Revised—3/17/2025

AFRC 2760—Spring 2025

Professor: Heather A. Williams, Ph.D.
Email: [email protected]
Class meetings: Mondays 1:45-4:44 p.m.
Office Hours: Tuesdays 11:00-1:00 p.m.

Exploring African American Life and Culture in Slavery

Course Description
In this very interactive course, we will undertake a journey to learn as much as we can about
African Americans who experienced slavery, as well as the broader context of the worlds in
which they lived. We will draw upon a wide range of sources including slave narratives,
archaeology, music, and oral history as we explore how enslaved people worked, worshipped,
loved, ate, and sought relief from their physical and emotional pain. We will take a field trip to
Maryland to see the physical remnants of slavery for ourselves.

You will use the course material and other sources you find, to create your own historical
interpretations of American slavery in essays, presentations, podcasts, and or documentary film.

All readings will be available on Canvas or through Penn Libraries. There will be no exams.

Required Readings
Most readings for the course are available on Canvas or otherwise online, and some are E-books
available online through Penn Libraries. You are not required to purchase any material for this
course.

Grading
4Qs—30 points (6 points each)
Two Topic Papers—20 points (10 points each)
Final Project—30 points (Includes Proposal, Outline & Draft)
Class Participation—20 points (Includes attendance and discussion)

Writing
--Some weeks, your writing assignment will be in the form of 4Qs in response to the assigned
readings. This is a brief document in which you present one Question that you would like to
raise for discussion; one key Quote from the week’s reading with a few sentences about why you
chose that quote; one Quarrel, or challenge to a position taken by the author; and one Quandary,
a lingering question or idea that the reading inspires. Be thoughtful about these assignments as
your “Qs” will form the basis for class discussion and could develop into a topic for further
exploration in a longer assignment. 4Qs are due on Canvas by Saturday at midnight.

Two times during the semester you will write a 3-page Topic Paper. Your paper will be on a
topic we covered in class. You choose the topic you want to write about and submit your paper at
the end of the week in which we cover that topic. For example: if you decide to write about the
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topic of Childhood that we cover in Week 4, your paper will be due on Friday of Week 4. Topic
Papers are due on Canvas by 5PM on Friday of the week you have selected.

It’s best to plan when you will complete your papers instead of waiting until the last
minute. The papers should demonstrate engagement with the material we have worked with
during the week you have chosen. You must include analysis of the week’s major secondary
source (this could be a film, article, or book chapter), plus at least two primary sources
(documents we work with in class, or that are included in a PowerPoint, or that are on Canvas for
that week).

Just to make sure this assignment is clear: You may submit Topic Paper #1 in Week 2, 3,
4, or 5. You may submit Topic Paper #2 in Week 6, 7, 8, or 9.
Topic Paper #1 is due no later than Week 5—Friday, February 21 at 5:00PM
Topic Paper #2 is Due no later than Week 10-- Due by Friday, April 4 at 5:00PM

The Final Project for the course will give you an opportunity to delve into a topic that is of
particular interest to you and that you would like to explore further. It is a research project that
will require you to consult sources outside of the course material. Please note that I must approve
any sources you use that are not included in this syllabus.
This project could take the form of a paper of 8-10 pages; a 30-minute podcast; or a 20-
minute documentary film. The project must be substantive, and depending on your approach, I
may require that it be accompanied by an analytical essay of 3-pages. This is a History course, so
your project must reflect your historical research and analysis. We will discuss your format and
how to ensure that it satisfies the requirements for this assignment. I will offer you help in
developing your topic, outlining, drafting, and presenting your project.

Stages of the Final Project—

—A 2-page Proposal and Outline of the final project is due in Week 11 on Friday, April 11,
by Midnight.

— A Draft of the Final Project is due in Week 13 on Friday, April 25 by Noon (This
deadline will give you a chance to receive feedback from me before the last day of class)

—The Completed Final Project is due on the first day of the exam period — Monday, May
5 by 5:00PM.

Attendance
Consistent attendance is required in this course. This is a seminar, and we only meet one time per
week. You are allowed to miss one class. More than one absence will result in a reduction in
your final grade. More than three absences will result in a failing grade in the course.
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Schedule

Week 1: Wednesday, January 15—The Middle Passage. Uncovering African American

History
Introductions. Overview of Course. Review of Syllabus. Modules on Canvas.

In Class
Middle Passage PowerPoint

The Quest for Knowing. How do we know? What is impossible for us to know?
Saidiya Hartman, “Venus in Two Acts.” Pages 1-4 (On Canvas)
Dolly
Fine Black Boy for Sale

In Class Writing—Choose one of the primary sources in this week’s Module. What more
would you like to know? Do you find yourself trying to fill in the missing pieces? What story
are you telling? How would you go about finding out more of the actual history?

What is a Primary Source?

Reading Primary Sources

First Day Questionnaire

Week 2: Monday, January 27— Development of Slavery in the American Colonies. Early
Laws Relating to Enslaved People.

Reading Assignment: Warren M. Billings, The Old Dominion in the Seventeenth Century: A
Documentary History of Virginia, 1606-1689, 173-181. On Canvas.

Writing Assignment: 4Qs

In Class
--Slavery and the Making of America, Episode 1—From Start to 33:00.
--Virginia Statutes PowerPoint
--Virginia Slave Code, 1705--An Act Concerning Servants and Slaves
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/_an_act_concerning_servants_and_slaves_1705
How did the law treat white servants and black slaves differently?

--South Carolina 1740 Slave Code PowerPoint

Approaches to writing a short History essay/paper

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Week 3: Monday, February 3—Commodification

Reading Assignment: Walter Johnson, Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market,
Chapters Chapter 1—Pages 19-44, 228-234; Chapter 2—Pages 45-77, 234-242. (Available @
Penn Libraries)

Writing Assignment: 4Qs

In Class
“American Artifacts: Whitney Plantation Tour” (film)
https://www.c-span.org/video/?405212-1/whitney-plantation-slavery-museum

Documents:
Louisiana Code Noir
People for Sale
Plantations for Sale

Material Culture
Tobacco
Sugar

Week 4— Monday, February 10—Childhoods in Slavery

Reading Assignment:
Heather Andrea Williams, Help Me To Find My People, Introduction and Chapter 1 (Online @
Penn Libraries)
Writing Assignment: 4Qs for Help Me To Find My People

Also read one of the Following

Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapters 1, 2, and 7--pages
1-15 and 36-44 (Available here: http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass.html Note:
these are very short pages).

Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Chapters 1, 2, 5, and 6--pages 11-24 and
44-57 (Available here: http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/jacobs/jacobs.html. Note: these are very
short pages).

Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery, Chapters 1-2-- pages 1-41 (Available here:
http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/washington/washing.html Very short pages

In class—
Literacy Statutes PowerPoint
Family Separation PowerPoint
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Week 5 —Monday, February 17—Work

*** This is the last week to submit Topic Paper #1. Due by Friday, February 21 at
5:00PM

Reading Assignment:
--Heather Williams, American Slavery: A Very Short Introduction. Chapter 3, pages 33-50.
(Online@ Penn Libraries)

--Theodore Rosengarten, Tombee: Portrait of a Cotton Planter, pages 327-386. (On Canvas)
Pay very close attention to what work the enslaved people were doing.

--Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave (Available here:

http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/northup/northup.html Chapter XII, 162-176 and Chapter XV 218-
222. (Short pages)

Writing Assignment: None this week.

In Class
Newspaper Ads: People for Sale; People Wanted for Purchase and Hire
Indictments for Hiring Out
Plantations for Sale
Life Insurance
Wanted to Hire

Week 6—Monday, February 24

Breathe. Catch up.

Week 7-- Monday, March 3--Material Culture and Food

Reading Assignment: Theresa Singleton, “Archaeology of Slave Life,” 156-175 (On Canvas)
Plus

Skim the following:

--“Sally Hemings Gets Her Own Room at Monticello”
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sally-hemings-gets-her-own-room-monticello-
180963944/

--Scroll through Fashioning the self—Facebook page—for items re clothing or other forms of
material culture.
https://www.facebook.com/fashioningtheself/

Writing Assignment: 4Qs for “Archaeology of Slave Life”

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In Class

Film: Digging for Slaves: The Excavation of American Slave Sites (Streaming Requested)
Film: What We Eat: The Hand That Stirred the Pot (Library Reserve Requested)

Gladys-Marie Frye, Stitched from the Soul: Slave Quilts from the Ante-Bellum South.

