HIST322 - American Slavery and the Law

In this course, we will work both chronologically and thematically to examine laws, constitutional provisions, and local and federal court decisions that established, regulated, and perpetuated slavery in the American colonies and states. We will concern ourselves both with change over time in the construction and application of the law, and the persistence of the desire to control and sublimate enslaved people. Our work will include engagement with secondary sources as well as immersion in the actual legal documents. Students will spend some time working with murder cases from the 19th century South. They will decipher and transcribe handwritten trial transcripts, and will historicize and analyze the cases with attention to procedural due process as well as what the testimony can tell us about the social history of the counties in which the murders occurred. Students will have the opportunity to choose a topic and conduct original research using both primary and secondary sources, resulting in a 20-page research paper. We will spend a good deal of time throughout the semester learning how to research, write, and re-write a paper of this length. At the end of the semester students will present the highlights of their research to the class.