PDEV 6619 - Black Yankees, New England’s Hidden Roots: Intellectual Traditions and the Evolution of Community, 1750-1910

3 cr.

Using a variety of humanistic expression-speeches and writings of scholars and activists, slave narratives, poetry, fiction, music and fine arts- the content illumines the ways in which African-Americans, during the 17th-19th century New England influenced American expressions and traditions of freedom and democracy. This course covers themes such as the role of the black church, the strong but under-recognized influence of black women writers, activist and artist, economic life and work, the black abolitionist movement, and the pictorial representation of African Americans.