F20 Black Atlantic: Resources, Pedagogy, and Scholarship on the 18th Century Black Atlantic Main Menu Author Index FAQ Week 01: August 28: Pedagogies Week 02: Friday, September 4: Thinking about Projects and Digital Methods Week 03: Friday, September 11: Black Atlantic Classics Week 04: Reccomended: Thursday September 17: 4pm: Indigenous Studies and British Literatures The Center for Literary + Comparative Studies @UMD Week 04: Required: Friday, September 18: Reading: Indigenous Studies in the Eighteenth Century Week 04: Required: Friday, September 18: Book Launch Remaking the Republic: Black Politics and the Creation of American Citizenship Week 05: Friday, September 25: Digital Humanities, Caribbean Stuides, and Fashion Guest: Siobhan Mei Week 06: Friday, October 2: OBI Week 07: October 9: Black London Sancho's Social Networks Week 08: Friday, October 16:Muslim Slave Narratives, Hans Sloane, the British Museum, Colonialism as Curation Week 09: Friday, October 23: Reflection and Tools Day Week 10: Friday, October 30: Myths of a White Atlantic (and Project Proposal) Week 11: Friday, November 6: Black New England Week 12: Friday, November 13: Woman of Colour and Mary Prince Week 13: Friday, November 20: Peer Review Workshop and Draft with Action Plan

Religion and Slave Narratives----A Lesson Plan

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Religion and Slave Narratives----A Lesson Plan

Obi; or, The History of Three-Fingered Jack

Amri’s introduction to religion happens on the slave-ship.  She learns that nature is “The great Creator,” answered he; “He to whom you owe your being. “I did not rightly comprehend him, but he soon gave me to understand I worshipped a false god” (18). Captain Harrop’s explanation lies in anti-blackness and control. There is an assumption that Amri’s God is a false god because her spirituality is grounded in blackness or what Captain Harrop and others like him think about blackness. In focusing on what God is or represents in this text, it is crucial to think about religion and control. Captain Harrop positions God as the “father of them all” (18). God, to Captain Harrop, represents whiteness, and this entity takes on a parental role, which symbolizes aspects of control.

Interestingly, Obeah is described as deluding” Negroes, who thoroughly believe in their supernatural powers” (55).  The practice of Obeah functions as a tool of freedom for enslaved Africans. Therefore, the colonialist intends to downplay its spiritual power to the dominant society and the enslaved. Obi as a text makes me think about how religion and control work; why is it important to explore this topic in the classroom? I think that students should focus on scholarship regarding the enslaved and religion. How has religion shaped the psyche of the enslaved?

Lesson Plan
Objectives:
 
Texts to Observe:

For this assignment/lecture, students will have access to primary texts through the National Humanities Center Resource Toolbox The Making of African American Identity: Vol. I, 1500-1865 database This is a pdf file that students will use for a close reading assignment.
 
Secondary Materials are Available Through JSTOR:
Students will look at slavery and religion through an Antebellum Southern lens. Before the lesson begins, students will be required to read the secondary materials from JSTOR. Students will receive a background history of slavery, the South, and religion; discussion over the JSTOR articles will commence. Then, I will introduce students to their group project. Students will be required to complete a close reading of one of the selections given in the PDF per their group number assignment. Students will pay attention to diction and syntax to effectively to evaluate the text. Through this evaluation, students will explore class objectives and secondary materials to complete a useful close reading of their assigned text.
 

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