History 2410
Riot and
Revolution in 19th Century Africa:
Department of History
Cornell University
Spring Semester 2009
2:55-4:10
M&W
Instructor: Prof. Sandra E. Greene Office Hours: 1:45-2:30
M&W and by appt.
Office: 303 Mc Graw Hall Office Phone: 5-4124
E-mail: seg6@cornell.edu
Course Description:
As
a history course, Riot and Revolution
explores three major transformative events in the history of Africa: the rapid
and often times forceful expansion of Islam in West Africa, the transformation of the Zulu from a small,
inconsequential people to the largest and most powerful ethnic group in South
Africa, and the rapid and late rise of a regional slave trade in east and
central Africa. This course explores
these revolutionary changes and the upheavals that accompanied them as Africa
remade itself to face the modern era.
Lectures, readings and discussions will focus on the causes and
consequences of these events and their significance for understanding contemporary
Africa
As
a writing course, it also provides students with the opportunity to compose
short essays (six in all) that provide a foundation for longer essays on the
three themes examined in the course.
Emphasis in placed on analytical writing in which students are expected
to work with both primary and secondary sources to develop their own
perspective on how one should understand the revolutionary events in 19th
century Africa that established the foundation for Africans to engage the
twentieth century. Students will also
be given the opportunity to rewrite the short essays and the long essays when
their grades on these assignments fall below a “B” or “√.”
Texts: (ALL ARE ON RESERVE IN URIS
LIBRARY)
1. Peter C. Sederberg, Fires Within: Political Violence
and Revolutionary Change.
(1994: Addison Wesley, NY) CUSTOM TEXT (CT)
2.
David Robinson and Douglas Smith Sources
of the African Past. (1979: Africana Pub. NY)
3. Mervyn Hiskett, The Sword of Truth: The Life and Times of the Shehu Usuman dan Fodio (1973:
Oxford University Press, NY) CUSTOM
TEXT (CT)
4. Daphna Golan, Inventing Shaka: Using History in the Construction of Zulu Nationalism (1994:
Lynne Rienner, Boulder) CUSTOM
TEXT
5.
Marcia Wright, Strategies of
Slaves and Women: Life Stores from
East/Central Africa
(1993: Lilian Barber, NY) CUSTOM TEXT (CT)
6. Articles: All articles listed in the syllabus will be
on reserve in Uris Library (UR)
Course Organization:
This
course is divided into three segments.
The first will be concerned with the Islamic jihad in 19th century
northern Nigeria. The second examines
the rise of the Zulus in southern Africa as a major force in the region, and
the third focuses on 19th century East African history, when slavery and the
slave trade were emerging in the region just as the Atlantic slave trade
was ending in West Africa. This period saw one of the only major slave
revolts in Africa at a time Europe was just beginning to explore the region for
possible colonization.
In
each of these sections, we will begin by reading about recent events, for only
by knowing what is going on today can one really appreciate the significance of
the riots and revolutions that occurred in the nineteenth century. These
recent–event readings are followed by a text that introduces the history of the
area being studied. We then read some of the most recent secondary literature
on the area that is useful for determining whether the riots and revolutions
that we are studying have been truly revolutionary. Thereafter, selections from
primary sources are provided so that students can use some of the same
documents employed by scholars in the field to establish their own
understanding of this history.
Lectures
will be kept to a minimum.
Emphasis
is on reading common texts before class and then using class time to discuss
these readings. Short response essays
(2-3 pages) will be required at the end of many weeks. These should be brief
essays that indicate how the data from
the week’s previous readings and discussions can be used to support the
idea that the events studied are or are not
revolutionary based on the previous week’s readings and
discussions. They should also form the
foundation for the long essays. A long
essay or final paper (about 10-12 pages) will be required for each of the three
sections.
Course Requirements:
Six
Response essays………...............................................……………………
.............…...30%
Three
long
essays..........……...............................................………………………................50%
Class
attendance and
participation...……...............................................................................20%
Course Schedule:
Week 1: Introduction
Mon.
(Jan. 19): Introduction to Course/Instructor/ Students
and to Islam
Readings
Readings: On Reserve (UR):
1a. Hunwick, John, “An
African Case Study of Political Islam”, in Annals, American Academy of
Political Science Studies (524)
1992, 143-155.
1b. Imam, Ayesha M. “Politics, Islam and Women in Kano, Northern
Nigeria” in Identity Politcs and Women.
Edited by V. Moghadam (Boulder:
Westerview, 1994) 123-144.
