In this course, students will engage with the history of resistance to slavery in Africa, the Caribbean and the Americas. Students will analyse primary sources, material culture, and historical literature associated with a series of case studies from the Jamaican Maroon War in 1728 until the Benin Expedition of 1897. These case studies will provide the basis for comparative approaches to systems of slavery; exploring the question of 'agency' in the historical of experiences of enslavement; and the role played by enslaved people in the abolition of slavery.

10 x 2 hour seminars over 10 weeks as scheduled in MyCampus.

HIST5190

None

Blog post (1000 words) -30%

Essay (3000 words) - 70%

This course aims to:

■ Analyse different types of resistance across a wide range of geographic and cultural settings

■ Critically evaluate some of the key challenges that historians face in analysing primary sources related to slavery

■ Explore the 'unintended outcomes' of abolition legislation

■ Offer practice handling in a critical manner archival and other primary sources related to slavery

■ Examine public history interpretations of resistance to slavery

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Appraise key theoretical and historiographic issues concerning resistance to slavery;

■ Discuss the role enslaved resistance played in the abolition of slavery;

■ Analyse and interpret primary sources related to slavery and slave resistance, and integrate them into analysis of secondary historical writings to produce informed conclusions;

■ Critically evaluate museum exhibitions, heritage sites, and memorials to slavery; and

■ Propose informed conclusions about how resistance to slavery altered the course of imperial history.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.