Reconstruction: Adding the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments

Catalog description

(Same as LAW 7100.) This course will explore the changes to the Constitution made after the Civil War and their enforcement statutes. Materials will primarily be original source texts, supplemented by selected secondary literature. The majority of class time will be devoted to discussion, based on close reading of the materials. Students will be assigned to take the lead on class discussion on particular topics. Topics will include: (1) the constitutional status of slavery prior to the Civil War; (2) the Emancipation Proclamation; (3) the Thirteenth Amendment; (4) the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and President Johnson's constitutional veto; (4) drafting and ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, with special emphasis on the citizenship clause, due process, equal protection, privileges and immunities, and congressional enforcement; (5) the Freedman's Bureau Act, Ku Klux Klan Act, Enforcement Acts, and Civil Rights Act of 1871; (6) the Fifteenth Amendment; (7) the Civil Rights Act of 1875; (8) early Supreme Court interpretations, and (9) the collapse of Reconstruction and rise of Jim Crow. Within these topics, we will discuss segregation, affirmative action, the state action doctrine, equality with respect to non-racial characteristics, ratification rules, state sovereign immunity, and the role of electoral politics in constitutional interpretation and enforcement. Note: This is NOT a course on current interpretations of the Reconstruction Amendments, but on their historical background. There are no prerequisites. First year law students and non-law students are welcome. Constitutional Law would be helpful but is not required. Grading. Grades will be based partly (20%) on class participation, and partly on either an in-class exam or a research paper on a topic approved in advance by the instructor. Students will choose between the exam and the paper. Grades for students…