For the first discussion on September 3, ECP will be the leader, establishing a model for the class to follow, assigning one discussion leader/moderator per readings session thereafter until the roster is exhausted, with ECP and LG leading specific sessions (e.g. ECP and the Murray case).   Everyone in the class would read all the assigned discussion materials (kept to a reasonable level given their biographical and case work assignments).  Assignments for discussion, with the exception of the reading from Bogen, would be given out on Blackboard.com a week in advance with all the reading material posted as printable images off of blackboard.com.

Set aside some time in the next two weeks  for discussion of note taking at http://teachersmd.net for both papers due in class. In the meantime ecp will determine how best to obtain the original case files from Philadelphia.

To Read:
 

Bogen, Race and Law through p. 25;  read also the introduction, and refer to the footnotes

Bogen,  de Sousa article (xeroxes to hand out)

King et. al.  Articles in Sun on controversy over interpreting de Sousa  (xeroxes to hand out)

draft proposal for the study of Slavery on Maryland's Eastern Shore (NEH application) which contains a good overview of the current thinking among scholars re: the development of the institution of slavery in Maryland and a good bibliography (xerox handout)

excerpt from "Myne Own Ground"  (posted on web site at
http://ecpclio.net/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000045/000000/000013/restricted/breen.tif
 

Document Analysis:

sole record of de Sousa's 'race'  (have copies to distribute)

summary census of Population of Maryland 1755  (have copies to distribute)

Menard et. al. on the Slave Population of Maryland (posted on web site at

http://ecpclio.net/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000045/000000/000011/restricted/menard.tif)

1664 "An Act Concerning Negroes & Other Slaves  and the 1692  comprehensive anti-miscegenation law  to be reviewed at
http://www.aomol.net

Bibliography of Sources:

draft bibliography by David Bogen and Ed Papenfuse re: the History of Maryland Colonial Law  at http://ecpclio.net
using

user name: judicial and
password: fatti
 

Questions to be discussed:

"Does the example of Mathias de Sousa prove anything about attitudes towards race and the interaction between race and the law in Maryland prior to 1664?"

"Does the example of the Johnson family in Somerset County have any bearing on the history and question of  the definition 'race' in Maryland Law?"

"In the context of the law, how did the definition of race change from 1664 to 1692 and why?"
 

Suggestions/topics to cover in class:

1) all Americans are African Americans

2) biblical origins of ideas of slavery and race: the use of the language of the bible to communicate;  concept of Jubilee.
 

( EVERY FIFTIETH YEAR WAS A YEAR OF JUBILEE (Leviticus 25:8-55)
The year of Jubilee was to be a time of liberty, all debts were remitted - all slaves set free. The chapter is full of regulations about buying and selling property and servants, all of which must be in accordance with the distance or nearness of the Jubilee.