RELI283

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RELI283

Three Generals In the Lord's Army RELI283 FA

Crosslistings: AFAM239

Next Offered in 9899 FA

This course will investigate the specific ways in which religion was used by slaves as a political and revolutionary tool to combat their enslavement. Focus will be placed on the African slave trade phenomenon, the heritage of New World slaves, the historical roots of slavery in North America and the justifications advanced for its "legalized" institution. Special emphasis will be placed upon the lives and times of three black men--Gabriel Prosser, Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner--as key examples of the slaves' continued resistance to enslavement and of the ways the slaves' religion was incorporated into their liberation struggles.

MAJOR READINGS

A. Bontemps, BLACK THUNDER
B. Hurmence, BEFORE FREEDOM
W. Jordan, THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN
P. Kolchin, AMERICAN SLAVERY: 1619-1877
D. Mathews, RELIGION IN THE OLD SOUTH
A. Raboteau, SLAVE RELIGION
D. White, AR'N'T I A WOMAN?

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Three papers: 1) a short essay (3 pages); 2) a midterm essay (5-8 pages); and a final essay (15 pages)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

This course fulfills a "Religion in Society" departmental requirement. Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: SBS RELI

Prerequisites: None

Last Updated on MAR-03-1998

About the Photo:

Negroes' church, South Carolina, 1936

Reference:

Raboteau, Albert J. SLAVE RELIGION: THE "INVISIBLE INSTITUTION" IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978

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