Course Description
Britain in the age of the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution. Special attention will be paid to political culture, intellectual change, and economic development.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Additional readings and a more substantial research paper based on original materials.
Athena Title
BRITAIN 1780-1900
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course will give students a detailed understanding of British history in the crucial years from the end of the American Revolution to 1900. During that time Britain fought an unsuccessful imperial war in North America, struggled mightily against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, spawned the Industrial Revolution, and transformed its culture, society, and political system under the pressures of those three events. A principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. The course seeks to acquaint students with the ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the relationships between community and individual needs and goals, and between ethical norms and decision-making. In general students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically. 2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers.
Topical Outline
1. Britain in 1780--Society, Empire, Economy, and the State 2. Impact of the American War 3. George III and the crisis of royal power 4. British response to the French Revolution 5. The French wars on the home front 6. Origins of the Industrial Revolution 7. Post-1815 Britain and difficulties of readjustment to peace 8. The Age of Reform--1830s 9. The Hungry Forties--Chartism and the Irish Famine 10. Victorianism and the Great Exhibition 11. The Liberal Ascendancy 12. Gladstone, Disraeli, and Victorian Politics and Economy 13. Darwin and the Impact of Science 14. Imperialism and foreign policy after 1850 15. Crisis in Ireland--Home Rule, Parnell, and Repression 16. Economy and Society at Century's End
Syllabus