We the People

Founding Stories of America’s Founding Documents

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Constitution Day— the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution on September 17th, 1787—is next week! As we look forward to Constitution Day, this week’s episode shares founding stories of America’s founding documents from three key periods: the Declaration of Independence and the Revolution, the Founding era, and post-Civil War Reconstruction, sometimes referred to as the “second founding.” Renowned teachers of the Constitution, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and professor Kurt Lash, tell the stories of:

  • Thomas Paine’s Common Sense: the power of words and a single person to change the course of American history
  • Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence, and how Jefferson’s words may have impacted abolition
  • James Madison’s rejection of the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 and how it may have influenced abolitionists' fight for the freedom of formerly enslaved people like Joshua Glover
  • The creation of the Electoral College
  • The story of the adoption of the 14th amendment from different perspectives
  • The debate over whether the Constitution is pro or anti-slavery
  • What unites us in how we understand the story of our Constitution


    • Tune into the NCC’s Constitution Day programming next Thursday! See the schedule here: https://constitutioncenter.org/learn/civic-calendar/constitution-day-civic-holiday

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    We the PeopleBy National Constitution Center