Mar 29, 2024  
Graduate Record 2008-2009 
    
Graduate Record 2008-2009 [ARCHIVED RECORD]

LAW7 604 - International Ifs in the Long 19th Century


The period from 1789 to 1917, sometimes called “the long 19th century” by historians, begins with the French Revolution and ends with World War I and the Russian Revolution. This seminar undertakes a variety of “what if?” speculations associated with crucial events affecting the United States and Europe during this period, with special attention paid to the actual and potential roles of domestic and international law. If Thomas Jefferson had not stretched the Constitution and made the Louisiana Purchase, how would the United States have developed? If Abraham Lincoln had rigorously adhered to the U.S. Constitution, or if France and Great Britain had recognized the Confederacy as a nation-state during the American Civil War, would the Union have survived? If the great powers of Europe had not entered into a series of tightly interlocking treaties of alliance, would World War I have occurred? In the context of developing these and other case studies, we will examine the role of international law and other factors in history, develop a typology of questions to ask in rigorously pursuing associated legal-historical hypotheticals, and debate whether one speculation about an alternative course of events can ever be more valid than any other speculation.

Prerequisites & Notes
Prerequisite: International Law, second-year students only

Credits: 3