The History of the Caribbean Since 1898

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Situated in the historical crossroads of Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, the Caribbean has played a pivotal role in global transformations since 1492 and in the formation of the Americas. The Spanish-Cuban-American War of 1898 marks an important historical milestone in the region and serves as the starting point for this course. After this war, the United States took possession of Cuba and Puerto Rico (and the Philippines) and soon after expanded its role with direct interventions in Central America and the Caribbean while becoming the dominant power in the region in alliance with the older European empires. The region’s past illuminates many of the critical junctures and central contradictions of modern history: colonialism and independence, slavery and freedom, racial hierarchy and political equality, despotism and revolution, nationalism and transnationalism, and migration and cultural creolization. Since the 16th century, the region’s role in the early and continued formation of Atlantic slavery, colonial empires and revolutionary responses cannot be overemphasized.

The Caribbean is almost as diverse as the world itself, gathering peoples, cultures and traditions from (nearly) the entire globe. It has produced trillions in sugar, tourism, nickel, spices, bananas, tax havens, coffee, oil and many other products. It has also produced diverse musical and cultural traditions. As united by similar histories and as divided by distinct political, linguistic, and racial histories, the Caribbean—defined as a string of islands or a larger “Caribbean Basin”—constitutes a rich source of stories, ideas and people. This course will introduce you to first hundred years of history after 1898.

 

LEARNING GOALS

This course satisfies the following SAS Core Learning Goals in Social and Historical Analysis:

• [H] Understand the bases and development of human and societal endeavors across time and place.
• [I] Explain and be able to assess the relationship among assumptions, method, evidence, arguments, and theory in social and historical analysis.
• [L] Employ historical reasoning to study human endeavors. [HST Historical Analysis]
• [M] Understand different theories about human culture, social identity, economic entities, political systems, and other forms of organization. [SCL Social Analysis]

Additionally, by the end of the semester students will be able to:

• Understand the significance of the formation of the U.S. sphere of influence in 1898 for Caribbean history and society.
• Define and understand the basic processes and concepts of colonialism, neocolonialism, nationalism, revolution, imperialism, dependence, development, and migration.
• Identify Caribbean cities and states on a map and differentiate according to colonial heritage, political status and core social characteristics.
• Identify the distinct historical trajectories of major islands/territories/countries.
• Develop critical thinking skills through engagement with historical scholarship and analysis of primary sources.

For general History Learning Goals, see http://history.rutgers.edu/undergraduate/learning-goals.

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND ASSESSMENT

Your participation in this class constitutes an agreement between us. I expect you to follow the guidelines presented below and I, in, turn will do my best to facilitate, in a variety of manners, a body of knowledge that can be polemical and open to interpretation, and that requires your work to process and analyze. Most important, I expect from all students a reasonable degree of enthusiasm and interest through active engagement with course materials. I expect you to come to all class sessions prepared and on time. I will provide you with feedback on your progress and present these materials to you in a coherent and organized manner.

• Determination of Grade:
  • Map and short weekly assignments (about 9) = 20%
  • Class participation and attendance = 20%
  • Midterm exam = 20%
  • Country report = 20%
  • Take home final exam = 20%
• Weekly Discussion assignments:
  • Short written responses (1-2 pages) and/or blog entries will be essential to understanding the material and to fruitful class discussions. Topics and guidelines for these will be posted each week on Sakai. A total of 10 entries (worth 2 points each) are generally due on Thursday before class.
• Class Participation:
  • Class participation consists of attendance, thoughtful contributions to in­-class and on-line discussions, and class activities. Having read the readings is a key part of this.
• Midterm Exam:
  • The in-class midterm exam will require you to demonstrate knowledge of Caribbean history, geography, and society through the middle of the twentieth century. It will consist of a map, fact-based short answer questions, and a primary source analysis.
• Final Exam:
  • The take-home final exam will require you to provide in-depth, written analyses of major issues and concepts in Caribbean history and society using course materials.
• Grading Scale:
  • A = 93-100, B+ = 89-92, B = 81-88, C+ = 77-80, C = 70-76, D = 65-69, F = 64 and below
  • NOTE THAT 90-92 are a B+

 

COURSE POLICIES

Access

• In accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, if you have special needs that require adaptations or accommodations, please make arrangements with the Services for Students with Disabilities. If you have medical information to share with me please communicate with me as soon as possible. All discussions will remain confidential.

