Professor Linda Housch-Collins, Ph.D.

Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

Syllabus for African American History Since 1865, Hist. 3150

11:45 a.m. to 1:35 p.m., Mondays and Wednesdays

1999
 
 

Purpose of the Course:

This is a survey course that introduces the major themes in African American history from the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) to the present. Students are expected to learn, analyze, compare, contrast, synthesize, interpret and evaluate these themes. Students should be able to understand how key issues, ideas, events, places, persons and dates shaped and impacted these themes in the context of the time period in which they unfolded and in the context of the larger global modern era from 1865 to the present.

The course is organized chronologically through the thematic time periods of emancipation, Reconstruction, industrialization, urbanization, the Great Migration, the Harlem Rennaissance, the major wars, the decolonization era, the civil rights movement, the struggle for women�s rights, the retreat from affirmative action, to the current information age of the 1990s.

A central theme throughout the course is exploring how African Americans constructed their struggle toward freedom through institution-building, sociopolitical movements, economic development, education, religion, music, technology, litigation, science, literature, and the arts. There will be a lecture and discussion format in addition to film presentations. Readings from a core text, three supplemental books and handouts are required. One short research paper is also required. The research paper will focus on a student-selected topic concerning an aspect of the institutional or organizational history of Black Detroit in the twentieth century.

Required Texts: (1) John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom. (Franklin)

(2) Colin Palmer, Passageways, Vol. II: 1863-1965. (Palmer)

(3) Philip Foner and Ronald Lewis, eds. Black Workers. (Foner)

(4) Gerda Lerner, ed. Black Women in White America. (Lerner)

Optional Only:

(5) William L. Van Deburg, Modern Black Nationalism

These books may be purchased at Marwil�s Bookstore at Cass and Warren. All of the above books will be available at the Undergraduate Library (Adamany) next week under Collins and History 3150.

Grading Criteria: Point Distribution for Passing Grades:

Midterm Exam 25% (25 points) A = 100-93 A- = 92-90

Research Paper 20% (20 points) B+ = 89-87 B= 86-83; B- = 82-80

Project Presentation 5% (5 points) C+ = 79-77 C= 76-73; C- = 72-70

Final Exam 30% (30 points) D+ = 69-67 D = 66-63; D- = 62-60

Quizzes (approx. 5) 10% (10 points)

Participation 10% (10 points)

100% (100 points)

The exams and quizzes will be structured primarily as short and long essay questions. Make-ups for exams will be given with a doctor�s written excuse. The final exam is part topical and part comprehensive. Five very short quizzes will be given on the assigned readings at the start of five classes. There will be no make-ups for missed quizzes. Full credit on the five quizzes will earn a maximum of ten points of a student�s final grade. Regular attendance is expected; participation in discussions pertaining to assigned readings is also expected; both of these factors will constitute the participation grade of ten percent of the final grade.

CONSTRUCTING FREEDOM, 1865 TO THE PRESENT

Week # 1: 1865 to 1877: (Jan. 11; Jan. 13)

Introduction to the course.

Early Emancipation; Relief Efforts; the New Dependency.

The Collision of Presidential and Congressional Reconstruction.

Franklin: pp. 220-237

Palmer: pp. 1-22.

Lerner: pp. 52-53; 88-90; 101-113; 173-179; 326-327; 566-572.

Week #2: 1865 to 1877: The Hegemony of Presidential/Black Reconstruction

(Jan. 20)

Black Political Participation (Robert Smalls, Pinchback, Turner, Cordoza ...)

Rise of Black Institutions (colleges, hospitals, churches, conventions, labor unions)

Emerging State Black Codes

Franklin: pp. 237 -246.

Palmer: pp. 23-51.

Lerner: pp. 172-188; 243-249; 361-362; 533-537.

Foner: pp. 142-189.

