History 432: Paper Assignments

Pen a cogent, crisp, and clear response to one of the following four clever and comprehensive questions.  The paper should run at least 5 pages, and not have margins or four or five inches.

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QUESTION ONE: Describe the Constitution according to Abraham Lincoln.  Was he, in the end, a constitutional revolutionary?  Analyze this question through the perspective of at least three of the following documents:  Lincoln's first inaugural address; Emancipation Proclamation; Gettysburg address; Lincoln's 2d inaugural address; Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan.

 

QUESTION TWO:  In the end, with the addition of the Bill of Rights, did the constitutional theory of the Anti-Federalists prevail?  Compare and contrast what you see as the theoretical underpinnings of the Constitution with those of the Bill of Rights.

 

QUESTION THREE: One eminent constitutional scholar has proclaimed, after completing his study of the Warren Court, that "the Constitution means whatever the Court says it does." Do you agree? Discuss with reference to the Griswold, Engel, and Miranda decisions.

 

QUESTION FOUR: How should historians remember the Warren Court? Specifically, did its pro-civil rights decisions flow from the same ideological bases as its decisions enhancing civil liberties? Discuss through a comparison/contrast of the Brown decision with one of the three cases in the question above.