Weekly on Wednesdays, beginning March 27th and concluding on May 29th (10 weeks).

This 10-session course studies the U.S. Abolitionist Movement to End Slavery. It looks at important events and at the movement’s debates about approach and methods. A fundamental focus will be political strategy and the relationship between class and race. Fundamental to the success of the movement to abolish slavery was the rebellion, running away, slave narratives and overall leadership of the enslaved, fugitive and freed Black people which had a great ideological impact on the rest of the population. Also, the Anti-Slavery Movement took place against the backdrop of the first Industrial Revolution, which perhaps provides some parallels to social and political struggles today and the current Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Some key questions we address include: What were the stages of the movement to end slavery? Who were the different social forces engaged in dismantling and maintaining slavery? The ideas and politics of the movement to end slavery can teach us valuable lessons for today’s struggles. This course aims prepare participants for deeper study of W.E.B. Du Bois’ Black Reconstruction in America.