HISTORY 5106-375: European Imperialism

Dr. Jari Eloranta

Associate Professor of Comparative Economic and Business History

Appalachian State University, Department of History

Office: OLCB 1059

Phone: 262-6006

E-mail: elorantaj@appstate.edu

Course Description:

What is imperialism? How has it manifested in world history since Columbus discovered America? What are the costs and benefits of empires? We aim to answer all these questions, and more, in this course analyzing European domination of the world from the 16^th century all the way to the 20^th century. We will cover the most up-to-date literature on the concept and analysis of imperialism, using both primary and secondary sources. Even though we will investigate other aspects of imperialism as well (e.g. cultural and social dimensions), the main focus will be on the interaction of economic and political contexts. In particular, we will analyze the workings of two empires: the Spanish Empire and the British Empire. In addition, the “successes” and “failures” of these polities will be deconstructed from a comparative perspective. Finally, we will take look at current discussion of imperialism, both in terms of historical phenomena and current events (Gulf Wars and hegemonic theories).

Teaching Format: lectures and discussion meetings

Schedule: Mondays 5-7.40 pm, Room 1112 in the Hickory Metro Higher Ed. Center

Course Resources:

• Syllabus (full), Essays and Presentations

• Schedule and Lecture notes (in PDF, not yet available):

August 31 – Theories, Practical Information, Analysis of Sources, Essays and Writing. Discussion Topic: Various Theories of Imperialism: Strengths and Weaknesses. Discussant: Lecturer and the group as a whole.

*Required Readings:

-Ferguson, Niall, Empire. The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power. London: Allen Lane, 2002 (Introduction).

-Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism.  Reprint, 1994 (Introduction and Chapter One)

-Landes, David, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. London, 1999 (reprint) (Introduction and Chapter One).

*Also, check out the following website: http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/links.html. Read through at least most of it. Then print out and/or comment on the parts that you think are the most important for writing essays.

September 14 – European Nation States, Trade, and Economic Resurgence. Discussion Topic: based on readings. Discussant(s):

*Required Readings:

-Pomeranz, K. and Topik, S. (2006), The World that Trade Created. Society, Culture, and the World Economy, 1400 to the Present (2^nd edition). London and New York, Chapters 1-4.

-Maddison, Angus, The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective. OECD: Paris 2001 (Chapter One, available from: http://www.ggdc.net/Maddison/), see also Maddison’s website for data tables HS-7 and HS-8: http://www.ggdc.net/Maddison/other_books/HS-8_2003.pdf.  Maddison 2003 is also available in its entirety from Appstate library if necessary.

-Visit the following databanks and glance around: http://www.ggdc.net/Maddison/; http://www.nber.org/data/; http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~phensel/data.html; answer the following questions:

1) What is the typical time frame that these data cover? Why? 2) How reliable is this kind of data? 3) What are the limits of quantitative analysis in terms of e.g. Medieval trade?

*Optional Readings:

-Greif, Avner, Paul Milgrom & Barry R. Weingast, ‘Coordination, Commitment, and Enforcement: The Case of the Merchant Guild”. The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 102, No. 4 (Aug. 1994), pp. 745-776. (available from: www.jstor.org)

-Landes, David, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. London, 1999 (reprint) (Chapters 1-11).

September 21 – Early European Nation States, Warfare, and Conquest: Coercion and Capital? Discussion Topic: based on readings. Discussant(s):

*Required Readings:

-Ferguson, Niall (2001), The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000. New York: Basic Books (Chapter One: http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/f/ferguson-cash.html).

-Pomeranz, K. and Topik, S. (2006), The World that Trade Created. Society, Culture, and the World Economy, 1400 to the Present (2^nd edition). London and New York, Chapter 5.

-Eloranta, Jari, ‘Military Spending Patterns in History’. EH.Net’s online encyclopedia 2005 (provided by the lecturer to everyone as an email attachment prior to class)

*Optional Readings:

-Kamen, Henry, ‘The Economic and Social Consequences of the Thirty Years' War’. Past and Present, No. 39. (Apr., 1968), pp. 44-61 (available from: www.jstor.org)

-North, Douglass C. & Barry R. Weingast, ‘Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutional Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England’. The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Dec., 1989), pp. 803-832 (available from: www.jstor.org)

September 28 – Economic Dimensions of Imperialism, the Industrial Revolution, and the Exploitation Hypotheses. Discussion Topic: based on readings. Discussant(s):

*Required Readings:

-Hobson, J.A., Imperialism. University of Michigan Press, 1965 (reprint). (Chapters I-VII)

-Pomeranz, K. and Topik, S. (2006), The World that Trade Created. Society, Culture, and the World Economy, 1400 to the Present (2^nd edition). London and New York, Chapters 6-7.

