The Empire Project

British Empire – The Origins of the British Empire, 1500-1700

In this course, Professor Michael Braddick (University of Sheffield) explores the origins of the British Empire between 1500-1700. In the first module, we provide some thoughts on how we as historians can best approach such a complex historical phenomenon as the British Empire. In the four modules that follow that, we trace development in four distinct periods – the Tudors (1500-1603), the early Stuarts (1603-40), the civil war(s) and interregnum (1640-1660), and the Restoration (1660-1700). In each case, we think about key developments in what kinds of activities were taking place, where they were taking place, the extent to which the government was involved in these activities, the role of capital and investment, and the overall 'vision' (if any) of what was going on. In the sixth and final module, we provide some more thoughts on how to think about the development of the British Empire, and offer some suggestions for how the kinds of analyses seen in this course can be fruitfully applied to the development of the Empire from 1700 onwards.

The Empire Project

In this module, we provide a broad overview of how we should think about the British Empire, focusing in particular on: (i) the concept of the British Empire as an ambition or a project rather than a reality of co-ordinated and closely-managed British power; (ii) John Darwin's characterisation of the British Empire in his 2009 book, The Empire Project; (iii) five key drivers that led to the various overseas activities in the period 1500-1700 – dynastic interest, discovery, trade, capital and settlement; (iv) the extent to which these overseas activities should be though about as a connected whole; and (v) the four kinds of turning-points that change the character of (what later becomes described as) the British Empire.