This course is a survey of American labor history from the colonial era to the present. Following a chronological approach the course will cover the development of the system of labor in America, the factors affecting changes in the system, the emergence and growth of labor organizations, the role of labor organizations in the economic and political order, and the challenges confronting labor and labor organizations in a changing economic order. This course surveys the African origins of African Americans, the African diaspora, the role played in colonial America, slavery, the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction. Emphasis is on the African Americans' contributions to America's development. This course surveys the role of African Americans in the United States from the end of Reconstruction to the present.
Emphasis is on the contributions to America's development and the problems encountered.