HIST 351-01, United States Constitutional History to 1865, Spring 2001

Abstract

This course examines the development of American constitutionalism from the seventeenth century through the Civil War era. We will pay particular attention to the revolutionary ideology of eighteenth century America, the creation of a constitution and a republic, and the new nation's attempts to deal with the issues of federalism, the separation of powers, the government's role in the national economy, and the future of slavery in the expanding republic. In contrast to a constitutional law course, this class is more concerned with how American constitutionalism both shaped and responded to larger political and social developments, and less concerned with the evolution of constitutional doctrine in and of itself.