WOMEN AND SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES
A social history of women and race-based legal slaveholding in colonial British North America and the United States, 1619-1865. Special attention will be paid to enslaved Black women and slaveholding white women; discuss why there is so little scholarship about enslaved Indigenous women. Wrestle with the following questions: How and why was race-based slavery established in the colonies that would become the United States of America? How and why did gender conventions affect enslavement and slaveholding? How did enslaved and slaveholding women experience bondage and slaveholding over time and space? What are the structural legacies of race-based slavery and gender?
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: Junior standing Course Designation: Core GenEd - Humanities & Arts Ethnic St - Ethnic Studies Breadth - Humanities Level - Advanced L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Grad 50% - Counts toward 50% graduate coursework requirement Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Explain how sex and gender affected the experience of enslavement and slaveholding in colonial North America and the United States. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Articulate how both enslaved and slaveholding women shaped the institution of slavery Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Appreciate the multitude of contributions made by women in the social, political, and economic development of the North American colonies and the early American Republic. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Describe the creation, development, and legacies of race-based slavery in colonial North America and the United States. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Analyze primary documents and succinctly summarize historical information from various secondary sources. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 6. Describe how certain histories have been valued and devalued, and how these differences have promulgated disparities in contemporary American society. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 7. Communicate with others in a way that displays an understanding of racial inequities in the US. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 8. Understand and apply the primary theories and methods employed by scholars of African American history. Audience: Graduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Explain how sex and gender affected the experience of enslavement and slaveholding in colonial North America and the United States. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 2. Articulate how both enslaved and slaveholding women shaped the institution of slavery Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 3. Appreciate the multitude of contributions made by women in the social, political, and economic development of the North American colonies and the early American Republic. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 4. Describe the creation, development, and legacies of race-based slavery in colonial North America and the United States. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 5. Analyze primary documents and succinctly summarize historical information from various secondary sources. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 6. Describe how certain histories have been valued and devalued, and how these differences have promulgated disparities in contemporary American society. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 7. Communicate with others in a way that displays an understanding of racial inequities in the US. Audience: Both Grad & Undergrad 8. Understand and apply the primary theories and methods employed by scholars of African American history. Audience: Graduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027