HIST 316-01, U.S. Constitutional History since 1865, Spring 2000

Abstract

This course examines the development of American constitutionalism from the Civil War Era to the 1990s. We will focus on the Supreme Court's interpretation of the constitutional issues surrounding Reconstruction and civil rights, industrialization and economic expansion, the rise of national regulatory power, and the expansion of individual rights. 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 an of itself.