Founding Stories of America’s Founding Documents

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2020

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome
0:07.5	to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:11.2	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase
0:16.5	awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:21.8	Next week is Constitution Day, September 17th, and as we look forward to
0:27.4	celebrating Constitution Day, I have the honor of having convened two renowned
0:32.3	constitutional scholars,
0:33.6	two great friends of the National Constitution Center,
0:36.2	and I've given them the following homework assignment
0:38.6	and humble request.
0:40.1	I've asked them to share their favorite stories about three crucial eras in our constitutional history,
0:45.4	the Declaration of Independence, the founding era, and the Reconstruction era.
0:50.3	And they're going to tell their stories and react, and we're going to see where they agree and where they disagree about the central stories of our constitutional history. And now it's my pleasure to introduce them. Erwin-Cemorensky is the 13th dean and Jesse H. Choper distinguished professor of law at Berkeley Law School in California.
1:10.0	Previously he served as the founding dean and distinguished professor of law and Raymond Pryke professor of First Amendment law at the University of California Irvine School of Law.
1:18.5	He's the author of 12 books including the recently published, the religion clauses, the case for separating church and state.
1:26.5	Erwin, it is wonderful to have you back on the show.
1:29.6	It's wonderful to be with you, thank you.
1:31.9	And Kurt Lache is the E. Clairborn, distinguished chair in law,
1:35.3	and founder and director of the Richmond program
1:37.5	on the American Constitution at the University of Richmond School of Law.
1:41.8	He teaches constitutional law and the First Amendment
1:44.7	and is the author of the forthcoming essential collection,
	...

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