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HIS31860

Academic Year 2026/2027

Slavery and the New World (HIS31860)

Subject:
History
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
History
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Marc Caball
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

It is estimated that between the mid-fifteenth century and towards the end of the nineteenth century, more than 12 million people from Africa were enslaved and forcefully transported to the Americas. Of these 12 million, it is believed that approximately 11 million Africans survived often terrible and harrowing Atlantic voyages. Such was the scale of the Atlantic slave trade that until the 1820s more Africans crossed the Atlantic than Europeans. The produce of enslaved labour in the form of tobacco, rice, sugar and cotton transformed European economies and habits and arguably laid the basis for globalised capitalism. All major European maritime powers were involved in the slave while more than 90% of slaves shipped across the Atlantic were supplied by African traders. Many key features of the modern world have roots which can be traced to slavery: demography of the Americas; poverty in sub-Saharan Africa and food-ways of the world. While this module will examine early modern and modern slavery from its Portuguese beginnings down to its final abolition in Brazil in 1888, it will concentrate in particular on slavery in Britain’s seventeenth-century Atlantic territories and colonial America in the eighteenth century.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

Students taking this module will acquire an indepth knowledge of current debates and scholarship in the field of slavery and the new world from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. They will be introduced to topical historiographical discussions through a thematic focus looking at questions of Portuguese, Spanish and British colonisation and settlement in the world; Africa and slavery; the emergence of the British Atlantic and the development of slavery in the Caribbean; slavery in Brazil; slaves and sailors in the revolutionary Atlantic; slave mutinies and revolts; slavery in antebellum America; abolitionism and abolition. Students will be encouraged to examine new world slavery with a view to understanding subsequent global political, economic and cultural developments in the Americas, Africa and Europe. Through seminar-based discussion and analysis of a selection of primary sources, students will enhance their historical knowledge and competence in document analysis and presentation. Students will also be supported in the development of critical writing skills.

Indicative Module Content:

British Atlantic; beginnings of slavery; emergence of the plantation complex; Africa and the enslaved; the Middle Passage; Slavery in the British West Indies in the 18th century; Abolition; slavery in the United States.

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Competent

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Competent

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Competent

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Competent

Integrated Problem Solving

 The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development, integrating the competencies in this list. Competent

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Competent

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Competent

Anticipatory

 The ability to understand and evaluate multiple scenarios for the future – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes. Competent

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Competent

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Competent

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Competent

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


Goal Name Description Coverage

Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages 2

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 3

Reduce inequality within and among countries 2

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 2

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 2
 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

95
Autonomous Student Learning

95
Lectures

11
Seminar (or Webinar)

22
Total

223

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The module is delivered on an interactive student-focused basis through lectures and seminars. Students are encouraged to explore primary historical documents with a view to enhancing their historical knowledge and capacity. Moreover, students are encouraged to question and interrogate sources in order to arrive a greater understanding of the module topic and its broader contemporary ideological, social, political and cultural implications.

The use of AI tools (e.g. Gemini, Chat GPT, Copilot) is not permitted in this module. Students are expected to engage directly with module materials and activities without the use of AI tools.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): Students are required to write a research paper based on relevant primary sources with appropriate consideration of secondary scholarship. The essay must consist of 4,000 words. Week 14 Graded No
40
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Students are required to wrote a primary source analysis of a relevant document. The analysis must consist of 2,000 words. Week 5 Graded No
40
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Students are required to participate in and contribute to all class discussions and debates on an active basis. Participation is graded on a scale from A to NG, Week 12 Graded No
20
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

A proportion of written assignments in each module in the School of History are subject to moderation, meaning they undergo a second layer of review by another grader. This can include oral moderation meetings where the student is invited in for a short meeting with the module coordinator to discuss the assignment. Moderation contributes to better informed marking.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Mon 15:00 - 15:50
Spring Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 09:00 - 10:50
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