In African American History: From Emancipation through Jim Crow, join Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Associate Professor of African American history at The Ohio State University, to learn about the African American struggle for freedom and civil rights from 1865 to the 1940s. In 12 lectures, accompany Hasan on a journey from Reconstruction to Jackie Robinson’s first Major League Baseball game, examining the unique struggles faced by Black Americans who were technically free but increasingly limited in what they were able to do.
African American History: From Emancipation through Jim Crow
Reveal the historical realities of African American life in the United States after the end of slavery and before the rise of the Civil Rights Movement, and explore how African Americans from all backgrounds fought back to secure key freedoms across public and private life.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
still learner from
Very Refreshing
I enjoy your class thank you very much like listen more class from you keep doing a great job.
Date published: 2024-06-29
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Adam C from
Good Summary 1863 to about 1955
This course is a strong brief history of the African American experience between Emancipation and about 1955 (Jackie Robinson) and ends before the Civil Rights events of the 1960s. It is a succinct and well told survey of African-American culture (Harlem Renaissance among many other things) and some major AA groups like the NAACP and UNIA. It also documents just how explicit and murderous of discrimination African-Americans faced and does not fail to shock the reader with the pervasiveness of this brutality.
Date published: 2024-06-06
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Alexis B from
Eye-opening lectures
I am so glad I watched these lectures as I gained a whole new understanding of what African Americans have gone through. It made me incredibly sympathetic and ashamed of their past treatment. Hasan did an excellent job. He was very factual, giving supporting evidence and did it without becoming emotional. It was excellent and I am a better person for having learned about this topic.
Date published: 2024-02-22
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Gloster from
Powerful and timely!
Although I have watched many truly fine courses from the Teaching Company this past year alone, this has been -- beyond any doubt -- the MOST powerful and, I think, most timely and needed in this time of politicians doing their best to censor books, courses, and professors who would dare bring anything the least bit controversial or unsettling to light.
Frankly, I wish there had been many more lectures in this superb course, although I applaud Professor Jeffries for the way he wove persons, key incidents, and ongoing thematic resonances throughout each extremely well-crafted lecture! Speaking in a calm, resonant voice with a pleasantly measured meter -- allowing the viewer/listener to both follow and absorb easily -- Professor Jeffries clearly showed not only the many offensive measures but also incredible violence Black people in the US have had to suffer SINCE THE CIVIL WAR!
I am an 80-year-old white male of Irish-American descent, and I have studied and taught US history throughout my lifetime. I absolutely endorse the treatment of history Professor Jeffries provides in this course and wish many, many more American citizens of all colors and persuasions could engage with it, too. For the most consistent theme that is obvious -- even without Dr. Jeffries stressing it -- is the repeated efforts by some whites (many, many more than is often portrayed or suggested) to "keep the Black people DOWN at all costs." The Civil War, emancipation, and the amendments passed during the all-too-few years of attempted Reconstruction SHOULD have finally allowed Black people to be for free and on their own. But the economic means to do so were NEVER delivered, and the political wherewithal evaporated entirely after the 1870s. In the South, from day one of their alleged "freedom," Blacks faced a host of measures designed to keep them both socially and politically subordinate and economically tethered to their former white masters.
Frankly, in the North things were not a whole lot better since "the color line" existed there, too. Among the ugliest -- and most uncomfortable to hear about -- were the many race riots in cities, many in the North, in which whites rampaged through Black communities in widespread hatred and destruction. And the lynchings and burnings, usually attended by excited white mobs and often announced in advance by local newspapers -- my God, my God! These are just unbearable!
But, as most of us who are honest about "where" this country is today know, such hatred and outbreaks of violence against Blacks hasn't stopped! Less frequent, yes. But the "dog whistles" signaling opposition to Blacks (and, frankly, other groups historically disadvantaged and/or ridiculed in this country) continue and, since 2008, seem to be growing in volume once again.
I suspect this is one course that would have trouble passing muster in many states today, including Florida and perhaps even in my native state of Iowa. But if we do not know the truth -- indeed, if we FEAR knowing it -- we have no chance at all at meeting the long-deferred promise of the Declaration of Independence: that ALL of us are free, equal, and deserving and that NONE should be left -- or kept -- behind.
Thank you, Dr. Jeffries and the Teaching Company, for bringing us this powerful, powerful course!
Date published: 2024-01-24
Rated 5 out of
5
by
dujogger from
Excellent!
Many of the things that should have been covered in the high school US History class that I took more than 60 year ago.
Date published: 2023-09-12
Rated 5 out of
5
by
CC Lady from
Another 12 Lectures Please!
Professor Jeffries is joy to watch and listen to. Every word of his lectures seems to be carefully chosen, and his voice is like listening to a poet. This course seemed to end too soon. Another 12 classes would be great. I wish every person in this country could watch this course. It should be included in classroom curriculum. The students could learn so much from this exceptionally well-informed and articulate professor.
Date published: 2023-08-06
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Bella8 from
Highly Recommend!!!
Everyone should have access to this information! Hope that there will be additional content added on this platform, to educate cutlutres and ethic groups on the rich history of African Americans in the United States.
Date published: 2023-07-28
Rated 3 out of
5
by
Robert22066 from
More Anecdotal Than Academic
To cover such a broad topic in just 12 lessons requires careful analysis and disciplined scripting. The results are uneven. For example, much of lecture 7 is devoted to Marcus Garvey even though "demands were nothing new", "mis-steps by Garvey", and by 1940 was a "faint shadow", rather than focusing on the importance of the Declaration of Rights. The lecturer assumes much background knowledge. What makes a law a “Jim Crow” law and not merely unjust is not explained. “The South” is not clearly defined.
