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Political History

2015

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Department Of History Symposium Series, Featuring Dr. Edward Baptist, University Of Maine Department Of History Oct 2015

Department Of History Symposium Series, Featuring Dr. Edward Baptist, University Of Maine Department Of History

Cultural Affairs Distinguished Lecture Series

As the only Ph.D.-granting department int he Humanities in the entire state, the History Department at the University of Maine plays a crucial role training humanists who staff cultural organizations throughout the state, including all other UMS campuses, and many faculty and staff positions at UMaine. The October 16 Lecture will bring an expert to campus to speak about the Morrill Land Grant act and how it transformed US values for the modern era.This lecture is a keystone in CLAS and UMHC programming for the Homecoming Weekend, and it will be followed by a CLAS alumni and friends reception at …

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Civil And Common Law: A Historical Analysis Of Colonial And Postcolonial Canada, Patrick S. Stroud Apr 2015

Civil And Common Law: A Historical Analysis Of Colonial And Postcolonial Canada, Patrick S. Stroud

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Legal historians divide European law into two principal families: common law (British law) and civil law (continental European law). Common law judges favor cases; courts “discover” law on a case-by-case basis and those cases make precedents for future ruling. Civil law courts favor codes; courts compare cases to existing laws and those laws control judges’ rulings. The two rarely interact, save one prominent example: Canada. British common law supposedly superseded French legal traditions in colonial Canada. But is history so binary? Did British common law truly “conquer” French civil law? Through analysis of Canadian legal history, this article demonstrates how …

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New York Oneida: Land Claims, Federal Policies, State Intervention, And Casino Development, Lee M. Hanover Jan 2015

New York Oneida: Land Claims, Federal Policies, State Intervention, And Casino Development, Lee M. Hanover

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

This paper examined the relationship between Oneida land sovereignty and their self-determination in establishing the Turning Stone Casino. The paper reviewed general trends in Oneida history with the state of New York, focusing on federal policies aimed at American Indian communities, and the legal cases that the Oneida have brought against New York and the federal government. The study extrapolated that historic cases involving political, legal, and land sovereignty issues prepared them for the fight over their casino’s admittance on Oneida land. The paper then addressed the reoccurring battles with the state of New York over the legality and jurisdiction …

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Administrative Equal Protection: Federalism, The Fourteenth Amendment, And The Rights Of The Poor, Karen M. Tani Dec 2014

Administrative Equal Protection: Federalism, The Fourteenth Amendment, And The Rights Of The Poor, Karen M. Tani

Karen M. Tani


This Article intervenes in a burgeoning literature on “administrative constitutionalism,” the phenomenon of federal agencies—rather than courts—assuming significant responsibility for elaborating the meaning of the U.S. Constitution.  Drawing on original historical research, I document and analyze what I call “administrative equal protection”: interpretations of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause in a key federal agency at a time when the Clause’s meaning was fiercely contested.  These interpretations are particularly important because of their interplay with cooperative federalism—specifically, with states’ ability to exercise their traditional police power after accepting federal money.
The Article’s argument is based on a story of change …

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