Freedoms & Unfreedoms in US History

Catalog description

This course explores a central paradox in the history of the United States: the “inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the reality that many people have historically been excluded from those “inalienable rights.” This paradox has been the source of many social movements as various groups sought to align America’s everyday reality with its highest ideals, from the struggles to expand the vote, the anti-slavery and labor movements, women’s movements, the civil rights movement, Native American movements, and contemporary movements for immigrant rights and more. The course will also explore the debates throughout American history about the meaning of freedom-from, for example, the 19th century call for freedom for the enslaved to contemporary conservative definitions of freedom. Students can expect to gain a solid sense of key dimensions of U.S. history from 1776 to the present.