It quickly and repeatedly becomes apparent the the one identifiable group of Americans who could have and should have fought inequality, but instead perpetuated it, were the old white men of the Supreme Court, who called themselves “Justices”. This is corroborated by many Great Courses, including 2080 White Collar Law, 10000 Psychological Studies, and 8692 Liberty On Trial (all highly recommended). In general, there is a failure to follow the money and name those who profited from Jim Crow, which would go far towards explaining why it was so pervasive. Other sources suggest systematic mortgage denial and refusal by the US government to insure Black mortgages has had vast economic implications affecting people still living, but is barely considered in this course. The lecturer uses "disenfranchisement" instead of the more modern "voter suppression".
The lecturer emphasises lynching without explaining how it was sufficiently publicised to be an effective terror weapon, and with only one mention of judicial murder. There is little mention of severe beatings by thugs both in and out of uniform, which from careful listening seems to have been a more common everyday experience.
Making common cause with others who suffered discrimination such as Asiatics, Indians, Jews and Irish was perhaps deemed beyond the scope of this course. By coincidence I viewed course 8131 Native Peoples of North America, at the same time, and noted how much "Black" and "Indian" could be interchanged in this time period.
I no longer pay any attention to five-star reviews, so many having been compromised by sycophancy and lack of analysis, especially when wokeness and virtue signalling are involved.
Three stars out of four. A useful collection of anecdotes but somewhat lacking as an academic exercise (this course is not being marketed as a Wondrium "for everyone" course).
Date published: 2023-05-03
Overview
About
Hasan Kwame Jeffries is an Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University who teaches, researches, and writes about the African American experience from a historical perspective. He earned a PhD in American History with a specialization in African American History from Duke University. He is the author and narrator of the Audible Original series Great Figures of the Civil Rights Movement, and he tells the remarkable story of the original Black Panther Party in Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt. He is the editor of Understanding and Teaching the Civil Rights Movement and the host of the podcast Teaching Hard History.
Trailer
01: Emancipation: The Fight for Rights Begins
The fight for freedom did not end for Black Americans when President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. In the course’s inaugural lecture, explore how African Americans participated as soldiers and strikers during the Civil War, and examine their efforts to codify key freedom rights in the late 1860s.
34 min
02: The Promise and Betrayal of Reconstruction
As conflicting interpretations of Reconstruction tore the project apart, far more sinister economic and social systems began to take shape—not just in the South but across the United States. Investigate the rise of sharecropping and the Ku Klux Klan, as well as the political and legal setbacks that dashed Black hopes for a more equal America after abolition.
37 min
03: Separate and Unequal: The Rise of Jim Crow
How was the “separate but equal” doctrine legitimized and enforced in the United States? Learn how one of the most consequential legal decisions in United States history paved the way for years of state-sanctioned discrimination in the South, and explore the ways in which Black Americans fought back.
36 min
04: Lift Every Voice and Sing
Crushed under the weight of a system designed to limit their professional and political prospects, African Americans embraced schools, music, literature, churches, and nascent social clubs. Discover how Black communities used culture and institutions to insulate themselves from the harsh realities of the early 20th century.
37 min
05: The Terror of White Supremacy
Violent racial terrorism was endemic across the American South in the early 20th century. From Fifth Avenue marches to Congressional bills, see how African Americans worked to protect their communities from extrajudicial violence, and make sense of their embrace of Black boxing champion Jack Johnson in light of these efforts.
33 min
06: World War I: Hell in Our Own Land
African Americans served in World War I to advance freedom and equality abroad while contending with rampant discrimination and terror back at home. Explore how the values that justified US involvement in World War I collided with the color line, by zeroing in on the experiences of Black troops.
31 min
07: Marcus Garvey Builds a Black Nation
In the early 20th century, a unique kind of ideology gripped the African American community, calling for racial solidarity and emigration to Africa. Get to know Marcus Garvey, the man at the center of early 20th-century Black Nationalism and investigate why scores of African Americans across the United States so readily welcomed his ideas.
32 min
08: The “New Negro” Fights Back
African Americans were met with hostility as they searched for higher wages and better lives in the North. At the same time, Black art and business flourished in cities and in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, in particular. Explore the Northern Black experience, from Red Summer to the Harlem Renaissance.
37 min
09: The Scottsboro Boys and the Great Depression
Why did the 1931 Scottsboro incident happen the way it did? What impact did the Great Depression have on the Scottsboro case and on African American economic life, in general? And how does any of this relate to public schools in the United States? Tackle these questions and more.
34 min
10: A New Deal for African Americans
Understand why so many African Americans, fiercely loyal to the Republican Party for decades, cast their lot with Democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. Explore the varying success of New Deal programs for African Americans, from the revelatory WPA to the outright harmful Home Owners’ Loan Act.
34 min
11: World War II: Fighting at Home and Abroad
World War II was more than an overseas military conflict for African Americans. It was simultaneously a battle for defense industry jobs and a desegregated military at home. Become acquainted with A. Philip Randolph, a prominent Black activist, and examine how a major concession from Roosevelt opened doors for African Americans like the Tuskegee airmen.
35 min
12: Black Athletes Break Barriers
Black boxers, baseball players, and track stars excelled at the highest levels of American athletics in the mid-20th century, but breaking the color barrier was not easy. Uncover what it meant to be a Black athlete in Jim Crow America, through the life and professional career of Jackie Robinson.
38 min
