Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave:
Berkeley Digital Library (1997) http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Literature/Douglass/Autobiography/
AFRO-American Almanac (2001) http://www.toptags.com/aama/books/book10.htm
The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches by W. E. Burghardt. Du Bois
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DubSoul.html
Additional Resources:
Hynes, Gerald C. (2001) A Biographical Sketch of W.E.B. DuBois WEB DuBois Learning Center. http://www.duboislc.org/man.html.
W.E.B. DuBois Chronology (2000) Implications of Race,Culture and Pan Africanism in the Global Village. W.E.B. DuBois Symposium 2/5/2000. http://americanhistory.si.edu/paac/dubois/#chronology
The Frederick Douglass Papers. (2001) Library of Congress. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/doughome.html
Reconstruction: The Second Civil War. (2004) The American Experience. PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/index.html This is an excellent resources on Reconstruction period.
Lincoln, Abraham. (1863) The Emancipation Proclamation. National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/ncro/anti/emancipation.htmlTime Line of African American History, 1852-1925. (1998) African American Perspectives. The Library of Congress. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/timeline.html
(Note that there are three separate timelines; the link takes you to the first (1852-1880) and two additional timelines are available from that page.Mihail, T. (2004) Civil Rights Support Services Links. Purdue University Calumet. http://www.tommihail.net/GreekProf_civil_rights.html
WEB DuBois (1906) addresses the "Men of Niagra," Harper's Ferry, WV, Aug. 16, 1906. Speech http://www.pbs.org/greatspeeches/timeline/
Reading Assignment:
Week One (1/26/04-1/30/04)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
I. Monday, 1/26/04 Truth, Testimony and Denial: the meanings of history
"Great care should be observed in the statement of facts."
T.D. Weld, 1839
Readings: Introduction, Preface and Letters of Reference (pp. ix-12)
II. Wednesday, 1/28/04 Conditions of life under slavery in antebellum Maryland
"Thus is Slavery the enemy of both the slave and the slaveholder".
F. Douglass, 1845
Readings: Chapters 1-8 (pp. 42-86)
III Friday, 1/30/04 Freedom and the Fight for Abolition
"I have only one life to lose. I had as well be killed running as die standing."
F. Douglass, 1845
Readings: Chapters 9-Apendix (pp. 42-86)
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Week Two (2/2/04-2/6/04)
The Souls of Black Folk
"Leaving, then, the world of the white man, I have stepped within the Veil, raising it that you may view faintly its deeper recesses…"
W.E.B. Du Bois, 1903
I. Monday, 2/2/04 The Veil and Double Consciousness
Readings:
The Forethought (pp. v-vi)
Chapter 1: Of Our Spiritual Strivings (pp. 1-7)
Chapter 11: Of the Passing of the First-Born (pp. 127-131)
II. Wednesday, 2/4/04 Incomplete Emancipation: reconstruction and the South at the turn of the 20th century
Readings:
Chapter 2: Of the Dawn of Freedom (pp. 9-24)
Chapter 4: Of the Meaning of Progress (pp. 37-45)
III. Friday, 2/6/04 Competing Visions: the purposes of education
Readings:
Chapter 3: Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others (pp. 25-35)
Chapter 5: Of the Wings of Atalanta (pp. 47-54)
Chapter 6: Of the Training of Black Men (pp. 55-67)
Supplemental Presentations and Materials
City Walking Tour: New Era, New Politics
February 3 at 10 AM
90 minute guided walking tour highlighting points of interest in African American history in downtown Oakland. Tour begins at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th Street, Oakland. Free.
510-238-3234
ESSAY QUESTIONS FOR DOUGLASS AND DU BOIS
Susan Sperling
1. The scholar J. Blassingame has written of nineteenth century autobiography that “truth, history and divinity met as the autobiographer struggled to reveal his or her inner character.” How does this apply to Douglass’s narrative. Please cite specific events and passages in the book to illustrate this thesis.
2. Although a number of slave narratives were published before Emancipation, Frederick Douglass’s autobiography became the most noted and celebrated of these. Analyze the reasons for this fact and support your thesis with specific historical data about slave narratives in general and specific quotations from Douglass’s autobiography.
3. Douglass maintains that slavery dehumanized both the slave and slaveholder. Quoting specific passages in the Narrative, support this thesis with examples.
4. Douglass defines freedom as more than escape from the slaveholders. What is freedom according to Douglass and how does he achieve it? Make sure to cite specific examples from the Narrative.
5. Du Bois refers to the concept of the “Double Consciousness” of African Americans. What does he mean by this term? Please be specific and refer to his writings on this subject. How do the racist images in the video Ethnic Notions perpetuate “Double Consciousness”?
6. In Chapter II of The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois praises the goals of the Freedmen’s Bureau and many of its achievements. What, in his observation, were its achievements and failures? Be specific and cite the text. How does his view agree or differ with that of your high school history text on the subject of Reconstruction?
7. In The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois asserts that Emancipation is incomplete. What are his rationales for this statement? In your view, would Du Bois believe that the same is true today? Be as specific as possible and cite some data to support your thesis about this question.
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Last Updated 2/2/04 - SH