This course explores the history of the Caribbean from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, focusing on a comparative approach to British, French, Spanish, and American rule in the region. It will concentrate on the history of Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and Puerto Rico. Topics to be covered include: comparative slave systems; plantation economies; revolution, rebellion and resistance; abolitionism; missionary activity; the apprenticeship system; voodoo and slave religions; indentured labor and intra-Caribbean migration; free persons of color, mulattoes, and West Indian color hierarchies; class and color; trade unionism; communism; the independence movements; women in the contemporary Caribbean; and the legacies of slavery and colonialism. Evaluation will be based on a midterm, a final exam, one 10-page research paper, and class participation. No enrollment limit (expected: 15-25). Open to all. Group C