-O’Brien, Patrick K., ‘The Costs and Benefits of British Imperialism 1846-1914’. Past and Present, No. 120 (Aug. 1988), pp. 163-200 (available from: www.jstor.org)

*Optional Readings:

-Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, ‘REVERSAL OF FORTUNE: GEOGRAPHY AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD INCOME DISTRIBUTION’. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 2002 (find it yourself: use Appstate library’s electronic resources, click on Business Source Elite database, do a search and download the article), focus on the introduction and conclusions.

-Bratton, Michael, ‘Patterns of Development and Underdevelopment: Toward a Comparison’. International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 3. (Sep., 1982), pp. 333-372 (available from: www.jstor.org)

October 5 – The Far East: China and Japan – Two Different Development Paths. Discussion Topic: based on readings (including analysis of primary sources). Discussant(s):.

*Required Readings:

*Maddison, Angus, Chinese Economic Performance in the Long Run. OECD 1998 (available from: http://www.eco.rug.nl/~Maddison/China.shtml), especially Summary and Conclusions, Chapters 1-2

*Optional Readings:

-Landes, David, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. London, 1999 (reprint) (Chapters 2, 9, 21, 22, 23).

-Pomerantz, Kenneth, The great divergence: China, Europe, and the making of the modern world economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2000 (purely optional, available from the Appstate library).

            *Primary Sources:

-Find on your own!

October 12 – The Spanish Empire I: Beginnings and the Dynamics of World Conquest. Discussion Topic: based on readings (including analysis of primary sources). Discussant(s):.

*Required Readings:

-Kamen, Henry Arthur Francis. Empire: How Spain Became a World Power, 1492-1763. 1st American ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.

*Optional Readings:

-Diamond, Jared, Guns, Germs, and Steel. The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton & Company 1999 (Chapter Four).

*Primary Sources (in addition to the digital options specified earlier):

            -http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/slatta/hi453/docs.htm  

-Find on your own!

October 19 – The Spanish Empire II: The Decline, Its Dimensions, and Explanations. Discussion Topic: based on readings (including analysis of primary sources). Also: FIRST PART OF THE ESSAY IS DUE! Discussant(s):.

*Required Readings:

-Kamen, Henry Arthur Francis. Empire: How Spain Became a World Power, 1492-1763. 1st American ed. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. (review Chapter I)

-Douglass C. North’s Nobel Prize lecture: http://nobelprize.org/economics/laureates/1993/north-lecture.html

*Optional Readings:

-Kellenbenz, Hermann, ‘The Impact of Growth on Government: The Example of Spain’. The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Sept., 1967), pp. 340-362 (available from: www.jstor.org)

-Payne, Stanley G., A History of Spain and Portugal. Volume 1. (Chapter Nine: The United Spanish Monarchy: http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne9.htm )

*Primary Sources:

-Find on your own!

October 26 – The British Empire I: The “British Model”, Warfare, and the East India Company. Discussion Topic: based on readings (including analysis of primary sources). Discussant(s):

*Required Readings:

-Ferguson, Niall, Empire. The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power. London: Allen Lane, 2002 (Introduction, Chapters 1-4).

*Optional Readings:

-North, Douglass C. & Barry R. Weingast, ‘Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutional Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England’. The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Dec., 1989), pp. 803-832 (available from: www.jstor.org).

-Landes, David, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. London, 1999 (reprint) (Chapter 15).

*Primary Sources (pick and choose):

-English conquest of India: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/india/indiasbook.html#The%20Western%20Intrusion

-Dutch East India Company: http://batavia.ugent.be/B@taviaE.htm

-1748: The case of the Hudson's-Bay Company. URL : http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?id=7a8668f9e0&doc=16621

November 2 – The British Empire II: Consolidation and Limits of Imperialism. Discussion Topic: based on readings (including analysis of primary sources). Discussant(s):

*Required Readings:

-Ferguson, Niall, Empire. The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power. London: Allen Lane, 2002 (Chapters 5-6).

