Unit name | Slavery and the Modern World (Level I Lecture Response) |
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Unit code | HIST25003 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Stone |
Open unit status | Open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
From the sixteenth until the nineteenth centuries, millions of Africans were transported as slaves to European colonies in the ‘New World’. This lecture response unit explores a number of key themes in the relationships between slavery and the making of the modern world. Although students will be asked to think comparatively, by considering other periods, countries and systems, the main focus will be upon the British system of slavery and the British Caribbean slave colonies. A range of questions and themes will be addressed: What was slavery? How did the transatlantic system of slavery compare with other systems of unfree labour? Why did transatlantic slavery develop? What were the connections between modern theories of ‘race’ and the development of slavery? Did slavery fuel the British ‘Industrial Revolution’? Did it under-develop Africa? Why was slavery eventually abolished? What were the legacies of slavery? Lectures and group discussions will examine these and other themes through the study of selected primary sources and the writings of historians. The day-to-day experiences of slaves, the histories of slave cultures and communities, and the contributions of slave resistance and rebellion to emancipation will be considered, as will the movements for abolition and the development of anti-slavery thought.
1 x 3000 word essay (50%) and 1 x 2 hour exam (50%)