Law and Order
Description
Tom Hay, site supervisor of the Courthouse at Colonial Williamsburg, discusses colonial-era court proceedings, crime, and punishment.
Mr. Wythe's Cook
Anonymous (not verified)
Thu, 01/22/2009 - 14:11
Description
Valarie Holmes, an interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg, discusses the life of slave Lydia Broadnax, cook to George Wythe, whose role she plays.
Williamsburg's Public Gaol
Description
Gaynelle McNichols, supervisor of the Capitol and Gaol in Colonial Williamsburg, describes the function of the Gaol and the punishment of criminals in colonial Wiliamsburg.
Salem Witch Trials: Documentary Archive and Transcription Project
Anonymous (not verified)
Fri, 01/25/2008 - 22:21
Image
Annotation
This website presents a valuable collection of resources for examining the Salem Witch trials of 1692. There are full-text versions of the three-volume, verbatim Salem Witch trial transcripts, an extensive 17th-century narrative of the trials, and full-text pamphlets and excerpts of sermons by Cotton Mather, Robert Calef, and Thomas Maule. The site also offers four full-text rare books written in the late 17th and early 18th centuries about the witchcraft scare. Descriptions and images of key players in the trials are presented as well.
Access is provided to more than 500 documents from the collections of the Essex County Court Archives and the Essex Institute Collection, and roughly 100 primary documents housed in other archives. There are also seven maps of Salem and nearby villages. Basic information on the history of Salem/Danvers is complemented by eight related images and a brief description of 14 historical sites in Danvers.
Rosenberg Granddaughter Discusses Her Grandparents
Description
The granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg discusses a documentary she has created for HBO that explores the question of whether they were really guilty.
The Common Good, Immigration, and the Constitution, Part One
Description
Paul Finkelman of Albany Law School presents a wide-ranging discussion of the Constitutional history of citizenship in the United States. In the first part of the presentation, Finkelman traces the story back to the earliest recorded anti-immigrant references during the time of a legal "open door," through the persecution of Chinese immigrants, to today.
Video and audio options are available.
Law and Society
Description
This lecture, created by the Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project, traces the development of law and legal institutions in Illinois, beginning with early colonization and ending with the mid-1800s. It focuses particularly on the laws dealing with land and property ownership.
Dred Scott and the Coming of the Civil War
Description
Professor Clarence Walker details the 1857 U.S. Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford, in which the Court ruled that individuals of African descent could not be U.S. citizens and that the federal government could not prohibit slavery in the territories. He examines the significance of this case in U.S. history and also previous racist rulings in the U.S.
Black Reparations and Racial Profiling
Description
Professors Lucas E. Morel and Diana Schaub look at the history of demands for reparation for slavery and of instances and accusations of racial profiling in the U.S. They begin with a short discussion of affirmative action cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, continuing from the lecture "Affirmative Action."
To listen to this lecture, scroll to the Friday, August sixth, 10:50 am-12:15 pm session; and select the corresponding RealAudio image or link.
An older version of this lecture can be found here.
Thurgood Marshall
Description
Professor Mark Tushnet discusses the life and accomplishments of Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993), first African-American Supreme Court Justice and lawyer in the landmark desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education.
To listen to this lecture, scroll to the Thursday, August 5th, 7:30 pm-9:30 pm session; and select either the RealAudio image or link in the gray bar to the left of the main body of text.