How did the framers draft the Constitution of 1787? What powers does the Constitution provide the federal government? Why do we elect the President of the United States by an electoral system rather than by popular vote?

These are some of the many questions you’ve asked since November 2016. And today we’re going to explore some answers.

Michael Klarman, the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and author of The Founders’ Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution joins us to discuss the United States Constitution and how and why the framers drafted it.

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/143

 

Sponsor Links

• Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture
• Georgian Papers Programme

 

Complementary Episodes

• Episode 057: Max Edling: War, Money, and the American State, 1783-1867
• Episode 061: Edward Larson, George Washington in Retirement
• Episode 087: Sean Condon, Shays’ Rebellion
• Episode 098: Gautham Rao, Birth of the American Tax Man
• Episode 107: Mary Sarah Bilder, Madison’s Hand: Revising the Constitutional Convention
• Episode 141: A Declaration in Draft

 

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