The course discusses the dispersal (in most cases by coercion) of African to many parts of the world-the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas. In particular, it investigates the sources of the dispersion by looking at the African end of the slave trade and examines how Africans fared under slavery in different host societies. The course also analyses the post-slavery situation in the alien societies they now live in.

The course examines the shaping of colonial rule in Ghana. It studies the institutions that the British created for colonial rule and the colonial regime’s approach to social and economic development. It also analyses the responses of the various sections of the Ghanaian society to colonial rule and the forms these reactions took. Furthermore, the course examines the factors that led to the independence movements in Ghana and the nature of the struggle for the recovery of independence.

The course looks at the evolution of European colonization of the Caribbean. It deals with the earliest (pre-European) societies and how the arrival of the Spaniards and others affected the indigenes of the area. The course further examines how the different European nations came in and through the forced importation of Africans began to establish various European dominated multiracial societies. Much attention is given to the forced African immigrants in these societies, their labour, treatment, reaction, etc. up to the period when European governments decided to end slavery for their nationals.

This course examines the political, social, economic and intellectual forces that plunged Europe into a period of violent revolution as well as the nationalist activities which eventually led to the creation of powerful new nation states. The course exposes students to major upheavals in Europe with the French revolution as a key event which unleashed a chain of revolutions and series of wars beginning with the rise of napoleon. It studies significant developments like experimentation of the rise of Napoleon. It studies significant developments like experimentation with liberal democracy and constitutional rule; counterrevolutions; the surge of nationalism; and unification of culturally homogeneous (Germany and Italy). The course further examines new thought cultures like liberalism, Darwinism, Romanticism and Marxism, as well as personalities whose twists and turns shaped Europe during this epoch. By drawing on parallels between this aspect of European history and the decolonized experiences of Ghana and other African states, the course broadens students’ scope of understanding of African political history. It enables students to appreciate the instability in post-colonial Africa; the emergence of personal dictatorships; the ideas of revolution; African socialism, African Marxism, and, more recently, the drift towards western liberal democracy and constitutional rule.