Comparative study of law and legal pluralism in
the early North American borderlands from the 16th
through 19th centuries. Examination of the
resolution of intercultural conflicts among
Indigenous people, Europeans, and people of
African descent; how and why those from different
cultures made their understandings of law
intelligible to one another in contests over land,
property, and freedom; how these plural legal
orders changed over time. Determining the nature
of legal pluralism and how it shaped the multiple
meanings of law, justice, sovereignty, and empire
in early America. Consideration of how the legal
complexity of the early modern era informs our
understanding of the meanings of law and justice
today.
the early North American borderlands from the 16th
through 19th centuries. Examination of the
resolution of intercultural conflicts among
Indigenous people, Europeans, and people of
African descent; how and why those from different
cultures made their understandings of law
intelligible to one another in contests over land,
property, and freedom; how these plural legal
orders changed over time. Determining the nature
of legal pluralism and how it shaped the multiple
meanings of law, justice, sovereignty, and empire
in early America. Consideration of how the legal
complexity of the early modern era informs our
understanding of the meanings of law and justice
today.
- Teacher: Nancy Gallman