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History 4703
A History of Blacks and Racial Segregation in Canada
Winter/Spring Term, 2017
Graham Reynolds
CE 250
Course Outline
Course Description
The course focuses on the black experience and the history of racial segregation in Canada. It traces the narrative of race in Canadian history from the institution of slavery under French and British rule during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad in the nineteenth century to the civil rights movement during the twentieth century. The course provides students with an understanding of the black experience in Canada and the central importance race has played in Canadian history. Students will also critically examine the history of race relations in Canada in relation to similar patterns that existed in the United States.
Course Objectives
In examining the history of race relations in Canada, students will gain a comparative perspective of the similarities and differences between the narratives of race in Canada and the United States. The course assignments and activities will focus on the topics of slavery, the abolitionist movement, the Underground Railroad, Jim Crow racial segregation and the civil rights movement in Canada and United States.
Course Texts
- Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes (Toronto: Harper Collins, 2007)
2. Graham Reynolds, Viola Desmond’s Canada: A History of Blacks and Racial
Segregation in the Promised Land (Winnipeg: Fernwood, 2016)
- Harvey Amani Whitfield, North of Bondage: Slavery in the Maritimes
(Vancouver: UBC Press, 2016)
Assignments and Evaluation
There are two major assignments for this course: a book review and a research project. You may select any course related book of your own choosing (including the course texts) for your book review assignment or you may select one from the recommended list of books below. The book review should describe and evaluate the central thesis of the book (500-750 words). It is due March 21, 2017.
For your research project, you may choose to write a research essay on any course related topic (3000 words) or you may choose any one of the following alternative research projects: a unit plan for teachingCanadian history or African Canadian Studies; a Web Quest project (similar to those found on the Great Unsolved Mysteries in Canadian History web site); a video documentary; a Wikipedia entry on an African-Canadian of historical significance;a graphic historical novel or piece of historical fiction. The research proposal should provide a 1-3 page statement of thesis and description of your project together with a working bibliography. The research proposal is due February 14, 2017; the final draft of the research project is due on April 4, 2017
The course research project should demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research using a variety of primary and secondary sources as well as critical thinking and the ability to present research in a clear and well-organized manner. You will make a class presentation in relation to the research project on March 28, 2017.
Evaluation:
Book Review………………………………………………………..………….….20%
Research proposal……………………………………………………….…..….10%
Research project (including class presentation)……………………50%
Take home exam………………………………………………………………….20%
Class Schedule
January 18 Introduction: the course in overview
January 17Racism in Canada and race as a social category
Readings: Graham Reynolds, Viola Desmond’s Canada; A History
of Blacks and Racial Segregation in the Promised Land (Fernwood,
2016), pp.1-11;“The Anthropological Association Statement on Race” (handout); Ashley Montague, “The Concept of Race in the Human Species in Light of Genetics” (handout)
January 24The origin of racial slavery
Readings: Winthrop Jordan, “First Impressions” from The White
Man’s Burden (handout); Edmund S. Morgan, American Slavery,
American Freedom (W.W. Norton, 1975), pp. 293-338; Audrey
Smedley, “Origin of the Idea of Race, Anthropological Newsletter,
(November, 1997), available online at:
pbs.org/race/000_About/002_04-background-02-09.htm
January 31-
February 7Slavery and freedom in Canada under French and British rule
Readings: Ken Donovan, “Slaves and Their Owners in Ile Royale,
1713-1760, Acadiensis 25, 1995; Harvey Amani Whitfield, North of
Bondage: Slavery in the Maritimes; Graham Reynolds, Viola
Desmond’s Canada pp.14-26; 88-113
February 14The Underground Railroad and the Black Settlements in Canada
Readings: Graham Reynolds, Viola Desmond’s Canada, pp. 26-34
Marie Carter, “Reimaging the Dawn Settlement” in The Promised land: History and Historiography of the Black Experience in Chatham-Kent’s Settlements and Beyond, Ed. BoulouEbana de B’beri, Nina Reid-Maroney, and Handel Kashope Wright (University of Toronto, 2014), pp.176-192.
February 28 Urban-Industrialization,Black immigration and “The Negro Problem” in Canada during the early 20th century
Readings: Graham Reynolds, Viola Desmond’s Canada, pp. 114- 145; Elizabeth Beaton, “An African-American Community in Cape
Breton 1901-1904,” Acadiensis20, 1, 1995
March 7-14The Culture of Racism in Canada
Reading: Graham Reynolds, Viola Desmond’s Canada, pp.146-176
March 28Class presentations
Selected List of Books
1. Backhouse, Constance. 1999. Colour-Coded: A Legal History of Racism in Canada,
1900-1950. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
2. Bordewich, Fercus M. 2005. Bound for Canaan: The Epic Story of the Underground
Railroad, America’s First Civil Rights Movement.New York: Harper Collins.
3. Clairmont, Donald H. and Dennis William Magill. 1999. Africville: The Life and Death
of a Canadian Black Community, Third Edition. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press
4. Cooper, Afua. 2006. The Hanging of Angelique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery
and the Burning of Old Montreal. Toronto: Harper Perennial
5. Frost, Karolyn Smardz. 2007. I’ve Got A Home In Glory Land: A Lost Tale of The
Underground Railroad. New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux.
6. Mathieu, Sarah-Jane. 2010. North of the Color Line: Migration and Black Resistance
in British North America, 1870-1955. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina
Press.
7. Pitsula, James. 2013. Keeping Canada British: The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s
Saskatchewan. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
8. Schama, Simon. 2006. Rough Crossing: Britain, the Slaves and the American
Revolution. New York: Haper Collins.
9. Trudel, Marcel. 1960. L’Esclavage Au Canada Francais: Histoire et Conditions de
L’Esclavage. Quebec: Les Presses Universitaires Laval.
10. Walker, James W. St. G. 1993. The Black Loyalists: The Search for a Promised Land in
Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
11. Whitfield, Harvey Amani. 2006. Black on the Border: The Black Refugees in British
North America.Burlington Vermont: University of Vermont Press.
12. Whitehead, Ruth Holmes. 2013. Black Loyalists: Southern Settlers of Nova Scotia’s
First Free Black Communities.Halifax: Nimbus Publishing.
13. Williams, Dorothy. 1997. The Road to Nowhere: A History of Blacks in Montreal.
Montreal: Vehicule Press.
14. Winks, Robin. 1997. The Blacks in Canada: A History, 2nd Edition. Montreal: McGill-
Queen’s Press.
Attendance
You are expected to attend and participate in each class. If you have a legitimate excuse for missing a class, please provide notification well in advance of class.