POS 2007 AMERICAN LEGAL HERITAGE
America is now facing a war on terror - a war that forces us to think seriously about constitutional rights and freedoms. But where did our ideas about limited government and freedom come from? Why do we now take it for granted, for example, that the President cannot make law without Congress and that, if the President tries to do so, he can be impeached? Why do we assume that the Supreme Court should have the power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional? Is there a duty to obey unjust laws? This course provides an overview of some of the constitutional ideas and traditions which influenced the framers of the American Constitution of 1787. Emphasis is placed on ideas about law and constitutions in the political thought of ancient Greece and Rome, and on the development of the English Constitution, from early medieval times, through the Tudor era and the constitutional crisis of the English Civil War, and through the era of Hobbes, Locke, and Blackstone. The course will conclude with a look at selected episodes of English and American constitutional history since 1776. Satisfies Perspective requirement for both Legal Studies and Criminal Law.