History 270sr - Colloquium: Topics in American History-Anatomy of a Slave Revolt

During slavery, white Americans, especially U.S. slaveholders, feared the specter of insurrection. Uprisings at Stono or those led by Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner proved that slaves often fought back. Yet the central historiographical question remains: why didn’t U.S. slaves overthrow enslavement like Haitian slaves did on Santo Domingo? Enslaved people challenged slavery in a variety of ways including violence, revolts, maroon communities, truancy, passing, suicide and day-to-day resistance. This course examines the primary documents and contentious historical debates surrounding the import of slave resistance, primarily in the American South. Students examine slave societies, theories on race, gender, sexuality and resistance, as well as modern literature and film to investigate violent and nonviolent resistance and how they are memorialized both in history and in the popular imagination. Enrollment limited to 18.