Skip to Main Content

ETH100

Introduction to Ethnic Studies

References in the Primary Source List Below

Reynolds/Kendi refers to Reynolds, Jason and Ibram X. Kendi. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. New York: Little, Brown, 2020.

Kendi refers to Kendi, Ibram X. Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. New York: Nation Books, 2016.

Selected Primary Sources

Indigenous Peoples

George Washington's Circular to the States, 8 June 1783

African Americans

Azurara's Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea - Complete Edition
[Reynolds/Kendi, Chap. 1, pp. 5-9]
Azurara's Chronicle of the Discover and Conquest of Guinea - Chapter 25
[Reynolds/Kendi, Chap. 1, pp. 5-9]
George Best. A True Discourse of the Three Voyages of Discoverie, 1578 - Selections
[Reynolds/Kendi, chap. 2, pp. 12-13]. One of the earliest references in English to the Curse of Ham being used to explain the origin of black skin.

Germantown Friends' Protest Against Slavery, 1688
[Reynolds/Kendi, Chap. 2, pp. 23-24].This is the first formal protest in the colonies against slavery. Scans of the original document can be viewed here.

Cotton Mather. The Negro Christianized. Boston, 1701 - Selections
[Reynolds/Kendi, chapter 4, pp. 25-36] These are some extracts from The Negro Christianized in which Mather tries to convince his readers that they should attempt to convert their slaves, even though they will still remain slaves. The whole book can be viewed here.

Benjamin Rush. An Address to the Inhabitants of the British Settlements, on the Slavery of the Negroes in America. Philadelphia, 1773
[Reynolds/Kendi, Chapter 5, pp. 45-47]. An early important work, by a leading figure in Colonial America, Benjamin Rush. A significant treatment rejecting slavery.
Benjamin Rush Portal: On Abolition and Slavery (Penn Libraries)
A Dialogue Concerning Slavery of the Africans: Shewing it to be the Duty and Interest of the American States to Emancipate all their African Slaves. Norwich, 1776
[Kendi, Chapter 9, p. 107]. An early appeal for the full emancipation of slaves, to which is prefixed documents from the Institution of the Society in New York for promoting the Manumission of Slaves.
Stowage of the British Slave Ship "Brookes" under the Regulated Slave Trade Act of 1788 (Library of Congress)

Virginia: History. Government. Geography, 1957 (Internet Archive)
Starting in 1957, this seventh grade textbook was required in Virginia schools. It presented a romanticized vision of the role of slavery in the state. It was not replaced until 1980. (Setup a free Internet Archive account to view the text.)

Martin Luther King, Jr. Selections from Stride toward Freedom

Japanese American Internment Camps

Personal Justice Denied: Report on Wartime Internment

Contact the Ezra Lehman Memorial Library

Lehman Library 1871 Old Main Drive Shippensburg, PA 17257 Phone: (717) 477-1465 SMS: (717) 496-4552 Email Us Library Suggestion Box