We're still actively developing this site. If you encounter any issues, please report them! - Report an issue

AMERICAN LEGAL HISTORY TO 1860

HISTORY/LEGALST 261
Course Description

Surveys the development of American law down to the U.S. Civil War. Reviews the English historical background, and examines how law changed in colonial America, culminating in the framing of the U.S. Constitution. Explores how territorial expansion, democracy, and slavery shaped nineteenth-century American law. Emphasis is on how law interacts with political, social, and cultural change, with a focus on the origins of modern civil and constitutional rights.

Prerequisties

Sophomore standing

Satisfies
Credits

3 to 4

Offered

Fall

Grade Point Average
3

5.6% from Historical

Completion Rate
100%

3.61% from Historical

A Rate
11.86%

52.22% from Historical

Class Size
59

7.63% from Historical

Instructors (2025 Fall)

Sorted by ratings from Rate My Professors

Similar Courses

THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION: RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

POLISCI 412

This course undertakes an historical examination of the development of American constitutional thinking about individual rights and civil liberties from the founding era to the present day. Issue that are considered include freedoms guaranteed by the original Articles, the Bill of Rights, and the Civil War Amendments (XIII, XIV, and XV) as these issues appear in constitutional law, constitutional politics, and social and economic developments. The role of the federal courts, the nature and operation of principles of federalism, and the authority of Congress to protect constitutionally guaranteed rights are also major topics of consideration.

AMERICAN HISTORY, CIVIL WAR ERA TO THE PRESENT

HISTORY 102

American political, economic and social development from the Civil War to the present.

AMER HIST TO THE CIVIL WAR ERA, THE ORIGIN & GROWTH OF THE U S

HISTORY 101

American political, economic, and social development from the founding of the colonies to the Civil War.

RULE OF LAW: PHILOSOPHICAL AND HISTORICAL MODELS

HISTORY/LEGALST 459

From the perspectives of history and political theory, examines the multiple meanings of the idea of the rule of idea, and its uses in American history. Explore prominent critiques of the rule of law ideal.

AMERICAN LEGAL HISTORY, 1860 TO THE PRESENT

HISTORY/LEGALST 262

Surveys the development of American law from the Civil War to the early Twenty-First Century. After a review of the U.S. Constitution and its modification by the Civil War amendments, examine the legal dimensions of such topics as race relations and the Civil Rights movement, the growth of modern business, the New Deal, labor rights, the women's movement, the individual rights revolution of the postwar period, and the contemporary conservative reaction. Emphasis on how law interacts with political, social, and cultural change.