Academic Integrity Policy

• Students are expected to abide by Rutgers University’s policy on academic integrity. Violations of the policy include: cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, denying others access to information or material, and facilitating violations of academic integrity.

Self-Reporting Absence

• Students are expected to attend all classes; if you expect to miss one or two classes, please use the University absence reporting website to indicate the date and reason for your absence. An email is automatically sent to me. https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/
  Unjustified absences are not an option! Students with more than three unexcused absences will have their final grade lowered. Students will not receive credit for late assignments.

Cell phone use is prohibited in class

• Turn off and put away your phones before entering the classroom. Whatever call or message is coming in during class can wait until the end of class. Texting is not allowed, and neither is the use of mp3 players. Take your headphones off. If you are texting during class I will ask you to leave the room.
• I discourage but do not prohibit use of laptops and tablets in the classroom. Taking notes by hand is much better for your learning and your brain…and has been proven by research. I do however have absolutely no tolerance for texting during class. Don’t do it. If you have a real problem with your phone turn it off completely when you come into the classroom. I will ask you to leave if you disrupt the class by texting while in class.
• Please bring readings to class in paper or tablet form.

Take deadlines seriously

• All major assignments and deadlines are laid out in the class schedule so you can plan around them. Being crunched by several deadlines at once is no excuse for late assignments. If you must miss class when an assignment is due, arrange to get it to me by the due date. You will not receive credit for late assignments.

Please take advantage of office hours

• Office hours are for your benefit: it is when we can assess how you’re doing in class, or go over questions and issues with class materials and assignments. I am also accessible via email and by appointment. Office hours might very well be your most valuable resource while learning at Rutgers.

Changes to course schedule

• I will adjust the course schedule or readings to provide the best learning experience possible, so this syllabus is not a final version.
• Ordinarily I will lecture on Monday and leave Wednesday for discussion of readings, assignments, in-class exercises, and questions.

Readings

• Readings, historic documents, websites, and newspaper and magazine articles are available on the Sakai Resources tab. Some of these will change. I will note the changes well ahead of time.

 

COURSE SCHEDULE

Week 1: [9/4] Introduction: Caribbean Unity and Diversity—Geography, Cultures, Migrations, Chronologies

• Short Work: Examine these maps before class Wed. What physical characteristics define the Caribbean as a region and as individual territories?
  • Basic Caribbean Map—Save it
  • Caribbean Relief Map
  • Caribbean Political
  • Dominican Republic
  • Haiti
  • Cuba
  • Puerto Rico
  • Trinidad/Tobago
  • Jamaica
  • Barbados
  • All the maps you will ever need

Week 2: [9/9 & 9/11] 400 Years of European Colonial Rule and Local Societies

• Knight and Palmer, “The Caribbean Region: An Overview” in The Modern Caribbean. Ch.1
• Higman. A Concise History of the Caribbean. Ch.6.
• For Wed 9/18: In-class map quiz
• For Wed 9/25: Colonial Narrative Exercise

Week 3: [9/16 & 9/18] War, Empire and the Transition from European to US Hegemony, 1898

• Pérez, Jr., Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution. Ch. 7.
• Morales Carrion. Puerto Rico: A Political and Cultural History. Ch. 8.
• Perez, Jr. “Incurring a debt of Gratitude.” HAHR 104:2. 1999.
• Documents: Review the images in the Authentic History site
• Wed: In-class map quiz
• For in class review:
  • Cartoons of 1898
  • Images of Cuba’s war of independence
  • Sample of Documentary on 1898
  • Chronology
  • Map of Habana
  • The Santiago Campaign
  • Images of Cuba circa 1900
• List of Caribbean Islands & Demographic History Patterns

Week 4: [9/23 & 9/25] The Formation of a US Caribbean–Basin Empire, 1898-1940

• Ferguson. A Traveler’s History of The Caribbean. 210-226.
• Scarano and Palmie. The Caribbean: A History of the Region, Ch.24, 27, 28.
• Moya Pons. The Dominican Republic. Ch. 15, 16.
• Langley. The US and the Caribbean in the Twentieth Century. Ch. 1, 3.
• Documents: The Platt Amendment; Foraker and Jones Acts and their implications.
• Documents: The Carrol Report Selected in-class pages
• Due Wed 9/25: Colonial Narrative Exercise
• Wed: we discuss colonial narratives and ALL the readings up to this week!! Review, bring notes and PDFs! You will be asked to state major points, claims and evidence from each reading.
• Got any musical recommendations? Send me a youtube link!

