Topics in American Constitutional History

Introduction to major themes, events, and cases in American constitutional history. U.S. Supreme Court decisions and other sources of constitutional meaning, including popular movements and expressions of constitutional principle from actors in other branches of federal government and in states. Emphasis on historical background and ideological context for particular constitutional controversies at various points in American history, with more formal analysis of particular decisions and competing methods of constitutional interpretation considered. Topics include origins of judicial review, debates over meaning of federalism in early republic, slavery and constitution, Reconstruction Amendments, laissez-faire constitutionalism, citizenship and empire, origins of civil liberties, New Deal constitutionalism, and prehistory of Brown versus Board of Education.

P/NP or letter grading.