Level: 2

Semester: 1

Prerequisite: None

(Compulsory for History Majors, Minors and Teachers)

 

Course Description:

This is a survey course of the major developments in West Indian History 1600-1830. The geographic scope of the course includes the Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Danish West Indies. It begins with the establishment of colonies in the West Indies and the expansion of sugar and enslavement as central components in the development of the colonies. The course ends in the 1830s with the abolition of chattel slavery in the British Colonies. The major topics which will be examined include: The Geo-politics of the Caribbean in the 17th Century, Colonial Administration, the Development of Plantations, the Sugar Revolution, Social Organisation, War and Trade, the Spanish Economic Revolution, the Development of the Haitian Republic, Religion, and Anti-Slavery movements.

 

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. Debate the different perspectives surrounding the historical experience of the region

2.Apply different methodological approaches to research

3. Identify both traditional and revisionist perspectives in the historiography of West Indian society

4. Readily identify and explain the concept of the West Indies

5.Identify, explain and critique the historical accounts about the Caribbean from 1660-1830

6.Explain the reason for the arrival and settlement of different groups of people in the region

7.Compare the different colonial administrative systems employed in the region.

8.Explain the concept of Plantation society and the social hierarchy that developed to support it.

9.Identify and explain the activities of the non-sugar economies in the Caribbean during the  period

10.Recognise the roles of political, economic and social devices in the colonial setting

11.Distinguish between metropolitan centered and West Indian centered historical perspectives

12.Develop their own viewpoint regarding historical developments

13.Write a well-structured, supported, referenced and effective history essay

 

 

 

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