The Miller Center | History and Modern Conscience: Evidence from the British Empire | Priya Satia

This talk examines the historical discipline's role in the history of empire: how history emerged in the modern period as a system of ethical thought that guided the imperial exercise of British agency. By deferring ethical judgment to the future, historical thinking enabled well-meaning Britons to engage in imperial activities, including the brutal repression of colonial resistance, with mostly clear consciences. After examining the Enlightenment origins of this story, the talk highlights a few key episodes in the history of the British Empire where historical thinking functioned as an ethical idiom. The talk closes with a brief discussion of how the ethics of historical thought were remade in the era of anticolonialism and decolonization.