History 3551

Constitutional History of the United States to 1877

Fall Semester, 2001

M,W,F—Third Period

FAC 213

 

Professor:       Elizabeth Dale

                        234 Keene-Flint

352-392-0271

edale@history.ufl.edu

http://plaza.ufl.edu/edale

 

 

office hours: M,W,F 2 period

                      W 4-5 periods                        

 

 

 

Required reading:

 

            Rakove, Original Meanings

            Benedict, Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Jackson

            Curtis, Free Speech, the People’s Darling Privilege

Jaffa, Crisis of the House Divided

On-line readings from http://plaza.ufl.edu/edale

 

 

Assignments:

 

2 short papers (5-7 page typed), topic to be assigned, due on date indicated below, each is worth 25% of grade

1 book analysis (5-7 pages typed), 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

 

Note that there are three short assignment dates in the schedule. You must do two of those three assignments, you may not do all three.

 

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.

 

Grade conversion form

 

Schedule:

 

Week 1:

            Wed: introduction to course

            Fri: introduction to constitutional law

 

Week 2:

            Mon: Magna Carta

            Wed: Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629

            Fri: Sermon on the Arbella

                        ***First short assignment handed out***

 

Week 3:

            Mon: Labor Day, no class

            Wed: Winthrop, Speech on Liberty

            Fri: Laws and Liberties

                        ***Short assignment due***

 

Week 4

            Mon: Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1691

            Wed: Articles of Association, Declaration of Independence

            Fri: Articles of Confederation

 

Week 5

            Mon: United States Constitution and Amendments

            Wed: Rakove, Original Meanings

            Fri: Ratification by New York and South Carolina

                       

 

Week 6

            Mon: Alien and Sedition Acts, Virginia Resolution, Kentucky Resolution

            Wed: Rhode Island Reaction to the Virginia Resolutions, New Hampshire Resolution on the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

            Fri: Curtis, Free Speech

***Second short assignment handed out***

           

Week 7:

            Mon: Marbury v. Madison

            Wed: Report and Resolutions of the Hartford Convention

            Fri: South Carolina Ordinance of Nullification, President Jackson’s Proclamation on Nullification

                        ***Short assignment due***

 

Week 8:

Mon:South Carolina’s Reply to Jackson’s Proclamation on Nullification, South Carolina’s Nullification of the Force Bill

Wed: Amistad Case

            Fri:  Ableman v. Booth

***hand out book analysis assignment***

 

Week 9:

            Mon: Fugitive Slave Law, State of Georgia’s Platform on the Compromise of 1850

            Wed: Kansas-Nebraska Act

            Fri: Scott v. Sandford (Dred Scott case) (Taney opinion)

 

 

Week 10:

            Mon: Scott v. Sandford (Dred Scott case) (Curtis dissent)

            Wed: Scott v. Sandford (Dred Scott case) (McLean dissent)

            Fri: Jaffa, Crisis of the House Divided

           

 

Week 11:

            Mon: Statement of Secession, South Carolina, Statement of Secession, Georgia,

                        Recommendation for the Secession of New York City

            Wed:Charles Sumner’s Resolution on the Theory of Secession and Reconstruction,

                        Resolutions on the Objects of the War

***book analysis due***

Fri: no class, homecoming

                       

 

Week 12:

            Mon: Constitution of the Confederate States of America

            Wed: Emancipation Proclamation, Illinois Reaction to the Emancipation Proclamation,

                        Popular response to the Emancipation Proclamation

            Fri: Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments (United States Constitution and Amendments)

***third short assignment handed out***

 

Week 13:

            Mon: no class, Veterans Day Holiday

            Wed:Civil Rights Act of 1866, Popular reaction to the veto

            Fri: Benedict, Impeachment

***third short assignment due***

                       

Week 14:

            Mon: Reaction to Presidential Reconstruction, Reaction to Congressional Reconstruction

            Wed: Civil Rights Act of 1875

            Fri: no class – Thanksgiving break

 

Week 15:

            Mon: Slaughterhouse Cases

            Wed: Minor v. Happersett

            ***FINAL EXAM handed out***

            Fri: Munn v. Illinois

 

Week 16:

            Mon: Civil Rights Cases

                        ***final handed out***

            Wed: course wrap up

 

Finals week:

            Wed, Dec 12: final due in my office (234 Keene-Flint) by 2:30pm