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.

The larger, overarching question animating the course is, “What is the meaning and significance of

the United States of America?” To approach this question we will focus, first of all, on our attempts

to frame a Constitution that is compatible with the principles of the American Founding. We will

then think through the 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, and limited government – 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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