The First Amendment
This seminar explores the crucial role of free speech in a democratic republic and the Court’s evolving standards of jurisprudence over the past hundred years. Indeed, the First Amendment has […]
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This seminar explores the crucial role of free speech in a democratic republic and the Court’s evolving standards of jurisprudence over the past hundred years. Indeed, the First Amendment has […]
This seminar will focus on America’s westward expansion and its “Manifest Destiny” to expand from sea to shining sea. This seminar will consider the purposes for westward expansion, Jackson’s Indian […]
This seminar explores major themes in the African American tradition by considering speeches, essays, and literature at several key inflection points across history. Participants will reflect upon different forms of […]
The decade that preceded Abraham Lincoln’s presidential election and the onset of secession and civil war saw an America increasingly divided over the future of slavery in the United States. This seminar will explore the events and turmoil that ultimately led to the greatest conflict this nation endured. The readings that follow present a diversity […]
This seminar will examine Lincoln’s speeches and letters, as well as those of select contemporaries, on emancipation, civil war, and reconstruction. We will focus on Lincoln’s consistencies and inconsistencies on […]
In the wake of the Confederacy’s defeat, some white leaders of the South sought to modernize the region by promoting 1) sectional reconciliation, 2) a resolution to the region’s race problem, and 3) the creation of a new economic order based on industry, commerce, and a diversified agricultural system. In short, these leaders advocated for […]
Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. both argued that the proper foundation for civic education is the belief that America has a moral essence derived from the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and that America’s history and purpose—its past, present, and future—is the story of our struggle to live up to those principles. […]
This seminar will focus on the roots of Jim Crow in the late 19th century. What was the catalyst for Jim Crow legislation? How did the laws and customs of Jim Crow get firmly established? How was it defended by its supporters? How was it attacked by civil rights advocates and how did African Americans […]
This seminar offers an overview of the debates at the Constitutional Convention. We will examine the purposes of the American political order, the defects of the Articles of Confederation, the debates over the reform of the Confederation government and squaring the institution of slavery. In our study, we will attempt to understand the interests and […]
This seminar explores the presidential transition initiated by the assassination of President Kennedy and how President Johnson responded in his first year in office in terms of policy and executive […]