American Legal History Seminar

This seminar will explore the development of American law and legal thought from the founding of the United States through the Warren Court. Topics include the Revolution and the creation of the Constitution, the law of slavery and race, the Civil War and Reconstruction, Immigration and Industrialization, the New Deal, World War II and the Civil Rights movement. We will consider the way changes in American social and political life helped drive legal change, and also how changes in legal doctrine and legal thought helped shape American history. The seminar will rely on primary sources and secondary materials that help highlight different historical interpretations and schools of thought. Students will write a seminar paper, and the course will rely on extensive class discussion.