HIS 321 - Port Cities in the Maritime World, 1500-1800

George II died on the morning of October 25, 1760. News of the Sovereign’s death first landed on Martha’s Vineyard on December 26 and arrived in New York in the following year on January 10. Meanwhile, rumors circulated across the colonies, causing anxiety and uncertainty. Such delay in trans-Atlantic communication (it usually took six weeks for a packet to cross the Atlantic if the weather cooperated) exemplifies how people in the early modern period experienced distance in the form of space and time. Enduring and overcoming them required reducing and mitigating the vastness and uncertainty of ocean spaces, much of which occurred through and in port cities.

This course examines port cities’ role in making the early modern maritime world. Five themes are central to this course: 1) material exchange, 2) movement of people, 30 knowledge production, 40 contest for power, and 5) cultural imaginings. Wile the course will primarily focus on the Atlantic world, we will also learn how goods, ideas, and people moved across the Indian and Pacific oceans. We will also discuss coasts, harbors, and islands that performed functions similar to port cities. The course is divided into two parts. Part I will focus on the role port cities played in the development of the maritime world. Part II will focus on how port cities shaped the everyday lives of the people involved.

Satisfies History major and minor.
Satisfies Historical Thought Ways of Knowing requirement.
Satisfies Cultural Diversity Requirement.