79-164 Freshman Seminar: The Slave Passage: From West Africa to the Americas
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
The Slave Passage begins among flourishing, technologically advanced, and globally connected Western African societies before the advent of the transAtlantic slave trade. It answers questions that have preoccupied historians for decades what social, political, and economic factors propelled Western African states and stateless societies to engage in the transAtlantic trade in captives Did slavery exist in Africa before the advent of European trade Who were the Africans who were captured and taken from their homelands It tells the painful story of Western Africas transformation as a result of the transAtlantic slave trade and African captives experiences in the horrors of the Middle Passage. The course bears witness to the humanity of more than 150,000 souls imported from Western Africa to the New World by piecing together the historical record of the Middle Passage and recovering the stories of the suffering captives experienced aboard the slaving vessels and their multiple strategies of resistance. It examines the changing technology of the slave ships on which they were imprisoned. Lastly, the course will explore the Creole cultures and languages created by the descendants of enslaved Africans in various ports in the New World. Students will read and analyze slave narratives, slave ship logs, and autobiographies of former enslaved people, watch and analyze films depicting the Middle Passage and New World enslavement, and engage in public history andor artistic performances related to the subject matter.
Prerequisites: none listed
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