and Racism After the Civil Rights Era

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

The re-assessment consists of a 2500 word essay, as in the original assessment, but replaces participation in the presentation with a 750 word written script that could be delivered in such a presentation.

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Bracey, John H. Jr., and Manisha Sinha (eds.), African American Mosaic: A Documentary History from the Slave Trade to the Twenty-First Century, 2 vols. (Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2004).
• Hine, Darlene Clark, William C. Hine and Stanley Harrold, The African-American Odyssey (Combined Volume, 5th ed.; Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2011).
• Holt, Thomas C. (ed.), Major Problems in African-American History, 2 vols. (Boston, 2000).
• Kelley, Robin D.G., and Earl Lewis (eds.), To Make our World Anew, 2 vols. (Oxford, 2005).
• Painter, Nell Irvin, Creating Black Americans: African-American History and its Meanings, 1619 to the Present (New York, 2006).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11971 
• The Avalon Project: African Americans – http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/african_americans.asp
• Black Past – http://www.blackpast.org/
• PBS Eyes on the Price: America’s Civil Rights Movement 1954-1985 – http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/index.html
• The Martin Luther King Research and Education Institute – http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/
• Race and Place: An African-American Community in the Jim Crow South: Charlottesville, VA –  http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/afam/raceandplace/index.html
• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture – http://www.nypl.org/locations/tid/64/node/65914
• Without Sanctuary: Photographs and Postcards of Lynching in America –  http://withoutsanctuary.org/main.html

Key words search

African-Americans, Race, Civil Rights, Segregation, Black Nationalism, Social Movements