Discipline: History Degree Credit  [ ]
Non Credit  [ ]
Nondegree Credit  [ ]
Comm Service  [ ]
 

Riverside Community College District
Integrated Course Outline of Record

History 14


COURSE DESCRIPTION
14 African American History I Units: 3.00
 
Prerequisite(s): None.

Advisory: Qualification for English 1A
A selected study of the complex continent from which African Americans came with special emphasis on the historical, political and socio-cultural aspects of African civilizations in Ancient Egypt and the western Sudan; the transformation of the continent and of Africans through the transatlantic slave trade; and a study of the African American experience during their confinement as slaves in British North America and the early national and ante-bellum periods through the Civil War and Emancipation. 54 hours lecture.
 
SHORT DESCRIPTION FOR CLASS SCHEDULE
A survey of African American history beginning with Classical African and West African civilizations through the trans-Atlantic slave trade, American chattel slavery and abolition to the Civil War and emancipation.
 
ADVISORY ENTRY SKILLS
None.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
  • Analyze and interpret scholarly debates about ancient African history and the concept of race;
  • Identify the impact of the trans-Saharan trade and of Islam on the development of the Ancient Sudanese empires;
  • Describe the arrival of Europeans in West Africa, their introduction of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the relationship of capitalism to slavery, and debate the impact of the European partition of  Africa;
  • Interpret the meaning of the African struggle for freedom in America through discussion, debate, analysis and interpretation of  lectures, readings, primary documents and periodicals;
  • Describe the evolving status of Africans in the United States by law and by custom;
  • Identify issues facing  African Americans today based on an understanding of the historical context of  contemporary concerns.

 
 
COURSE CONTENT
  TOPICS
 
  • Classical Africa
  • Egypt and Nile Valley Regions B.C. E. (before the Christian Era)
  • academic debates on African origins of western civilization
  • concepts of race
  • Sudanese Empires
  • trans-Saharan trade
  • rise of Islam
  • rise and fall of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay
  • European Advancement
  • trans-Atlantic slave trade
  • capitalism and slavery
  • impact on Africa
  • * European partition
  • * African independence
  • From Freedom to Slavery:  Enslavement in the Americas
  • Middle Passage
  • comparative slavery in the western hemisphere
  • British North American slavery
  • Protest and Struggle
  • paradoxes of freedom and slavery during revolutionary period
  • emancipation, manumission, colonization movement
  • forms of resistance to enslavement
  • Becoming African American
  • plantation communities
  • diversity of experiences of enslavement
  • evolution of Free Black communities
  • From Slavery to Freedom:  Ante-bellum Years and Civil Warleadership and institution building: abolition, convention movements, church political debates concerning slavery extension
  • Civil War and emancipation

Students are also assigned reading, writing and other outside assignments equivalent to two hours per one hour lecture

 
 
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
 Methods of instruction used to achieve student learning outcomes may include, but are not limited to:

  • Lectures which both disseminate information and pose problems;
  • Group and panel discussions; discussions which emphasize the ability to think critically;
  • Field trip;
  • Instructional Media:  films/videos/slides/audio tapes/graphic displays;
  • On-line instruction.    
  • May require assigned outside reading, which involves independent research in addion to the required readings.

 
 
METHODS OF EVALUATION
 Students will be evaluated for progress in and/or mastery of learning outcomes by methods of evaluation which may include, but are not limited to:

  • Quizzes; examinations containing objective questions (multiple choice, matching, fill-in and essay) and essay questions emphasizing critical thinking and analysis;
  • Class participation; oral reports, presentations; group and individual projects;
  • Outside written work such as research papers, term reports, and interpretive essays.
ASSIGNMENTS

Required Reading Assignments


Required Writing Assignments


Other Outside-of-Class Assignments
 
COURSE MATERIALS
 All materials used in this course will be periodically reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for college level instruction. Possible texts include:

  • Bernal, Martin. Black Athena: The Afroasian Roots of Classical Civilization. New Brunswick, NJ: any, 1991.
  • Boahen, Adu. Topics in West African History. Essex, England: Addison Wesley Longman, 1986.
  • Franklin, John Hope. From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans. 8 ed. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2000.
  • Harding, Vincent. There is a River: The Black Struggle for Freedom in America. NY: Vintage Books, 1983.
  • Hine, Darlene Clark. The African American Odyssey. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2003.
  • Niane, D T. . Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. Essex, England: Longman, 1965.
  • Ripley, C. Peter ed. . Witness for Freedom: African American Voices on Race, Slavery and Emancipation. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993.
  • Williams, Eric. Capitalism and Slavery. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1944.
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