Week 5: [9/30 & 10/2] Plantations, Banks, Commerce and Empire, 1898-1940

• Scarano and Palmie. The Caribbean: A History of the Region. Chaps. 29-30.
• Conniff. Black Labor on a White Canal. Ch. 3.
• McPherson. The Invaded. Chap. 5 or 6.
• Document: Records of the Panama Canal
• Maps and photos: Bananas, Sugar, Railroads, Utilities, Ships and Banks and lots of imports too..
• For Wed: Outline of similarities and difference in the history of plantation agriculture on Caribbean islands/countries/territorries

Week 6: [10/7 & 10/9] Peasants and Workers the Caribbean, 1898-1940

• Ayala & Bernabe. Puerto Rico in the American Century. Ch. 3, 5.
• Scarano and Palmie. The Caribbean: A History of the Region, Ch.31.
• Pick two or three:
  • Perez. “Labor, State, and Capital in Plattist Cuba.”
  • Thomas. “The Political Economy of State Violence in Inter-war Jamaica.”
  • Bakan. Ideology and Class Conflict in Jamaica. Ch. 4.
  • Richards. 1935: Labour disturbancecs in St.-Kitts.
  • Hart. “Caribbean Labour Rebellions.”
• Document: Political and Social Disturbances in the West Indies. (1906)
• For Wed: one page discussion of how local people interacted or responded to the imperial/global/external forces at work in the Caribbean based on the readings. If you think local elites were more important in this process, explain why. Be prepared to present. OR outline similarities and differences of the1930s movements in readings
• Bonus work for extra credit: outline Puerto Rico’s political development as a US territory 1900-1930.

Week 7: [10/14 & 10/16] Haiti: US Occupation, Color Politics, and Dictatorship, 1930s-1960s

• Abbott. Haiti. Ch.4-5.
• Schmidt. The US Occupation Of Haiti 1915-1934. Introduction and Ch.9.
• Smith, Red Black Haiti, Ch. 7.
• The Caribbean History Reader. Ch. 11.7, 14.3, 14.5.
• Document: Video Clip on Duvalier
• Document: State Department and Duvalier
• For Wed: Outline the sources of democratic or authoritarian rule in Haiti.

Week 8: [10/21 & 10/23] The Dominican Republic: Trujillo, US Intervention and his Authoritarian Legacy, 1930s-1970s

• Scarano and Palmie. The Caribbean: A History of the Region. Ch.37.
• The Caribbean History Reader. Ch.14.1 & 14.2.
• Moya Pons. The Dominican Republic. Ch. 18.
• Turits, “A World Destroyed, A Nation Imposed: The 1937 Haitian Massacre in the Dominican Republic,” Hispanic American Historical Review 82.3 (2002): 590-635
• Document: CIA and State Deaprtment documents on Trujillo.
• For Wed: Discuss in one page how Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic

Week 9: [10/28 & 10/30] Jamaica: Racial Solidarity and Democracy, 1930s-1980

• Rogozinski, Ch. 19-20
• Killingray, “The West Indian Federation and Decolonization in the British Caribbean,” The Journal of Caribbean History 34.1-2 (2000): 71-87.
• Mcnish. ” Jamaica: Forty years of independence.” Revista Mexicana del Caribe, vol. VII, núm. 13, 2002,
• Putnam. Radical Moves: Caribbean Migrations and the Politics of Race in the Jazz Era. Ch. 3.
• Martin, “Marcus Garvey, The Caribbean, and the Struggle for Black Jamaican Nationhood,” in Hilary Beckles and Verene Shepherd, eds., Caribbean Freedom: Economy and Society from Emancipation to the Present (Markus Wiener, 1996), 359-369
• Document:
  • Video1
  • Video2
  • PBS Web Site on Garvey
  • For a transcript of the PBS documentary.
  • Documentary: Jamaica 1930s-1970s “Blood and Fire.”
  • The past weighs heavily?
• Wed: Midterm Exam

