HONOR 2212 - American Institutions

This course focuses on the idea of equality as a lens to see American history from colonization to the present and explore the emergence and transformations of American democracy and social and political ideals. Equality emerged out of slavery and other harsh inequalities and has always meant different things to different Americans. If over time American civil rights have expanded dramatically, American rights talk tends to ignore fundamental human rights. That is, you have the right to vote or the right to a jury trial, but not the right to eat. Equality remains contested. How have debates over equality shaped American history? How does it stand with equality today?