Week #3: 1877- 1900: The Nadir: Betrayal of the Negro (Jan. 25; Jan. 27)

The Compromise of 1877 and the start of Southern Redemption

Sharecropping; segregation; the new dependency; Plessey v. Ferguson

Black Protests over violence (Ida B. Wells)

Black political gains undermined; Black exodus to the West (Sojourner Truth)

Franklin: pp. 247-263

Palmer: pp. 33-45

Foner: pp. 190-208

Handout: from Nell Painter�s Exodusters

(QUIZ #1)

Week # 4: 1877-1900: Constructing Alternatives of Accommodation and Resistance to the Betrayal (Feb. 1; Feb. 3)

Industrial Education Alternatives (the Hampton/B. T. Washington/ Tuskegee models)

Liberal Arts Education model

Blacks and Unions (Knights of Labor)

Colored Women�s Club Movement (Mary Church Terrell)

Nurses, Hospitals, Mutual Aid Groups

Black Newspapers

Franklin: Chapter 14

Palmer: pp. 46-53

Foner: 209-235

Lerner: pp. 537-541; 572-576; 118-123.

Week #5: 1900 to 1910s: Constructing Racial Identity and Resistance to Racial Oppression (Feb. 8; Feb. 10)

Pan-Africanism; Spanish American War participation; DuBois; Trotter; the Niagara Movement; the NAACP; the Black Press.

Franklin: Chp. 15

Palmer: pp. 53-81

Foner: 237-303

Handout: excerpt from WEB DuBois� Souls of Black Folk

(QUIZ # 2 )

Week #6: 1910-1920s: The Great Migration; the Great War (Feb. 15; Feb 17)

Blacks, Communism and the Red Scare (South and North); Negrophobia; Red Summer of 1919; A. P. Randolph and the Messenger; the Crisis; the Great Migration Northward; the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids; National Urban League; Women�s Suffrage; Blacks and the IWW; from the Delta to Chicago and Harlem.

Franklin: Chp. 16; Chp. 17.

Palmer: Chp. 6: pp. 106-129; Chp. 8: pp. 156-183.

Foner: pp. 304-373

Lerner: pp. 124-146; 500-511; 540-541.

Handout: excerpt from Robin Kelley�s Hammer and Hoe
 
 

Week #7: Age of the New Negro: 1920s (Feb. 22; Feb. 24)

Harlem Rennaissance; Marcus Garvey and Garveyism; Churches and Conferences; Black Conventions; Newspapers; birth of the BLUES.

Franklin: Chp. 18

Palmer: pp. 82-105; pp. 130-155.

Foner: pp. 389-443.

Lerner: p. 169-171; 479-511; 542-553

(MIDTERM EXAM : Wed., February 24th)

Week #8: The 1930s: Black Freedom in the Era of the New Deal (Mar. 1; Mar. 3)

Blacks and the Great Depression; the New Deal; Mary McLeod Bethune; Robert Weaver; northern urban politics; Blacks and radical labor; Negritude

Franklin: Chp. 19

Palmer: Chp.9: pp. 184-201; Chp.10: pp. 202-210.

Foner: pp. 375-389; pp. 445-484; pp. 501-506.

Lerner: pp. 472-478

TURN IN PROJECT PRESENTATION, Wednesday, March 3, 1999.

Week #9: The 1940s: Fighting for Freedom Abroad and at Home (Mar. 8; Mar 10)

Blacks and World War II; the second wave of the Great Migration; the Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA); military desegregation; the National Negro Congress

Franklin: Chp. 20; Chp. 21

Lerner: to be assigned

Foner: pp. 484-500; pp. 507-537.

(QUIZ # 3)

-------------- SPRING BREAK: March 15 - March 20th -------------

Week #10: The 1950s: Constructing Freedom through the Civil Rights, Pan-Africanist, and Anti-Colonial Movements in America and Abroad

(Mar. 22; Mar. 24)

The post World War II Civil Rights legal and educational battles; Charles Houston; Thurgood Marshall; Fanon; Nkrumah; Neyere; DuBois; Brown v. Board of Education

Franklin, Chp. 22.

Palmer, p. 211-218; pp. 219-238.

Foner: pp. 538-570.

Lerner: to be assigned.

Week #11: The 1960s: Claiming Freedom through Civil Rights and Black Power

(Mar 29; Mar 31)

The civil rights movement, the Second Reconstruction; Montgomery to Selma in Alabama; March on Washington; Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s; passive resistance; M. L. King; Malcolm X; equal opportunity programs; the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party; Black elected officials; SCLC; SNCC; Black Panthers; M.L. King; Malcolm X; urban revolts, protests and subsequent laws; churches and economic empowerment; political empowerment; Blacks and the labor movement; the Sullivan Principles and South Africa; Affirmative Action; the Poor People�s Campaign; Memphis Garbage Strike; Operation Breadbasket.

