History 3551

Constitutional History of the United States to 1877

Fall Semester, 2007

T 5-6 periods

Th 6 period

Keene-Flint 105

Please note—this is a Gordon Rule 6 course.

Professor: Elizabeth Dale

352-392-0271 ex. 262

edale@history.ufl.edu

http://plaza.ufl.edu/edale

office hours: T: 10 am to 11 am

Th: 11:30 to 12:30

and by appointment

Required reading:

Jack Rakove, Original Meanings (Vintage Press, 1997) (ISBN 978-0679781219)

Saul Cornell, A Well Regulated Militia (Oxford U Press, 2006) (ISBN 0-19-514786-3)

Larry Kramer, The People Themselves (Oxford U Press, 2005) (ISBN 978-0195306453)

Austin Allen, The Origins of the Dred Scott Case (Georgia UPress 2006) (ISBN 0-8203-2842-3)

The books have been ordered through Goerings Book Store. You may also order them on Amazon.com.

Also required: on-line readings from http://plaza.ufl.edu/edale

Assignments:

Class participation, worth 25% of your grade

1 case analysis (approx 3000 words), topic to be assigned, due on date indicated below, worth 25% of grade

1 book analysis (approx 3000 words), topic to be assigned, due on date indicated below, worth 25% of grade

Take home final (one 5-7 page essay), due on date indicated below, worth 25% of grade

All papers are due on the date set, at the start of class. Any paper turned in the day of the assignment after class will be marked down half a grade. Any paper turned in the day after it is due will be marked down a full grade; any paper turned in two days late will be marked down two full grades. Any paper turned in three days late will automatically receive an F. For purposes of this rule, weekends will be counted.

Students are expected to attend regularly, come to class on time, and to have read the material for the day prior to class. Lectures, discussions, and assignments are intended to teach you the materials and skills you will need to do the assignments, and there is a close correlation between attendance, participation, and grades. Your class participation grade requires you to attend AND participate.

Schedule:

Week 1:

Thursday: introduction to course

Week 2:

Tuesday: Magna Carta and discussion of constitutional law

Thursday: Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629, Sermon on the Arbella

Week 3:

Tuesday: Laws and Liberties

Thursday: Declaration of Independence

Week 4

Tuesday: Constitution of Delaware (1776); Constitution of South Carolina (1776); Articles of Confederation (1781)

Thursday: United States Constitution