Revolutions, Scandals and Reforms: British Political Cultures 1688 - 1832 - HIS00165I

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Module summary

Eighteenth-century Britain felt the pressures of profound political developments and crises both at home and abroad. The “Glorious revolution” (1689) saw a Catholic king sent into exile, replaced by a protestant husband and wife team, and heralded a new relationship between crown, parliament and public. Revolutions in America and France challenged Britain’s place in the world. Acts of union made Britain itself a new entity. With these changes came new regional and national identities, political tensions and questions about representation. Newspapers contributed to public debates, caricaturists pilloried those in power and many groups of people clamoured for representation and reform.

This course examines this varied political picture. Taking a thematic approach we will examine big questions, such as the relationship between parliament and monarchy, constitutional developments and the impact of revolutions. However, we will also ask what constitutes politics and political history? Where should we look to find political ideas, ideologies and movements? We will explore a range of primary source materials to address these questions, from criminal court trials to caricatures, to consider the much broader political cultures beyond parliament.  

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 1 2024-25

Module aims

The aims of this module are:

• To provide students with the opportunity to study particular historical topics in depth
• To develop students’ ability to examine a topic from a range of perspectives and to strengthen their ability to work critically and reflectively with secondary and primary material
   

Module learning outcomes

Students who complete this module successfully will: 

• Have acquired a deep knowledge of the specific topic studied
• Have developed their ability to use and synthesise a range of primary and secondary sources
• Be able to evaluate the arguments that historians have made about the topic studied
• Have developed their ability to study independently through seminar-based teaching
   

Module content

Students will attend a 1-hour briefing in week 1. Students will then attend a 1-hour plenary/lecture and a 2-hour seminar in weeks 2-4, 6-8 and 10-11 of semester 1. Weeks 5 & 9 are Reading and Writing Weeks (RAW) during which there are no seminars. Students prepare for and participate in eight 1-hour plenaries/lectures and eight 2-hour seminars in all.

Seminar topics are subject to variation, but are likely to include the following:

1. 1689 - a new age?
2. Jacobites: sedition, secrets and opposition
3. Political cultures: parties and the people 
4. Monarchy: mad, bad and in decline?
5. Scandalmongers: journalism and the press
6. Women and politics: excluded or indispensable? 
7. Revolutions: responses to American and France
8. The British politics of race and slavery

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

For formative assessment, students will complete a referenced 1200 to 1500-word essay relating to the themes and issues of the module. This will be submitted in either the Week 5 or Week 9 RAW week (on the day of the weekly seminar).

For summative assessment, students will complete an Assessed Essay (2000 words, footnoted). This will comprise 100% of the overall module mark.

Summative assessments will be due in the assessment period. 
 

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100.0

Module feedback

Following their formative assessment task, students will typically receive written feedback that will include comments and a mark within 10 working days of submission.

Work will be returned to students in their seminars and may be supplemented by the tutor giving some oral feedback to the whole group. All students are encouraged, if they wish, to discuss the feedback on their formative work during their tutor’s student hours. For more information, see the Statement on Feedback.

For the summative assessment task, students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback within 25 working days of the submission deadline. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required. For more information, see the Statement of Assessment.

Indicative reading

For term time reading, please refer to the module VLE site. Before the course starts, we encourage you to look at the following items of preliminary reading:

• G. Gerzina, Black England: A Forgotten Georgian History (London: John Murray, 1st published 1995; new edition 2022).
• R. Porter English Society in the Eighteenth Century (London: Penguin, 1982). 
• E. Chalus, Elite Women in English Political life c.1754 to 1790 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).