The Early Republic United States

This course explores the politics and culture of the United States between the ratification of the Constitution in 1789 and the financial crisis of the late 1830s. The establishment of the federal government still left crucial questions unresolved: the characteristics of national identity, the boundaries of citizenship, the legitimacy of slavery, and the tense relationship between capitalism, colonialism, and democracy. Relying on primary sources and secondary scholarship, the course will revisit familiar debates over warfare, sovereignty, and public policy, while also introducing students to a wide range of critical voices seeking to fulfill the idealistic possibilities of the American Revolution.