Franklin, Chp. 23.

Palmer, pp. 239-278.

Foner, pp. 571-624.

(QUIZ # 4)
 
 

Week # 12: The 1970s: Maintaining Freedom Gains in the Rising Tide of Conservatism (Ap. 5; Ap. 7)

Black Women and the Women�s Movement; the Bakke Case; Black Labor leadership; Jesse Jackson and Operation PUSH; the Rainbow Coalition; Coleman Young and the status of black mayors nationally; searching for new directions toward freedom.

Foner, pp. 624-679

Handouts: to be assigned

Week # 13: The 1980s and 1990s: Fighting the Deconstruction of Freedom

(Ap. 12; Ap. 14)

The assault of conservatism; Clarence Thomas; Colin Powell; Centrist/liberal-labor-civil rights-women�s alliance; Anita Hill, Sexual Harassment, and black feminist politics (Carol Mosley Braun); Maxine Waters and leadership from the Black Congressional Caucus; hip hop and the culture of disillusionment; Louis Farrakan; the Million Man March; Nelson Mandela and African Americans; South Africa�s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Franklin: Chp. 24

Foner: pp. 680-692

(QUIZ # 5)

Week # 14: Toward 2000 and the 21st Century: Reconstructing Freedom in the New Century (Ap. 19; Ap. 21)

Handout: Excerpts from Robin Kelley

Handout: Excerpts from census data and newspaper articles

Presentation of Research Papers:

(submit and present papers - undergrad students - last Monday)

(submit and present papers - graduate students - last Wednesday)

RESEARCH PAPERS ARE DUE

The FINAL EXAM will be given during the scheduled time of final exam week:

Thursday, April 29th; 10:40 a.m. - 1:10 p.m.; regular classroom
 
 
 
 

THE RESEARCH PAPER REQUIREMENTS:

The research content of each undergraduate student�s research paper (3150) should be seven to eight pages. The paper should include three primary sources and at least three secondary sources.

- The topic must be pre-approved by the instructor.

- The paper should be no less than five and no more than eight full, typed pages of text; double spaced; 12 pitch; one inch margins.

- Two primary sources from the time period are required, such as a newspaper article, a letter, a bill of sale, minutes from a meeting, or an oral history account from a person who had a relevant experience in the time period of your topic.

- At least two secondary sources are required; one may be any of your textbooks.

- Documentation is required: footnotes on each page or endnotes at the end of the five to eight pages of text; a final, separate page should be devoted to listing your bibliography. You may consult Kate Turabian�s A Manual for Writers or Kate Turabian�s Student�s Guide for Writing College Papers. Check the bookstores or WSU library reserve room for Turabian.

- The paper should have a title/cover page.

- Points will be taken away for turning in a late paper.

- You are to turn in the topic for your research paper in addition to your primary and secondary sources no later than Feb. 17th.

- A detailed sheet with guidelines for preparing the research paper and evaluation criteria will be distributed to each student early in the semester.
 
 

BASIC CLASSROOM RULES:

Please abide by the following basic classroom rules: No eating in class; no gum chewing; no talking during lectures without being recognized by the instructor.

Regular attendance in addition to participation in classroom discussions are expected. The roll will be called often. Please be on time for each class. The assigned readings should be read prior to lectures for maximum understanding and the most effective integration of the text materials and lectures.

You may leave a message for me on my voice mail service if you must be absent from class. Please inform me verbally and in writing about absences from class when you return so that I have a written record of all excused absences in my attendance book.

Extra credit projects will not be accepted. However, you are welcome to share any interesting materials or artifacts with the class regarding United States history since 1877.

If a scheduled class is canceled for reasons such as severe weather or an emergency, students are still expected to do the assigned readings for that class.

I encourage all students to network with classmates; exchange telephone numbers; set up study groups early in the term; and talk with the instructor during office hours about lectures, readings, exam preparation and the research paper.
 
 
 

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