Mar 28, 2024  
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

HIST 2090 Piracy in the Early Modern World


A history of high seas piracy from the European “discovery” of the Americas to 1750. The course studies piracy as it linked the Americas, Europe, and the Early Modern world’s most important trading empires,China and India. The course considers mercantilist policies and the role of privateers, buccaneers, and pirates in the context of political and economic rivalries, and in the transfer of New World riches from the colonies to world markets. It surveys the ways maritime predatory practices evolved and shaped the emerging colonial societies. It explores the ships, weapons, and tactics as well as the everyday life and power relations in the multi-national, multi-racial societies created on pirate ships and in coastal communities. The course compares the “golden age piracy” to other instances of maritime piracy,including contemporary forms. Prerequisite(s): One 1000 level History course.
Credits: 3.0