POL 370 - Seminar in American Political Thought

FDR: SS2
Credits: 3 credits in fall or winter; 4 credits in spring.

Prerequisite: POL 100 or POL 111. An examination of classic themes and current issues in American political thought. Depending on the instructor, emphases may include the Federalists, Anti-Federalists, Alexis de Tocqueville, Abraham Lincoln, and voices from the Progressive and civil rights eras. Course readings stress primary sources including speeches, essays, and books by politicians and theorists. The course explores the effort to reconcile liberty and equality, individualism and community, liberalism and republicanism, politics and religion, among other themes. The course highlights the contemporary relevance of the enduring tensions between political principles and practice.

Winter 2022, POL 370-01: Seminar in American Political Thought: Slavery and the Constitution (3). According to some people, the Framers of the Constitution deliberately constructed a government that would preserve and protect slavery. However, others claim that “the foundation of our Republic,” including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, “planted the seeds of the death of slavery in America.” According to this narrative, even the Constitution’s compromises “set the stage for abolition.” Who’s right? Or is the truth more complicated than either of these competing narratives? This course will explore the influence of the institution of slavery on the making of the U.S. Constitution and the influence of the U.S. Constitution on the institution of slavery. Through research into primary documents and classroom discussion, this class will not merely examine the darker side of America’s history; we will also explore the enduring questions: how do statesmen solve the the most difficult moral, political, and legal problems? (SS2) Uzzell.