HST 349 COMPARATIVE SLAVERY IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD
Why did slaves rebel? Or to ask a different, but equally important, question: Why didn't every slave rebel? Over the course of this semester we will briefly examine slavery in the ancient world, systems of slavery in West Africa, and more deeply explore the evolution of slave societies in the New World-North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean-in an effort to begin to address these questions. We will devote the rest of the semester to studying the various forms of resistance that enslaved men and women engaged in from the 16th through the 19th centuries. We will explore the individual acts of resistance that steadily chipped away at the peace of mind of slave owners as well as the collective, violent rebellions that so terrified slave owners and non-slave owners alike.