2a. “Rising Muslim Power in Africa causes Unrest In
Nigeria and Elsewhere”, NY Times, 1 November 2001, A14.
2b. Elizabeth Isichei, “The Maitatsine Risings in
Nigeria, 1980-85: A Revolt of the Disinherited.” Journal
of Religion in Africa, XVII, 3 (1987) 194-208.
Week 2: The Jihad
Mon.
(Jan. 26: Uthman dan Fodio in Context-Part I
Readings:
UR: David Robinson, “Revolutions
in the Western Sudan,” in History of Islam in Africa. Edited
by N. Levtzion and R. Pouwels (1999)
131-152.
CT: Hiskett, Mervyn, The Sword of Truth: The Life and Times of the Shehu Usuman dan
Fodio Chapters 1-5
Wed
(Jan. 28): Uthman dan Fodio in Context-
Part II
Readings:
CT: Hiskett, Mervyn, The Sword of Truth: The Life and Times of the Shehu Usuman dan
Fodio Chapters 6-10.
Mon.
(Feb. 2): Women, Slavery and the Slave
Trade
Readings:
On Reserve (UR):
5.: Willis,
John Ralph, “Jihad and the Ideology of Enslavement”, in Slaves and Slavery
in Muslim Africa. Edited by J. R.
Willis (London: Frank Cass,
1985) 16-26.
6. Hiskett,
M. “Enslavement, Slavery and Attitudes
Towards the Legally Enslavable in Hausa Islamic
Literature”, in Slaves and
Slavery in Muslim Africa
7. Beverly, Mack “Women and Slavery in Nineteenth Century Hausaland”, in Slavery and Abolition, 13, 1 (1992)
89-110.
Wed.
(Feb. 4): Islam, Slavery and Seclusion
Readings:
On Reserve (UR):
8.Calloway,
Barbara Muslim Hausa Women in Nigeria
(Syracuse: Syracuse Univ. Press, 1987) 56-60
9. Cooper, Barbara M. “Reflections on Slavery, Seclusion and Female Labor in the Maradi Region
of Niger in the Nineteenth
and Twentienth Centuries”, in Journal of African History 35 (1994) 61-78.
RESPONSE ESSAY DUE MONDAY,
FEBRUARY 9.
Week 4: Religion and the Arts
Mon.
(Feb. 9): Islam and Women, Religion and Music in Hausaland
Readings:
On Reserve (UR):
10. Calloway, Barbara Muslim
Hausa Women in Nigeria , 1-15.
11. Michael
Onwuegjeogwu, “The Cult of the Bori Spirits among the Hausa”, in Man in Africa. Edited by
Mary Douglas and Phyllis
Kaberry (New York: Tavistock, 1969).
12. Erlmann,
Veit, Music and the Islamic Reform in the
Early Sokoto Empire. (Stuttgart: Steiner, 1986) Chapers Five, Six and
Seven.
Wed.
(Feb. 11): FILM: Kings and Cities by Basil Davidson
RESPONSE ESSAY DUE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16.
Mon.
(Feb. 16)): Primary Sources
Readings:
Robinson, David and
Douglas Smith, Sources of the African
Past. Chapter Four, 124-143.
Wed.
(Feb. 18): Primary Sources
Readings:
Robinson, David and Douglas
Smith, Sources of the African Past.
Chapter Four, 143-156.
Week 6: Was this a
Revolution?
Mon.
(Feb. 23): What
is a Revolution?
Readings:
CT: Sederberg, Peter C. Fires
Within: Political Violence and
Revolutionary Change. Chapters Two (54-62), and Five,.
Wed
(Feb. 25): Who is a Revolutionary and How does one Revolutionize?
Readings:
CT: Sederberg, Peter C. Fires
Within: Political Violence and Revolutionary Change. Chapters
Seven and Eight.
Week 7: COURSE BREAK
Mon.
(Mar. 2): COURSE BREAK/ WORK ON
LONG ESSAY
Wed. (Mar. 4): COURSE BREAK / WORK ON LONG ESSAY
LONG ESSAY DUE MONDAY ,
MARCH 9
Week 8: The Zulu:
Past and Present
Mon.
(Mar. 9): The Facts
Lecture/Readings::
On Reserve:
15. J. D.
Omer-Cooper, Zulu Aftermath. Chapter 1
and 2.
Wed.
(Mar. 11): The Fictions: Invented
Histories- Part I
Readings:
Golan, Daphna, Inventing Shaka.. Chapters 1-3.
