Law & Capitalism in United State History

Why and how have markets come to shape so much of American life? Legal history is a key tool in discovering and understanding the answers. Throughout U.S. history, law has been intertwined with capitalism, enabling, shaping, and enforcing its most important developments. This seminar will cover key moments and topics in the legal history of capitalism, including Native American dispossession, the ascent of commercial law over local norms, the law of slavery, industrialization, incorporation, gender and the New Deal, mass incarceration, and the rise of finance. We will also learn important methods in legal history research, culminating in a final paper. Paper can be used to complete Substantial ULWR.