American Political Thought

The United States, as Lincoln put it, was "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." Has it ever made good on that proposition? A century and a half later, amid stalled racial progress, steep economic inequality, and a bitterly divided political culture, the question remains open. This course explores how Americans—particularly those marginalized due to their gender, skin color, or ideas—made sense of the gap between the high ideals of the United States' founding and the brutal realities over the nation's first 150 years. By reading how diverse writers challenged or justified the status quo in their own voices, we treat texts both as historical documents and as philosophical arguments engaged in an ongoing debate across time. In doing so, we dig out resources for thinking about the problems the United States faces today, from polarization to racial injustice to digital misinformation.