The Multiracial History of Slavery & Servitude in America

4 credits · Undergraduate

This course introduces students to the entwined, overlapping, multiracial histories of involuntary servitude and slavery in British North America/the United States. We will cover topics such as Native American systems of bondage, European enslavement of Indigenous men, women, and children, the often-forcible transport to and compulsory servitude of European migrants, the captivity and enslavement of African-descended people, and the coerced servitude of Asian migrants in the 19th century. The class concludes by considering the development of the post-Civil War penal state and the rise of mass incarceration. Students will leave the class with a more expansive understanding of American systems of captivity from settlement to the present.