Of Interest—Documentary about the African Burial Ground in New York City

Before you watch! Please be aware that there are many images of human remains in this
film.
Film: African Burial Ground 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbCa_djSo6E (the
excavation)
African Burial Ground 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjpZZv7FnGA (History of
Black people in New York)

David Drake aka Dave the Potter

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/arts/design/-enslaved-potter-david-drake-museum.html

SPRING BREAK

Week 8—Monday, March 17, — Religion and Funerals

Reading Assignment:
--Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, 1845, pages 77-83; Appendix, 118-125.
https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/douglass/douglass.html

--Autobiography of Omar ibn Said, Slave in North Carolina, 1831

https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/omarsaid/omarsaid.html

Writing Assignment: None this week

In Class
--Christianity and Spirituals PowerPoint
--Governor John Floyd of Virginia following Nat Turner Rebellion, 1831 letter re preachers.
1831
https://www.natturnerproject.org/gov-floyd-to-gov-hamilton-jr
--NC and VA statutes re preaching, 1831
Re Funerals:
--Peter Randolph narrative re funerals –2-pages
https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/randol55/randol55.html#rando14
--Long, Rev. John Dixon, Pictures of Slavery in Church and State (1857)
https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/long/long.html#long
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Moved from Week 7-- Before you watch! Please be aware that there are many images of
human remains in this film.
Film: African Burial Ground 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbCa_djSo6E (the
excavation)
African Burial Ground 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjpZZv7FnGA (History of
Black people in New York)

--Georgia WPA Interviews (On Canvas)

Week 9-- Monday, March 24-- Health and Healing
Reading Assignment: Sharla M. Fett, Working Cures: Healing, Health, and Power on
Southern Slave Plantations, Introduction and Chapters 3, 5, and 6. Pages 60-83;111-141; 142-
168 (Canvas)

Writing Assignment: 4Qs

In Class
Virginia Law re Slaves and Medicine/Poison, 1748 (starts on page 104)
• http://vagenweb.org/hening/vol06-05.htm
Newspaper Hospital Notice
PowerPoint
Porcher Book re Plants

Week 10—Monday, March 31— Seeking Freedom/Claiming Freedom

*** This is the last week to submit Topic Paper #2. Due by Friday, April 4 at 5:00PM
Reading Assignment

Please read one of the following narratives and prepare a brief presentation on your narrative
for the class.

Henry Box Brown, Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself. Available
here: https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/boxbrown/menu.html Pages 11-23; 32-39; 47-66

William and Ellen Craft, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom

Pages 9-13; 27-59; 76-80; 81-87

Moses Roper, Narrative of the Adventures and Escape of Moses Roper, from American
Slavery. Available here: http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/roper/roper.html

In Class
Film: “Landscape of Power: Freedom and Slavery in the Great Dismal Swamp”
https://vimeo.com/134317981
Critiques of film
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Documents:
North Carolina 1831Statute
Plantations for Sale
Runaway Ads
Dolly
Fugitive Slave Law (1851)
“Voluntary” enslavement
Lost Free Papers
Free People must leave South Carolina

Week 11--Monday, April 7—Developing Final Project Topics. Research

***2-page Proposal and Outline for Final Project Due on Friday, April 11 by Midnight.

Writing Assignment: 2-page Proposal and Outline for Final Project Due on Friday, April 11
by Midnight.

Week 12--Monday, April 14-- Law and Violence

Reading Assignment: Mississippi Murder Cases
Laura v. State of Mississippi
Appellate Decision
Writing Assignment: None this week

In Class
Work on deciphering Laura v. State

Mississippi Statutes with Punishments

Week 13—Monday, April 21—Law and Violence (cont’d)

Reading Assignment: Laura v. State of Mississippi

Writing Assignment: None this week

In Class: Finish Laura

Draft of Final Project Due this week on Friday, April 25 by Noon

Week 14—April 28—Last Class—Remembering Slavery & Final Projects.

Reading Assignment: Heather Andrea Williams, Help Me To Find My People, Epilogue,

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pages 189-200; 223-224. (Online through Penn Libraries)

Writing Assignment—None this Week

In Class
Remembering Slavery PowerPoint
Burial Database Project of Enslaved Americans (Periwinkle Initiative)
https://www.periwinkleinitiative.org/memory-landmarks/
Preserving Gullah Cemeteries
https://cfh.iaamuseum.org/the-gullah-society-preserving-sacred-burial-grounds/

Ashley’s Sack

Showcase of Final Projects

Final Project due on Monday, May 5 by 5:00PM

Status/