Prof.

Parris
AAS 235
Caribbean Societies
Mid-Term Exam

Directions:
 Using standard essay format (introduction and thesis, body paragraphs,
and conclusion), write a 3-4-page essay on one of the following topics.
 Do not include lengthy summaries of the course text.
 Answer all essay questions for your chosen topic.
 Include direct quotations and paraphrases from the course texts and
two secondary sources to develop your argument. You must use at least 3
sources in total.
 These sources must be books or articles from the Course Materials
section of Blackboard OR from the following subscription databases:
Academic Search Complete, History Reference Center, JSTOR, Literature
Resource Center, or Project MUSE.
 Follow APA/MLA/Chicago style for in-text citations (in the body of the
essay) and the References/Works Cited/Bibliography page.
 Do not use information from Wikipedia and other websites.
 Use some or all of the following key terms where relevant: African
diaspora, Afro-Latinidad, Black Nationalism, chattel slavery, dehumanization,
exploitation colonialism, genocide, Harlem Renaissance, internalized racism,
Mackandal, Maroons, mental colonialism, scientific racism, white supremacy,
14th of June Movement.

I. In The Black Jacobins (1938), C.L.R. James introduces the Haitian

Revolution as “the only successful slave revolt in history” (ix) and further
that “the transformation of slave, trembling in hundreds…into a people
able to organize themselves and defeat the most powerful European
nations of their day is one of the great epics of revolutionary struggle and
achievement” (ix). Write an essay that answer the following questions:

 In the preface, why does James describe San Domingo (now

Hispañ iola) as “the greatest colony in the world, the pride of
France, and the envy of every other imperialist nation” (ix)?
 How did Toussaint L’Ouverture’s privileged status as a slave
enable him to emerge as a revolutionary leader?
 In the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution, how did Haiti’s status
as the first independent Black nation affect its diplomatic relations
with other countries?

II. In “Women’s Political Participation in the Dominican Republic,” Robinson

uses the Mirabal sisters’ political resistance against the Trujillo regime to

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 emphasize that, throughout history, women have been central agents in
progressive political movements in the Caribbean and Latin America
(172). Write an essay that answers the following questions:

 What were the Mirabal sisters’ roles in the 14th June Movement,
which sought to undermine the Trujillo dictatorship?
 What impact did Fidel Castro’s Cuban Revolution have on the
Dominican activists of the 14th June Movement?
 What historical connections may be drawn between the political
corruption of the Trujillo dictatorship and the controversy
surrounding the 2020 elections in the Dominican Republic?

III. The Universal Negro Improvement Association’s (UNIA’s) founder,

Marcus Garvey, is known as the father of modern Black Nationalism. At
the height of the UNIA’s popularity in the early 1900s, Garvey’s
organization was reported to have over 4 million members in the
Caribbean and the United States alone (James, A History 79). Write an
essay that answers the following questions:

 What particular life experiences led Garvey to develop his

philosophy of Black Nationalism?
 What impact did Garvey’s Back to Africa Movement have on the
1920s Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro
Movement?
 Why are so many of Garvey’s famous sayings, like “Up ye mighty
race, accomplish what you will,” and “A people without knowledge
of their history is like a tree without roots,” still relevant today?

IV. Among historians, Arturo Schomburg is celebrated as a pioneer in the

field of Black History. Schomburg’s passion for the restoration of Black
history is made clear in the following quote:

For [the American Negro], a group tradition must supply

compensation for persecution, and pride of race the antidote
for prejudice. History must restore what slavery took away, for
it is the social damage of slavery that the present generation
must repair and offset. (Schomburg 945)

Write an essay on Schomburg that answers the following questions:

 What life experiences drove Schomburg to collect historical artifacts,
in order to prove the existence and relevance of Black history?
 In Schomburg’s view what three conclusions about Africans and their
descendants may be reached by studying Black history?
 What impact did Schomburg have on the African diaporic
communities of New York City during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance?

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Guidelines:
 All essays must be typed (3-4 pages) in 12pt. font (Times New Roman or
Cambria) and double-spaced throughout.
 Title your essay in a manner that reflects its focus.
 Include the use of all relevant key terms.
 Do not use abbreviations or text language.
 Use proper APA/MLA/Chicago style for in-text citations and the
References/Works Cited/Bibliography page.
 Refer to the Works Cited page at the end of this assignment.
 Plagiarized essays will receive failing grades.
 Proofread your essays carefully before submitting them.
 Upload a Word document or pdf file to Blackboard.
 Essays are due on Monday, October 25th.

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 Works Cited

Gates, Henry Louis and Valerie Smith, editors, “Arthur Schomburg.” The
Norton Anthology of African American Literature, 3rd ed., W.W. Norton
& Company, 2014, pp. 944-949.

James, C.L.R. A History of Pan-African Revolt. Drum and Spear Press, 1931.

----, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L’Ouverture and the San Domingo
Revolution. Vintage, 1938.

Robinson, Nancy. “Women’s Political Participation in the Dominican

Republic: The Case of the Mirabal Sisters.” Caribbean Quarterly, vol. 52,
no. 2-3, June 2006, pp. 172-183. JSTOR,
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40654568, Accessed 19 February, 2020.