Final Exam Prompts
You must answer one prompt from each of the three sections below. Please write the number of
each prompt clearly in your submission.
Expectations → Your response to each essay should have a clear thesis. Your thesis should be
supported with specific evidence from the historical contexts and cases discussed in class,
distributed Supreme Court opinions, course texts, and supplemental readings (where
appropriate). Your responses will be graded on the quality and development of your thesis and
evidence. Each response should be roughly five paragraphs in length. It is my expectation that
you will rely on course material (assigned texts, case excerpts, and class lectures/discussions).
To that end, I would recommend against citing outside information.
You MUST answer the following prompt from Section 1:
1. Evaluate the importance of HISTORICAL CONTEXT in ONE of the following cases:
● Korematsu v. United States (1944)
● Dennis v. United States (1951)
● Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
● Yates v. United States (1957)
● Boumediene v. Bush (2008)
You MUST answer ONE of the following from Section 2:
2. To what extent did the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the commerce clause protect
American workers from the abuses by American industry? (Incorporate both the Gilded
Age and the New Deal in your response. Reference at least THREE cases in your
response.)
3. Should the New Deal be considered a legal success? (Reference at least THREE cases
in your response.)
You MUST answer ONE of the following from Section 3:
4. Compare the Constitutionality of the use of military commissions to try detainees in World
War II and the Global War on Terror.
5. Evaluate the validity of the following statement in the context of the Cold War. Confine
your response to the historical period from 1945 to 1991. (Reference at least THREE
cases in your response.)
“In times of panic, we fear freedom.”
Due via Canvas.
