AMERICAN LEGAL HISTORY, 1860 TO THE PRESENT

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.

HISTORY/LEGALST 261

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.

AFROAMER/HISTORY 628

Civil rights history from 1930-1970. Legal, historical and economic origins of the civil rights movement. Study of the movement's impact on United States culture, politics, and international relations.

HISTORY 101

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

HISTORY 102

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