AMERICAN LEGAL HISTORY (HIPH7502EM)
2 credits. Lecture.

This seminar will present a survey of American legal history. Readings and discussions will focus on the relationship between law and change in the economy and in conceptions of liberty. Most law school classes, quite naturally, describe the law as it is and include some discussion of policy based on general values such as efficiency or individual flourishing. In the process of discussing the law in these terms, we come to believe, subconsciously, that our legal system is natural or inevitable, subject to some relatively minor improvements. The study of history reminds us that the law is not, in fact, “just there.” Legal practices and beliefs can change, and have changed, suddenly and dramatically. This course looks at the development of modern legal doctrines from their sometimes very different early incarnations. The topics covered include aspects of  property law, torts, contracts, labor law, criminal law, and race and civil rights.