American Political Thought:
From Civil War to Civil Rights
What is America’s identity as a nation, and what does it mean to be an American? According to the Declaration of Independence, "all men are created equal…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights"; according to the preamble to the Constitution, the government of the United States was ordained and established by "the people." But as acrimonious debates and violent struggles quickly demonstrated, these canonical formulations provoked as many questions as they answered. What is freedom? Equality? Self-government? What social practices and political institutions hinder or advance these goals? Between 1860 and 1964 Americans struggled to answer these questions, conscious of the fact that they lived in a world unlike that of the Founding Fathers. Slavery had ended, the continent had been settled, machine industry had arisen, political parties had been formed, a powerful national government had been created, extensive involvement in international affairs had proven unavoidable. Through a careful study of a variety of primary sources—ranging from political pamphlets and philosophical treatises to court decisions and works of literature—this course seeks to introduce students to some of the most important debates over ideals, institutions, and identity that took place in America between the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement. In so doing it seeks to illuminate a number of enduring themes in American political thought, from the nature of representation and purpose of economic organization to the significance of race and gender and the relationship between individual and community.