-Offer, Avner, ‘The British Empire, 1870-1914: A Waste of Money?’, The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 46, No. 2. (May, 1993), pp. 215-238 (available from: www.jstor.org).

*Optional Readings:

-O’Brien, Patrick K., ‘The Political Economy of British Taxation, 1660-1815’, The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 41, No. 1. (Feb., 1988), pp. 1-32 (NOTE: Use the Appstate Library’s electronic databases to find it).

- Krozewski, Gerold, ‘Sterling, the 'Minor' Territories, and the End of Formal Empire, 1939-1958’, The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 46, No. 2. (May, 1993), pp. 239-265 (available from: www.jstor.org).

-Landes, David, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. London, 1999 (reprint).

*Primary Sources:

-Find on your own!

November 9 – The Second Wave of Imperialism: Nationalism, the Second Industrial Revolution, and the Race for Africa. Discussion Topic: based on readings (including analysis of primary sources). Discussant(s):

*Required Readings:

-Hobson, J.A., Imperialism. University of Michigan Press, 1965 (reprint) (have this book read in its entirety by this date!).

-Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism.  Reprint, 1994.

-Cain, P.J. & A.G. Hopkins, ‘Gentlemanly Capitalism and British Expansion Overseas II: New Imperialism, 1850-1945’, The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Feb., 1987), pp. 1-26 (available from: www.jstor.org).

*Optional Readings:

-Headrick, Daniel R., ‘The Tools of Imperialism: Technology and the Expansion of European Colonial Empires in the Nineteenth Century’, The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 51, No. 2, Technology and War. (Jun., 1979), pp. 231-263.

*Primary Sources:

-see: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook34.html#Africa (Pick and choose!)

November 16 – 19^th and 20^th Century Critics of Imperialism: Hobson, Lenin, and Said. Discussion Topic: based on readings (including analysis of primary sources). Discussant(s):                  Also featuring excerpts of an interview of Niall Ferguson on his new book The War of the World.

*Required Readings:

-Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism.  Reprint, 1994 (have this book read in its entirety by this date!).

-Hobson, J.A., Imperialism. University of Michigan Press, 1965 (reprint) (review!).

*Optional Readings:

-Arendt, Hannah, ‘Imperialism, Nationalism, Chauvinism’, The Review of Politics, Vol. 7, No. 4. (Oct., 1945), pp. 441-463 (available from: www.jstor.org).

- Eckstein, A.M., ‘Is There a 'Hobson-Lenin Thesis' on Late Nineteenth-Century Colonial Expansion?’, The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol. 44, No. 2. (May, 1991), pp. 297-318 (available from: www.jstor.org).

*Primary Sources:

-see: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook34.html#Imperialism (Pick and choose!)

November 23 – 20^th Century American Imperialism? Exploring the Myths, Theories, and Facts. Discussion Topic: based on readings (including analysis of primary sources). Also: THE COMPLETE ESSAY IS DUE! Discussant(s):

*Required Readings:

-Ferguson, Niall (2003), ‘Hegemony or Empire?’ Foreign Affairs, a book review: http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20030901fareviewessay82512/niall-ferguson/hegemony-or-empire.html.

-Howe, Stephen (2003), ‘American Empire: The History and Future of an Idea’, Global Policy Forum.

*Optional Readings:

-Huntington, Samuel, ‘If Not Civilizations, What? Samuel Huntington Responds to His Critics’, Foreign Affairs, November/December 1993, available from: http://www.foreignaffairs.org/19931201faresponse5213/samuel-p-huntington/if-not-civilizations-what-samuel-huntington-responds-to-his-critics.html.

-Bill, James A., ‘The Politics of Hegemony: The United States and Iran’, Middle East Policy Council Journal, Volume VIII, September 2001, Number 3, available from: http://www.mepc.org/public_asp/journal_vol8/0109_bill.asp.

*Primary Sources:

-see: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook34.html#American%20Imperialism

November 30 – Final Test, regular class time (please bring blue books with you!). The final test will feature four primary source texts, of which you have to analyze two with tools learned in class. I will also utilize these same questions for comps.