POL 410 American Political Thought I
This course examines a number of important historical figures, ideas, governing documents, and events from the American colonial period through to the end of the 1850s. The readings and lectures reveal rich and conflicting traditions of American political thought prior to the American Civil War. Among other things, different views on the relationship between religion and politics in America, the Declaration of Independence, the 1787 U.S. Constitution, the relationship between the national government and the States, and the issue of slavery are studied. The course concludes with readings from Tocqueville's Democracy in America. The course also imparts a deeper awareness of what can be called America's unwritten constitution, i.e., the underlying ideas about human nature and politics that drive American political thought.
Cross Listed Courses
POL 410 & POL 647