Week 10: [11/4 & 11/6] Cuba: Neo Colonial Rule, Reform and Dictatorship, 1930s-1959

• Perez. Cuba between Reform and Revolution. Ch. 10.
• Argote Freyre. “In Search of Fulgencio Batista.”
• Carr. “Mill Occupations in Cuba.”
• Scarano and Palmie. The Caribbean: A History of the Region, Ch.33.
• Document:
  • Newsreel from 1930s
• For Wed: outline what was achieved or what failed in the Cuban presidencies of the 1940s and 1950s.

Week 11: [11/11 & 11/13] The Cuban Revolution, 1959-2000s

• Scarano and Palmie. The Caribbean: A History of the Region, Ch.34.
• Perez. Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution. Ch. 12.
• Document: Castro Speech Database
• Country report:
  • Find a small historical/social/economic question, a controversy or conflict of importance to one of our island/countries/colonies/territories. Research the issues involved with three pieces of scholarly work (academic article, fraction of academic book, specialized reference material—NOT Wikipedia or bad web pages). You can supplement these three items with journalism. Be aware of the different type of sources!
  • Discuss your choice with me ahead of time! You’ll need approval. Do so by Nov. 15th.
  • Present the question or problem in 5-6 pages. Show me that you understood the issues, the players, the context…in a way that reflects your learning about the Caribbean in this course…think of how your material would be part of the answer to one of the midterm exam questions, that should help you develop and contextualize it.
  • Please use standard fonts (11-12) and margins (1″) and include full citation of your sources in the FOOTNOTES or ENDNOTES. NO IN-TEXT PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS PLEASE.
  • The report is due December 8th to the Sakai DropBox.

Week 12: [11/18 & 11/20] Puerto Rico: Colonialisms, Original and Reformed, 1930s-1952

• Scarano and Palmie. The Caribbean: A History of the Region, Ch.36.
• Ayala & Bernabe. Puerto Rico. Ch. 9 & 13.
• Dietz, “Operation Bootstrap and Economic Change in Puerto Rico,” in Hilary Beckles and Verene Shepherd, eds., Caribbean Freedom: Economy and Society from Emancipation to the Present, 421-435.
• Silvestrini. “Contemporary Puerto Rico: A Society of Contrasts’ in Knight and Palmer, eds. The Modern Caribbean. University of North Carolina.1989
• Pico. History of Puerto Rico. 265-314.
• Document:

Week 13: [11/25] Puerto Rico: Rise and Collapse of the ELA, 1950s-2019

• Same readings as above.
• Will add one or two short pieces to sakai soon.
• Please write a 1 page outline (bullet items) on how Puerto Rico seems similar/different/uncomparable to other Caribbean histories you have studied. Based on the readings of course!

Week 14: [12/2 & 12/4] Barbados and Trinidad/Tobago

• Scarano and Palmie. The Caribbean: A History of the Region, Ch.35.
• Caribbean History Reader. Ch. 15.
• Killingray. “The West Indian Federation and Decolonization in the British Caribbean,” The Journal of Caribbean History 34.1-2 (2000): 71-87.
• Document:
• Country Reports due Dec. 8 to DropBox

Week 15: [12/9 & 12/11] Caribbean Migrations and Diasporic Communities

• Select three:
  • Duany. The Puerto Rican Nation on the Move. Ch. 8.
  • Lauria & Thomas. Rethinking the Struggle for Puerto Rican Rights. Ch. 2.
  • Winston. Holding Aloft The Banner of Ethiopia–Ch.1.
  • Putnam. Select any of the three readings by Putnam. (English Caribben Migration)
  • Pedraza. Cuba’s Refugees Manifold Migrations.
  • Country Reports due Dec. 8 to DropBox

Take home Exam due Date Friday Dec 18th by Midnight

• Exam Question