Race in the British Empire, 1580-1960

Race was a significant factor in the formation of Britain’s global empire. Within the British Isles, the Irish and Highland Scots were racialized as “Celts.” In the Americas, race shaped relations with indigenous peoples and defined systems of Black enslavement. Later, it informed British expansionism in South Asia, the Pacific and Africa, as well as eugenics policies and responses to independence movements. This course examines shifting interpretations of racial categories within Britain itself and the British empire overseas, from the Tudor period down to the beginning of large-scale immigration into Britain from South Asia and the Caribbean. 3 hr. sem.