The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the major themes of women’s encounter with the law in American history, and to explore major issues raised via that encounter. We will examine how gender has been produced by and shaped by the law, and how that process has been mitigated where gender has intersected with race, class, ethnicity, language, and immigration status. We will examine women and the law from three angles: (1) women as the object of law; (2) women as legal agents; and (3) what a focus on women can tell us about the broader relationship between law, civil society, and democracy. We will examine legal treatises, cases, and primary source documents. Students will also read several works of legal history, as well as the writings of critical legal theorists who have explored the conceptual relationship between gender, race, class and law. Law students/graduate students in the course will be expected to produce a research manuscript of considerable length 20-25 pages, using primary source material that will be publishable as an article. Constitutional Law I is a prerequisite for Law students.