OSH A99 - Founding Fathers & Mothers, Part 3

Course Description

Course Description: Debates rage over whether to put US founders on pedestals or tear down their statues. As humans, these people were complex and full of contradictions.
   • What are the founders specific legacies to be admired and deplored?
   • How did their relationships, interactions, disagreements, and fights shape the republic and affect us today?
   • What can we learn from each founder based on the facts of their lives and why are these lessons relevant to us?

Week 1:
   John Jay: Multi-Talented Revolutionary
   • What roles did John Jay play as a member of the Continental Congress, spy master, Federalist contributor, and member of the New York ratifying Constitution?
   • Why was he vilified as Supreme Court Chief Justice for his diplomatic coup in negotiating the treaty to end the Revolution?
   • Why did he fail to free his slaves after founding the New York Manumission Society to end slavery and support former slaves and their families?

Week 2:
   George Washington’s Spies: Saving the Revolution with Lies, Deception, and False News
   • Why did Washington develop a new approach to gather information about British plans and troop movements early in the Revolution?
   • What were the civilian and military “channels of information” and how were they organized?
   • What were the failures and successes of his spies and how did they turn the tide at critical points?

Week 3:
   Unending War: States’ Rights vs the Federal Government
   • What are the origins of the persistent divisions beginning in Colonial society and continuing until today?
   • How did the Constitutional ratification process focus these bitter differences so that it barely squeaked by in some states and one state took two more years to agree?
   • Why do the compromises built into the Constitution continue to expose the fault line between the rights of states and those of the Federal government?

 Week 4:
   Marbury vs. Madison: The Case that Changed the Supreme Court
   • Why did outgoing President John Adams spend his last night in office furiously appointing judges and other officials?
   • Why did Secretary of State James Madison refuse to deliver the appointment of Justice of the Pease to businessman William Marbury?
   • What impact did the ruling by Chief Justice John Marshall have on which branch of government had power in the situation and who could interpret the Constitution?

 Week 5:
   John Quincy Adams: The Son Also Rises
   • Why did John Adams take his 11-year-old son, John Quincy Adams, to Europe as his secretary on his diplomatic missions?
   • What was his record as a lawyer, diplomat, Secretary of State, President, Congressman, and anti-slavery advocate?
   • Why did he follow in his father’s footsteps and refuse to attend the inauguration of the person who defeated him in his bid for a second term?

Week 6:
   John Marshall: Multi-faceted Founder and Legendary Chief Justice
   • How did John Marshall, with little formal schooling, become a successful lawyer after a career in the Continental Army.
   • Why did he refuse President Washington’s appointment as Attorney General and accept President John Adams’ appointment as Secretary of State and Supreme Court Chief Justice?
   • What is his record as the longest serving Chief Justice in strengthening the Court and denying the rights of certain classes of people?
   
Instructor: Dr. Rebecca Staton-Reinstein