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HISTORY OF AMERICAN LAW
Final Exam
Questions 2000
INSTRUCTIONS:
READ
EACH ITEM OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY
1.
The examination for this course is a take-home exam that
consists of two essays. Attached
you will find Question One.
You may work on this question at any time during the rest
of the semester. The
second question will become available on 8 December at 10:00
a.m. and will be due by 3 p.m. on 11 December.
The absolute, non-negotiable deadline for turning in both
questions is 3:00 PM on 11 December.
There will be no
extensions beyond the 3:00 PM on 11 December;
I will not accept late work. If you turn in your answers late, you flunk the course.
2.
There will be no right and no wrong answers. The exam questions call for a broad synthesis of the course
materials, with particular attention to the collection of
documents. The best
answers will be well-written, intelligent essays with coherent
theses. The best
answers will be thickly laced with specific examples from the
material, especially the primary documents.
3.
Your essay should argue a position, that
is, make a point or a series of points.
The fastest way out of the top part of the curve is to
not make an argument. The
themes may be ones that Professor Russell has developed in the
course or, better yet, ones that you have found on your own.
The very best imaginable answer will teach Professor
Russell a great deal. Your
responses should avoid summarizing a lot of facts or
conclusions, but should formulate and cogently defend a
proposition (or set of propositions) about subjects covered in
the course.
4.
You should support and illustrate your
argument with specific examples drawn from the course materials,
lectures. You may
also use examples from other courses that you have taken in the
law school, but if you don't use material from this course, you
should not expect a high grade.
There is no need to be absolutely comprehensive, that is,
to look for examples from every nook and cranny of the course,
but the strongest answers will display an easy familiarity with
the material.
5.
For each of the two questions, students are expected to
write from 1,500 to 2,100 words, which is roughly from 5 to 7
pages in standard, typed and double-spaced format.
Your answer may
exceed neither 7 pages nor 2,100 words.
Most word processors include a feature that counts
words. You need not
write a full 7 pages or 2,100 words for each question.
6.
All of the work on this examination must be your own.
With regard to Question One, you may consult freely with
others, but be sure that the final work-product represents your
own thoughts in your own words.
Any words or ideas of others (whether written or spoken,
but especially if written) that you end up using should, of
course, be cited to source.
You should not feel that you need to do any reading
whatsoever outside the assigned materials.
7.
There is no reason to use any particular citation form
nor indeed to be compulsive about citation form.
Indeed, for the purposes of this exam, Professor Russell
regards the style of your citations as entirely unimportant.
Do not, for example, feel that you should open up A
Uniform System of Citation (the Harvard Law Review
Bluebook) in order to write your essay.
For example, if you refer to material from the lecture,
do not include any citation at all. If you wish to cite from Friedman, History of American Law,
use a simple, parenthetical citation in the body of your essay,
such as (HAL, p. __).
Cite the documents using only the author’s name or a
brief title. If you
remember something from the reading and wish to refer to it but
cannot remember just where it was that you encountered it, do
not waste time trying to find the exact page, just skip the
citation. However,
if you refer to sources that were not part of the course
reading, be sure to include a citation that is sufficient to
allow Professor Russell to identify the source.
8.
When you pick up Question Two during the exam period, you
will have an examination number.
Be sure to put your exam number on the first page of both
of your answers. For
the sake of convenience and safety, you may wish to put your
number on each page. Do
not put your name anywhere on your essays.
9.
For Question Two, the rules regarding collaboration are
different. You will
have a weekend to complete Question Two.
Once you have picked up the examination, you may not
discuss it with other students until after 3:00 p.m. on 11
December.
10.
If you have questions about these instructions or about
the first question, you should not hesitate to ask Professor
Russell.
11. Good
Luck and Thank You.
Final Exam Question One
Consider the three centuries that follow John
Winthrop's 1645 Speech
on Liberty. To what extent do Winthrop's ideas
regarding social structure and the nature of authority change or
not change during this period of American legal history.
END OF QUESTION ONE
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The second question will become available at 10:00 a.m. on 8 December
2000. Students must complete the second question by 3:00 p.m. on
11 December, and they must turn in both exam questions by 3 p.m. on 11
December. THERE WILL BE NO EXTENSIONS BEYOND 3 p.m. on 11
December AND NO POSSIBILITY OF SUBMITTING AN EXAM AFTER 3:00 PM ON 11
December. IF YOU MISS THE DEADLINE, YOU FLUNK THE COURSE.
The exam questions will call for a broad synthesis of the course
materials, with particular attention to the collection of
documents. For an idea of what my questions are like, see my past
exams.
