HR229-5-SP-CO:
Resistance and Rebellion in the World of Atlantic Slavery
2023/24
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 5
ReassessmentOnly
Monday 15 January 2024
Friday 22 March 2024
15
19 September 2023
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
This module will examine the phenomenon of slave resistance in the Atlantic World from ca. 1522 (the first recorded rebellion by enslaved Africans in the Americas) to 1888, when slavery was finally abolished in Brazil.
The module will begin by examining the ways historians have defined such terms as 'resistance,' 'rebellion,' and 'revolution.' We will then examine some of the more important exemplars, not only in the Americas, but in Africa itself, and even aboard slave ships. Throughout, we will pose two basic questions.
The aims of this module are:
- To introduce a range of theoretical, historiographical and conceptual approaches to the study of slave resistance and slave rebellion, ca. 1522-1881.
- To promote a deep understanding of the place of slave resistance in Atlantic and global history.
- To encourage wider understanding of the primary sources relating to this topic.
- To develop analytical and writing skills.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Have an awareness of key debates concerning resistance and rebellion as applied to the history of slavery.
- Be able to analyse the historiographical debate concerning a key issue in the literature on slave resistance and rebellion.
- Have analysed suitable primary source material in a coherent and well-developed manner.
Where there was slavery, there was resistance. In most cases, the resistance was covert, but instances of open rebellion were surprisingly common, especially considering the steep odds against gaining one's liberty.
The module will ask what the various episodes reveal about the conditions that produced rebellion. It will then ask what rebellions can tell us about slavery in general, whether they constituted--as several historians argue--'moments of truth'.
General Reading List
- P. Curtin, The Rise and Fall of the Plantation Complex: Essays in Atlantic History, 2nd edition (1998).
- D. Eltis and S. Engerman, eds. Cambridge World History of Slavery, vol. 3 (2011).
- Klein and Vinson, African Slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2nd edition (2007).
- P. Kolchin, American Slavery, 1619-1877, 2nd edition (2003).
- P. Lovejoy, Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa, 2nd edition (2000).
- Paquette and Smith, The Oxford Handbook of Slavery in the Americas (2010).
- J. Rodriguez, Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion (2007).
This module will be delivered via:
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Curtin, P.D. (1998)
The rise and fall of the plantation complex: essays in Atlantic history. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at:
https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819414.
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H.S. Klein and B. Vinson (2007)
African slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Available at:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5825727.
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Genovese, E.D. (1979)
From rebellion to revolution: Afro-American slave revolts in the making of the modern world. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=439153.
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J.C. Scott (1985)
Weapons of the weak: everyday forms of peasant resistance. New Haven: Yale University Press. Available at:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/j.ctt1nq836.
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Gloria García Rodríguez (2011)
Voices of the enslaved in nineteenth-century Cuba: a documentary history. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=380131.
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Fradera, J.M. and Schmidt-Nowara, C. (2013)
Slavery and Antislavery in Spain’s Atlantic Empire. New York, NY: Bergahn Books. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=630220&site=ehost-live.
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Price, R. (ed.) (1996)
Maroon societies: rebel slave communities in the Americas. Third edition. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Available at:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=739583.
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Long, E. (1970)
The history of Jamaica, or general survey of the ancient and modern state of that island: with reflections on its situations, settlements, inhabitants, climate, products, commerce, laws, and government. New ed. [London]: F. Cass. Available at:
https://data.historicaltexts.jisc.ac.uk/view?pubId=ecco-0565500302&pageId=ecco-0565500302-4660.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Prof Sean Kelley, email: skelley@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Sean Kelley
Belinda Waterman, Department of History, 01206 872313
Yes
Yes
No
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
Of 451 hours, 30 (6.7%) hours available to students:
421 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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