Legal and Constitutional History of the United States: Colonial Period to 1850 (318-1-20)
Instructors
Joanna Lynn Grisinger
847 491 3987
620 Lincoln St #201
I am an American legal historian who works on the modern administrative state. At Northwestern, I teach courses on law and society, U.S. legal history, gender and the law, and constitutional law. My first book, The Unwieldy American State: Administrative Politics since the New Deal (Cambridge, 2012), examines the politics of administrative law reform; I am currently working on a project about the relationship between administrative agencies and social movements.
Meeting Info
University Hall 101: Tues, Thurs 12:30PM - 1:50PM
Overview of class
This course explores some of the major questions and problems of American legal history from the colonial era to 1850. First, we will examine how and why the colonies developed their laws and legal institutions, and what assumptions about justice and equality lawmakers relied on in doing so. Next, we will explore the legal, political, and social forces that led to the American Revolution and the framing and ratification of the United States Constitution, where Americans drew on their legal experiences and called for freedom in powerful but partial ways. We will then examine how judicial and legislative action guided and enabled explosive economic growth in the nineteenth century. Not everyone was able to participate in the new economy, however; we will also explore how law created separate categories for white women, American Indians, and African Americans that limited their participation in law, politics, and society.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, you should be able to: understand the themes described above; assess and analyze different kinds of primary sources, including legal texts; become familiar with some of the important secondary scholarship in the field; understand the subjectivity of lawmakers and the agency of legal subjects; understand a variety of legal concepts and doctrines and their meaning in historical context; understand the distinct roles played by different actors (judges, legislatures, lawyers, litigants, voters, etc.) within the constitutional system; and make cogent, evidence-based oral and written arguments about interpretive questions and core themes in legal history that engage with the arguments of other historians.
Evaluation Method
Three papers, weekly 50-word sentences, class participation
Class Materials (Required)
All the assigned readings will be uploaded on Canvas
Class Notes
History Area(s) of Concentration: Americas
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Distro Area
Associated Classes
DIS - University Hall 121: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM
DIS - 555 Clark 230: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - Parkes Hall 214: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM