Constitutional Perspectives
Hello and welcome back to Constitutional Perspectives! Finally, finally, our story is going to reach the breaking of the Constitution that became the American Civil War of 1861-65. I initially thought that both of the last two lessons would have covered this entire period, but it turns out there'
Constitutional Perspectives
Welcome back to Constitutional Perspectives! Last time, we covered the sordid history of American slavery, up though the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. I talked about all the ways – some pretty apparent, some more subtle – in which the "peculiar institution" of slavery shaped the U.S. Constitution. Today I&
Constitutional Perspectives
Welcome back to Constitutional Perspectives! We left off last time on an ominous note. There's something missing from my discussion of the Constitution so far, something lurking in the shadows. You can see the same thing, the same shadowy presence, in the Constitution itself. Scattered throughout the document
Constitutional Perspectives
Welcome back to Constitutional Perspectives! Last time, I began to tell the Constitution's origin story – well, the Level One version of it, anyway. We left off in the mid-1780s, after the Treaty of Paris had ended the War for Independence. But the constitutional order of 1776, as formalized
Level One
Welcome back to Level One of Constitutional Perspectives! Last time, I covered what the Constitution is: the kind of thing it is, the basic function it performs. Next, I want to canvass where it comes from: the history, briefly told, of how the Constitution came to be. In fact it