LAW 5818 - Legal History, Race Relations and Constitution Seminar

Credit(s): 2
The object of this course is to examine the nexus between law and history, through the study of the legal regulation of race in this country, more particularly with respect to the treatment of person of African descent. To this end, as a class we will explain not only the traditional tools of legal analysis such as cases, statues, and law review articles, but we will examine secondary historical and legal literature in an attempt to survey broadly the legal history of race in the nation, primarily through the black/white paradigm. Among the topics student will examine are: the institution and operation of slavery, the importance of slavery in the framing of the Constitution, the framing and operation of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, the implication of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, and affirmative action.