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Final Exam Questions
1996
Remember to read the
Instructions.
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Law's Legitimacy
Consider the various ways in which the legitimacy of law
has (or has not) been maintained from the 17th century
to the New Deal.
How
important has it been for law to appear legitimate?
What mechanisms, institutions, or arguments have
preserved the legitimacy of law. What social, economic,
or political events have threatened the legitimacy of
the legal system? What role has law played in creating,
preserving, or maintaining its own legitimacy?
As part of
your answer, you will want to consider and probably
define just what legitimacy means in the context of the
legal history of the United States.
END OF QUESTION ONE
Punishment
Consider
carefully the material that you have regarding
penitentiaries in the early nineteenth century, Docs.
387-406.
In what ways does the development of the penitentiary
system fit with larger themes that we discussed for the
legal history of the United States between the
Revolution and the Civil War?
I have a sense that this material fits only uneasily
with the other themes that I develop regarding the early
nineteenth century. Is there a good reason for my
disquiet? For example, I, along with Hurst, emphasized
the release of energy as an important theme. What do
penitentiaries have to do with that? Put more strongly,
is there something about the material regarding the
penitentiary system that can be used to show that I have
emphasized the wrong themes regarding other areas of
legal history. Or, are there linkages and similarities
that I have simply failed to comprehend?
END OF QUESTION TWO
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