American Legal History

Description:

This course focuses on the role of law in American political and social thought from the colonial times to the present. The intersection of law and politics and the role of the courts in a constitutional democracy are central course themes. Subjects include land use controls in the Colonial and Founding generations, politics in the Founding generation, slavery and race in American thought, nineteenth century judicial activism, the revolution of the New Deal, and modern topics such as desegregation and affirmative action, privacy and abortion, environmentalism, the new federalism of the Rehnquist Court, and that Court’s decision determining the result of the 2000 presidential election. Students must take a take-home examination and may write an optional A paper with the permission of the professor. Class participation affects grades as well.