Filter by:

Filter by published date

Viewing 31–60 of 111 results. Go to first page
Alan Dershowitz
partner

Trump’s Attorneys Have Butchered a Crucial Founder’s Take on Impeachment

Gouverneur Morris’s views changed during the Constitutional Convention — setting a good example for senators today.
Andrew Johnson impeachment.

The Common Misconception About ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors’

The constitutional standard for impeachment is different from what’s at play in a regular criminal trial.

How Slavery Shaped American Capitalism

The New York Times is right that slavery made a major contribution to capitalist development in the United States — just not in the way they imagine.
Painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The Nation Is Imperfect. The Constitution Is Still a 'Glorious Liberty Document.'

As part of its “1619” inquiry into slavery's legacy, The New York Times revives 19th century revisionist history on the founding.
U.S. Constitution

The President Who Would Not Be King

Executive power and the Constitution.
Painting by Titus Kaphar entitled "Page 4 of Jefferson’s ‘Farm Book"

How Proslavery Was the Constitution?

A review of a book by Sean Wilentz's "No Property in Man," which argues that the document is full of anti-slavery language.
George Washington is depicted in the 1856 painting "George Washington Addressing the Constitutional Convention" by Junius Brutus Stearns.

‘The President Himself May Be Guilty’: Why Pardons Were Hotly Debated By The Founding Fathers

The Mueller report raised the issue the Constitution’s framers feared in 1787: abuse of presidential power.

How Did the Constitution Become America’s Authoritative Text?

A new history of the early republic explores the origins of originalism.

What Did the Founders Mean by “Democracy”?

The main issue they were debating was how democratic a representative body should be. And their answer was “not very democratic at all.”

What America Gets Wrong About Three Important Words in the Second Amendment

The NRA misquotes George Mason to support its own view of "well-regulated militia."
Painting of the signing of the Constitution.

The Original Theory of Constitutionalism

The debate between "originalism" and the "living constitution" rages on. What does history say?

Confederate Revisionist History

Americans should not honor a revolt to uphold slavery with monuments or florid displays.
Original printing of the Articles of Confederation in a glass display case at Williams College in 2007.

‘We Have Not a Government’: The US Before the Constitution

What the political crisis in post-revolutionary America has to teach us about our own time.
Painting of the signing of the Constitution.

The Gun Argument That’s Not Even Wrong

Why the “Founders’ Intent” doesn’t matter.

Impeachment, American Style

It’s our democracy’s ultimate weapon for self-defense. But does intense political opposition justify its use?
Alexander Hamilton

The Hamilton Hustle

Why liberals have embraced our most dangerously reactionary founder.

Slavery, Democracy, and the Racialized Roots of the Electoral College

The Electoral College was created to help white Southerners maintain their disproportionate influence in national governance.

Were the Framers Democrats?

Review of The Framers' Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution, by Michael J. Klarman.
Poster for U.S. Census reading "Have your papers ready," featuring Uncle Sam writing in book
partner

Beyond Numbers: A History of the U.S. Census

To mark the culmination of Census 2010, we explore the fascinating story of how Americans have counted themselves.
Signing of the Declaration of Independence

Prior Convictions

Did the Founders want us to be faithful to their faith?
Kaleidoscopic portrait of Eliza Schuyler.

The Many Lives of Eliza Schuyler

She lived for 97 years. Only 24 of them were with Alexander Hamilton.
Illustration of a Revolution, of a mob holding forks and knives, fighting men on horses.

The Insurrection Problem

Violence has marred the American constitutional order since the founding. Is it inevitable?
Portrait of Charles Lennox, the third Duke of Richmond reading by a tree.

Secrets of a Radical Duke

How a lost copy of the Declaration of Independence unlocked a historical mystery.
Bouquet of funerary flowers on top of the Constitution.

How Originalism Killed the Constitution

A radical legal philosophy has undermined the process of constitutional evolution.
An abolitionist lithograph depicting enslaved people celebrating the Fourth of July while a white judge sits on bales of cotton with his feet on the Constitution, 1840

The Contradictory Revolution

Historians have long grappled with “the American Paradox” of Revolutionary leaders who fought for their own liberty while denying it to enslaved Black people.

The Constitution is a Political Document, Not a Sacred One.

Don't let its universalist language fool you.
Fabric with stars on one side and George Washington on the other.

The ‘Dirty and Nasty People’ Who Became Americans

How 13 colonies came together.
Elon Musk reacts on stage during a rally for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden.

America’s Decline & Fall

The founders anticipated someone like Trump partly because they’d been reading Edward Gibbon’s 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.'
A drawing of protestors wrestling a tax collector to the ground.

A Prudent First Amendment

Often, the proper scope of the First Amendment can be determined only by considering both text and context.
"We the People" collage.

Is It Time to Torch the Constitution?

Some scholars say that it’s to blame for our political dysfunction—and that we need to start over.

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person