Undergraduate Course: Empire of emancipation: the British Empire in the 'age of reform', 1828-1848 (HIST10435)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | This course considers the British empire, and its relationship to the imperial metropole, during the so-called 'age of reform' (1828-1848). Special attention is paid to the advocates of humanitarian relief and progressive institutional reform, and to the language of 'emancipation' and 'moral reform', in both the settler colonies and a range of 'dependant' colonies. Students will have an opportunity to study a succession of major imperial reforms, from the abolition of slavery throughout the empire to the establishment of 'responsible government' in the Canadian colonies. |
| Course description |
This course explores the imperial dimensions of Great Britain's 'age of reform'. The two decades between the passing of the Roman Catholic Relief Act (1829) and the collapse of Chartism were a crucible for the modernization of British institutions. Progressive legislation reformed municipal government, the state churches, the provision of poor relief and even Parliament itself. Yet, the spirit of reform did not terminate at the metropolitan borders. Rather, it permeated the entire empire and made lasting changes to the way in which the empire operated. During these decades, West Indian and South African colonies were profoundly impacted by the abolition of slavery; the South Asian territories under East India Company sovereignty became subject to a raft of Anglicizing legislative reforms; and the settler colonies of Upper Canada, New South Wales and New Zealand negotiated new constitutional settlements. By considering each of these reforms, among others, this course interrogates the relationship of the British metropole to its imperial periphery. There will also be a strong focus on the language of 'emancipation', the drive for 'moral reform' and the influence of evangelical culture at home and abroad.
Content note: The study of History inevitably involves the study of difficult topics that we encourage students to approach in a respectful, scholarly, and sensitive manner. Nevertheless, we remain conscious that some students may wish to prepare themselves for the discussion of difficult topics. In particular, the course organiser has outlined that the following topics may be discussed in this course, whether in class or through required or recommended primary and secondary sources: racial prejudice, racial violence. While this list indicates sensitive topics students are likely to encounter, it is not exhaustive because course organisers cannot entirely predict the directions discussions may take in tutorials or seminars, or through the wider reading that students may conduct for the course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass in 40 credits of third level historical courses or equivalent.
Students should only be enrolled on this course with approval from the History Honours Programme Administrator. |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate an understanding of reform movements across the British empire between 1828 and 1848;
- read, analyze and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
- understand, evaluate and utilize a variety of primary source material;
- develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilizing relevant evidence;
- demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
J. Belich, Replenishing the earth: the settler revolution and the rise of the Anglo-world (Oxford, 2011)
I. Bradley, The call to seriousness: the evangelical impact on the Victorians (London, 1976)
C. Hall, N. Draper, K. McClelland, Emancipation and the remaking of the British imperial world (Manchester, 2014)
C. Hall, Macaulay and son: architects of imperial Britain (London, 2012)
R. Huzzey, Freedom burning: anti-slavery and empire in Victorian Britain (Ithaca, 2012)
J. Innes and A. Burns (eds.), Rethinking the age of reform, 1780-1850 (Cambridge, 2003)
B. T. Jones, Republicanism and responsible government: the shaping of democracy in Australia and Canada (Montreal, 2014)
Z. Laidlaw, Colonial connections, 1815-45: patronage, the information revolution and colonial government (Manchester, 2012)
A. Lambert, White creole culture, politics and identity during the age of abolition (Cambridge, 2005)
A. Lester and F. Dussart, Colonization and the origins of humanitarian governance: protecting aborigines across the nineteenth-century British empire (Cambridge, 2014)
P. Moon, A savage country (London, 2012)
E. Stokes, The English utilitarians in India (Oxford, 1959)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Benjamin Weinstein
Tel: (0131 6)50 3762
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Ksenia Gorlatova
Tel: (0131 6)50 8349
Email: |
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