Native Cities and European Contact

Urban life in the Americas dates back thousands of years, long before the development of modern cities, before the industrial revolution, before the first encounters between Europeans and native communities. Too often, the telling of the American story ignores the great cities developed by the original Americans. This week, we will correct the record before discussing the cities that emerged in the diverse forms of empire and contact between Europeans and Natives in North America’s colonial period.

Race and Slavery in the American Colonies

This week, we will continue to build on the lessons from last week by examining the development of race and racial categories in the American Colonies, with particular attention paid to the African American community. We will learn about why and how race was constructed in the U.S. to divide working-class people and create a class of exploitable labor that could do little to overcome their position. The strategy of dividing working-class whites from enslaved Africans and persecuted natives beginning in the 17th century proved extremely effective at ensuring the social hierarchy remained stagnant and exceedingly difficult to challenge in the United States.

Urban Slavery Through the Civil War

This week, we will build on our discussion of the development of race in the United States and American Colonies, focusing in on urban slavery, which manifested in population centers in both the North and the South. We will discuss these people’s lives as well as the logic used to justify their subjugation by U.S. powerbrokers.

Early Immigrants Alter Urban Landscapes

This week, we will continue tracing the patterns of othering, this time shifting from black enslaved populations to early immigrants, particularly the emerging Irish, Chinese, and Mexican American communities. The goal of creating a class of exploitable worker remains paramount for the urban elite as they encourage both the immigration of these groups but then frame their presence as a threat to U.S. values to justify poor treatment and abuse.

New Others to American Cities

Building on the patterns we have observed concerning the African American, Irish, Mexican, and Chinese populations in U.S. cities, our gaze will now shift to Jewish and Italian immigrants who faced similar obstacles upon their arrival in the U.S. in the late 19th century. They faced similar xenophobic rhetoric in a different context as the United States was engaged in a worker’s revolt in the face of the second industrial revolution. In the words of Mark Twain, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhythms.” We will look at why these groups were treated so poorly upon their arrival and think about whether this could still happen today. 

The Great Migration and Great Depression

We will continue exploring the history of urban communities through the Great Migration and Great Depression, looking at how these events resulted in massive population shifts from north to south and the urban to rural, as well as an altered relationship between the U.S. government and its citizens. We will look at the racialized outcomes of the great depression, particularly how economic assistance was offered to white families but largely denied to families of color. We will explore how this has had massive ramifications in the wealth gap we still see today.

WII’s Impact and the Post-War Cities

After World War II, the United States would never be the same. The war against White Supremacy abroad and the context of the Cold War led to Black Americans successfully demanding justice at home. It also led to massive resistance of white policymakers who blacklisted and persecuted Communists, Activists and Civil Rights leaders who sought the challenge the status quo in the United States.

Urban Movements for Black Power in Radical Times

This week, we will be focusing on the radical turn of the movement for racial justice in the 1960s and early 1970s. We will examine how these activists inspired and collaborated with activists from movements including the anti-war movement, the feminist movement, the gay rights movement, and the Puerto Rican nationalist movement.