Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Caribbean History 382-01 

                  

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Caribbean Map

  Fall Semester 1998 

Wing Rm. 129             Monday 4:15-6:50pm    
Email: satrag@nebula.wpunj.edu  
  Office Hours: Office: Atrium 211  
Monday 3pm-4pm Tues.  11am-12:30pm Thurs. 11am-12:30pm

 

Course Descriptions

The course offers a survey of the history of the Caribbean islands from Columbus to Castro. Topics covered include the conflict between the Amerindians and the Spanish conquerors,  colonization and European rivalry, the sugar revolution, plantation society and African slavery, the struggle for autonomy and independence, economic development, racial integration, sense of nationhood and  place in the world.

Course Requirements:

1. Midterm (20%) and Final Exam (40%). Note that the exams consist of essay questions and a number of short "explain-identify" questions.
2  Termpaper (20%) of approx. 7 double-spaced typed pages on approved topic.  An outline with tentative bibliography due November 9th;  revised version, if necessary, due November 23; final  paper due December 7. Lateness will result in lowering the grade.
3. Short writings and possible quizzes as well as oral reports, preparedness and contribution to class, 20%

 

 

Texts:
Claypole, William & John Robottom. Caribbean Story. Book I:  Foundations. Longman Caribbean, 1989. 


Knight, Franklin W. and Colin A. Palmer, eds. The Modern Caribbean.  Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1989. 

Handouts:
          Barbara Bush. Slave Women in Caribbean Society, 1650-1838. Ch. 8.     
          Raymond Carr.  Puerto Rico:  A Colonial Experiment, Ch. 1
Internet Sites:


                Tibes Center
                Cuban Missile Crisis
                P.R. Independence
                Dom. Rep.: A Country Study Chapter 1
                Haiti: A Country Study Chapter 6

 
Course Schedule
Sept. 7                                       Introduction. Map exercises. Amerindians             
Sept. 14                                                                                                                                                                        Spanish Conquest and Colonization    C&R 1-40 Tibes Center 
Sept 21                     European Rivalry and Challenge to Spain             C&R 42-76 
Sept 28                                           Sugar and Slave  C&R 77-106 
Oct 5                         Slave Colonies: Culture and Control             C&R 107-140                                                                        Handout: Bush                                          
Oct 12                                      The Haitian Revolution         C&R 141-149;                                                                                 K&P, Ch.2, 21-50
Oct 19                                      Abolition of Slavery  and After                C&R 150-183 
Oct 26             Midterm  
Nov 2                           Jamaica, Race and Black Power                  K&P Ch. 5-6, 111-144  

Trinidad: A Case Study                                           
Nov 9  Spanish Carribean during 19th Century                  K&P Ch. 9, 185-202
Nov 16                                                          Puerto Rico                   K&P Ch. 7, 147-167                                                                    Handout: Carr                                
Nov 23                                                                                                           Cuba  K&P Ch. 8 169-183  
Nov 25 (Wed)                                                              Missile Crisis                         Cuban Missile Crisis                                                  
Nov 19                         British and French West Indies, 1870-1980        K&P, Ch.4 85-109
Nov 24                                              Caribbean Migrations        K&P, Ch.10 203-228
Nov 30                                                                                                                                                   Dominican Republic and Haiti           Dom. Rep: A Case Study

Haiti: A Country Study
Dec 7                                              Recent Developments and Trends  K&P Ch. 10, 11, 12, 203-290                              
Dec 10         Overview                                                        K&P, Ch.1 1-19
Dec 14         Final Exam   
          

 

Caribbean sugar cane workers