U.S. Constitution

This course introduces students to early American political thought and its crowning political achievement, the United States Constitution. Focusing on The Federalist Papers and other original source documents from the Founding period, students learn basic American political concepts such as natural rights, social compact theory, religious liberty and constitutional features such as limited government, separation of powers and the rule of law. By studying the Constitution, students will understand better the nature of political justice and the serious challenges, especially those represented by the Civil War and the rise of progressivism, in preserving “the American experiment of self-government under law.”