This course charts the long history and continuing legacies of the British Empire, an entity that has transformed every single continent over the last four centuries and is widely associated with the makings of the modern world. We examine how and why a powerful and expansive British Empire emerged and sustained itself. Equally, we zoom in on the regular contestation and even outright rebellion that this transcontinental polity inspired. This course is an opportunity to think connectively and comparatively about historical experiences in America, India, the Caribbean and Africa among multiple other British imperial spaces. Through the prism of a changing British Empire, we trace the rise and evolution of global trade, slavery, the consumption of commodities such as sugar, tea, opium, and cotton; and new ideas about governance, sovereignty, race and identity. We conclude with a discussion of the persistence of imperial institutions, laws and power relations in shaping the world we inhabit. Students will be introduced to major debates about imperialism and colonialism and the political, economic, environmental, legal and racial underpinnings of the British Empire. Students will read a combination of primary and secondary sources every week and will develop a research paper drawn from original sources over the course of the term.