Christopher C. Burkett

POLSC 320: AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT I

The purpose of this course is to better understand the ideas that animated American political life

from the time of the American Founding to the Civil War. This is essentially a course on the

Constitution, which means it is about the fundamental principles of self-government. We will

focus, first of all, on how early Americans attempted to frame a Constitution that is compatible

with those principles; we will also investigate questions and issues that arose (between 1790 and

1860) over what the Constitution means and how it should work in practice. We will discuss

such constitutional issues as the nature of executive power, federalism, state sovereignty and

national supremacy, limited government, and foreign policy, among others – all of which

continue to be debated today. By understanding how Americans in the pre-Civil War years of

the Republic understood these ideas, we can gain a better perspective on how we think of

American political principles and the Constitution today.

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