Prospectus

nl en

Piracy in the Americas, 1500-1750

Course
2009-2010

This course treats the history of piracy in the Western Hemisphere from the era of Columbus to the age of Blackbeard.

Class type

Study goals

Students will learn to separate myth from fact in the long history of ‘West Indies’ piracy, distinguishing state-sponsored from private acts of pillage, understanding related phenomena such as contraband trade, slavery, and emergence of global money markets. How pirates and piracy were viewed in their own time and from different national perspectives (e.g., Dutch vs. Spanish) will be of particular interest. Some discussion of piracy in literature and film will also be included.

Admission requirements

Entry exam on Lane to p.32, and Pennell pp.82-106.

Required reading

  • Kris Lane, Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500-1750 (Armonk, NY, 1998; cloth) ISBN 0-7656-0256-3; $19.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-7656-0257-2.) or UK version of same

  • Kris Lane, Blood & Silver (Oxford: Signal Books, 1998; ISBN-13: 9781902669014 ISBN: 1902669010).

  • C.R. Pennell, Bandits at Sea: A Pirates Reader (New York: NYU Press, 2001). ISBN: 0841766781 (paper)

Examination

Short essay exam plus final paper

Timetable

Semester II see timetables.

Information

With tutor..

How to enroll

Via U-TWIST, see enrolment procedures.