This course is part of the 2023 Augsburg Summer Program and taught by Prof. Robert Cottrol (George Washington University).
This class is designed to provide an overview of the role of law in the economic development of the United States. Starting with the nineteenth century, the course will look at the ways in which the American legal system responded to the challenges of an ever-changing economy one that went from a primarily agricultural and locally based economy to an economy that ultimately spanned a continent and achieved world preeminence. The course will examine how the law shaped economic development and in turn how economic change changed the law. The course will explore, among other issues: the impact of the constitution and federalism on economic development, the role of patents and intellectual property on economic history, economic change and the transformation of the common law, slavery and its impact on American law, property rights, anti-trust, the New Deal and the transformation of federalism, labor law in American history, Economic Impact of the Civil Rights movement on minorities and women. Readings will be drawn from articles discussing the impact of law on US Economic History written by economists, historians and legal scholars.
No special background in economics is assumed.