Week 9: Mar.16-18:
SPRING BREAK
Mon.
(Mar. 23): Myths and Meanings
Readings:
Golan Daphna, Inventing Shaka, Chapters 4-5.
Wed.(Mar.
25): Myths and Meanings on Film
FILM: SHAKA ZULU
RESPONSE ESSAY DUE MONDAY,
MARCH 30.
Mon.(Mar.
30): The Mfecane: Did it Actually Occur?
Readings
On Reserve (UR)
15. Julian
Cobbing, “The Mfecane as Alibi: Thoughts
on Dithakong and Mbolompo”, in Journal of African History, 29
(1988) 487-519.
16.
Eldredge, Elizabeth “Sources of Conflict in Southern Africa, c. 1800-1830: The ‘Mfecane’ Reconsidered”, in Journal of African
History, 33 (1992) 1-35.
17. Hamilton,
Carolyn Anne “‘The Character and Objects of Chaka’” A Reconsideration of the Making of Shaka as Mfecane’
Motor”, in Journal of African History, 33 (1992) 37-63.
Wed.
(Apr. 1): Shaka - What Can We Really Know About Him?
Readings
On Reserve (UR):
18. Worger,
William, “Clothing Dry Bones: The Myth
of Shaka”, Journal of African Studies, 6, 3
(1979) 144-158.
19. Wylie, Dan, “Textual Incest: Nathanial Issacs and the Development of the Shaka Myth”, in History in Africa 19 (1992)
411-433.
20. Wylie, Dan, “Proprietor of Natal: Henry Francis Fynn and the Mythology of Shaka”, in History in Africa. 22 (1995) 409- 437.
RESPONSE ESSAY DUE MONDAY
MARCH 30.
Week 12: Was It a Revolution?
Mon.
(Apr. 6): Point/Counterpoint
Readings:
On Reserve (UR):
21. J. Omer-Cooper, “The Mfecane Survives its
Critics”, in The Mfecane Aftermath
(Johannesburg: University of Wits.
Press, 1995) 277-298.
22. Margaret Kinsman, “‘Hungry Wolves’: The Impact of Violence on Rolong Life, 1823-1836”,
in The Mfecane Aftermath (Johannesburg: University of Wits. Press, 1995) 363-393.
Wed.
(Apr. 8):
Readings:
On Reserve (UR):
23. Jeff Guy, “Gender oppression in southern
Africa’s precapitalist societies,” in Women
and Gender in Southern Africa. Edited by
24. Sean Hanretta, “Women, Marginality and the
Zulu State: Women’s Institutions and Power in the Early Nineteenth Century,” Journal of African History, 39 (1998)
389-415.
RESPONSE ESSAY DUE MONDAY APRIL 20.
Week 13: The Primary Sources: An Informed Look
Mon.(Apr.
13):
Readings:
Robinson, David and
Douglas Smith, Sources of the African
Past. Chapter One.
Class Discussion:
Applying Sederberg to Shaka
Wed.
(Apr. 18):
Readings:
Robinson, David and
Douglas Smith, Sources of the African
Past. Chapter One.
Class Discussion:
Applying Sederberg to Shaka
Weeks 14 (Mon, Apr. 20; Wed. Apr. 22): COURSE BREAK
LONG ESSAY DUE MONDAY, APRIL
27
Week 14: Slavery:
The History and Culture of an Labor System in Africa
Mon.
(Apr.. 27):
Readings: The Present and the Past:
Slavery as we know it? Resistance as we
Know It?
On Reserve (UR)
1.
Burkett, Elinor, “‘God Created Me To Be A Slave’” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 12. 1996, Section 6.
Readings: Background to a
Riot: Explaining Resistance and Riot in
East Africa
On Reserve (UR):
2a.. Alpers, Edward A. The East African Slave Trade (Dar es Salaam: Historical
Assoc. of Tanzania, 1967)
2b. Cooper, Frederick Plantation Slavery on the East Coast of Africa (New
Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1997) Chapter 6.
2c. Glassman, Jonathon “The Bondsman’s New
Clothes: The Contradictory Consciousness of Slave
Resistance on the Swahili
Coast”, in Journal of African History
32 (1991) 277-312.
REVEW Sederberg, Fires Within.
Wed.
(Apr. 29): Primary Sources on Slavery
and the Enslaved in East Africa
Readings
CT: Wright, Marcia Strategies of Women and Slaves. Part One
and Two (Chpt 7 only).
LONG
ESSAY DUE: MONDAY, MAY 4.