The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 April 2021

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week we dive into the fascinating history of global constitutionalism and declarations of independence. Linda Colley of Princeton University, author of the new book The Gun, The Ship, and the Pen: Warfare, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World, and David Armitage of Harvard University author of The Declaration of Independence: A Global History, join host Jeffrey Rosen. They explain how constitutions from around the world are intertwined with warfare, globalism and travel, writing, media and communication technologies, and more; and highlight stories of constitution-making by figures from Catherine the Great to George Washington and beyond. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Additional resources and transcript available at constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/media-library.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome to
0:08.0	We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:11.7	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress to increase awareness
0:18.5	and understanding of the Constitution among the American people. On today's episode, we examine the history of written constitutions around the world.
0:30.0	And I'm so excited and honored to be joined by two of America's leading historians who have written path-breaking books on this important topic.
0:42.0	Linda Kali is the Shelby MC Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University.
0:48.0	She is the author of the new book, The Gun, the Ship, and the Pen, the ship and the pen, warfare, constitutions, and the making of the modern world.
0:57.0	Linda, it is wonderful to have you with us.
1:00.0	It's a tremendous honor and pleasure. Thank you for inviting me.
1:04.4	And David Armitage is the Lloyd C. Blankfine professor of history and former chair of the Department of History
1:12.0	at Harvard University.
1:13.4	He's the author of many books including The Declaration of Independence,
1:17.9	a global history, and most recently Civil Wars, a History in Ideas.
1:24.0	David, thank you so much for joining.
1:26.0	It's such a pleasure to be back in Philadelphia,
1:29.0	especially with my old friend and colleague Linda.
1:32.0	Wonderful.
1:33.0	Well, Linda, your new book has inspired extraordinary praise.
1:38.0	Jill Lepore of the New Yorker has said if there were a Nobel Prize in history,
1:42.0	Kali would be my nominee and she calls your new book
1:45.2	Incandescent and paradigm shifting. Tell us about the thesis of your new book
1:55.0	The Gun, the Ship, and the pan. Well, with this book, I wanted really to do two things.
	...

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