Final Exam Question
Two
Take-Home
Examination
SPECIAL
NOTE: If you cannot
turn this exam in on Monday, then you may turn your exam in to
the Circulation Desk in the library
on Sunday.
However, you must get the exam to the library by 5 pm
on Sunday.
Get a receipt and save a copy of the computer file, in
case they lose the exam.
INSTRUCTIONS:
READ
EACH ITEM OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY
1.
As indicated on the syllabus, the examination for this
course is a take-home exam that consists of two essays.
You received Question One earlier in the course.
Attached you will find Question Two.
You will have until 3 pm on Monday, 11 December to
complete your answer to this question. By this time, you must turn in your answers to both
questions. The
absolute, non-negotiable deadline for turning in both questions
is 3 pm on 11 December. There will be no extensions beyond the 24-hour period and no
possibility of submitting an exam after 3 pm on 11 December; I
will not accept late work.
If you turn in your answers late, you flunk the course.
2.
There will be no right and no wrong answers. The exam questions call for a broad synthesis of the course
materials, with particular attention to the collection of
documents. The best
answers will be well-written, intelligent essays with coherent
theses. The best
answers will be thickly laced with specific examples from the
material, especially the primary documents.
3.
Your essay should argue a position, that is, make
a point or a series of points.
The fastest way out of the top part of the curve is to
not make an argument. The
themes may be ones that Professor Russell has developed in the
course or, better yet, ones that you have found on your own.
The very best imaginable answer will teach Professor
Russell a great deal. Your responses should avoid summarizing a lot of facts or
conclusions and should formulate and cogently defend a
proposition (or set of propositions) about subjects covered in
the course.
4.
You should support and illustrate your
argument with specific examples drawn from the course materials
and lectures. You
may also use examples from other courses that you have taken in
the law school, but if you don't use material from this course,
you should not expect a high grade and perhaps not a passing
grade. There is no
need to be absolutely comprehensive, that is, to look for
examples from every nook and cranny of the course, but the
strongest answers will display an easy familiarity with the
material.
5.
For each of the two questions, students are expected to
write from 1,500 to 2,100 words, which is roughly from 5 to 7
pages in standard, typed and double-spaced format.
Your answer may
exceed neither 7 pages nor 2,100 words.
Most word processors include a feature that counts
words. You need not write a full 7 pages or 2,100 words for each
question.
6.
All of the work on this examination must be your own.
With regard to Question One, you may consult freely with
others, but be sure that the final work-product represents your
own thoughts in your own words. Any words or ideas of others (whether written or spoken,
but especially if written) that you end up using should, of
course, be cited to source.
You should not feel that you need to do any reading
whatsoever outside the assigned materials.
7.
For Question Two, the rules regarding collaboration are
different. Once you
have picked up the examination, you may not discuss it with
other students until after 3:00 p.m. on 11 December.
8.
There is no reason to use any particular citation form.
Indeed, for the purposes of this exam, Professor Russell
regards the style of your citations as entirely unimportant.
Do not, for example, feel that you should open up A
Uniform System of Citation (the Harvard Law Review Bluebook)
in order to write your essay.
For example, if you refer to material from the lecture,
do not include any citation at all. If you wish to cite from Friedman, History of American
Law, use a simple, parenthetical citation in the body of
your essay, such as (HAL, p. __).
You can cite to the documents with a simple reference to
the author or title. If you remember something from the reading and wish to
refer to it but cannot remember just where it was that you
encountered it, do not waste time trying to find the exact page,
just skip the citation. However,
if you refer to sources that were not part of the course
reading, be sure to include a citation that is sufficient to
allow Professor Russell to identify the source.
You should at all
times avoid plagiarism, and if you quote directly from a source,
be sure to put that material in quotation marks and cite the
source and page number.
9.
Be sure to put your exam number on the first page of both
of your answers. For
the sake of convenience and safety, you may wish to put your
number on each page. Do
not put your name anywhere on your essays.
10. If,
in preparing for this examination you have violated the Honor
Code, or if, during this examination, you violate the Honor
Code, the best course of action is for you to report to Dean of
Students immediately after this examination ends.
11.
You may keep your copy of this exam question.
12.
Good Luck and Thank You.
I have enjoyed the semester a great deal.
QUESTION
TWO
Consider
carefully Friedman’s treatment of slavery in A History of
American Law, pp. 218-29.
In light of the
in-class lectures and documents concerning slavery, how—if at
all—would you revise, refine, or otherwise transform
Friedman’s discussion of 19th-century slavery?
END
OF QUESTION TWO
END
OF EXAM
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