This Constitution

America was born with a promise and a lie. Frederick Douglass lived in the gap. How did a fugitive slave become one of the nation’s most radical constitutional thinkers? Why did he reject the Garrisonian view of the Constitution as a “covenant with death” and come to see it as anti-slavery? In this episode of This Constitution, Matthew Brogdon sits down with Bradley Rebeiro, law professor at Brigham Young University and author of Until the Last Yoke Is Broken: The Constitutional Vision ...

Could the American Revolution have ended not on a battlefield, but in a mutinous meeting at Newburgh? What happens when the army that won independence is told there’s no money to pay it? Can a republic survive when its officers have just grievances and the power to enforce them? And how did George Washington stop a coup without firing a shot, by reaching for his spectacles? In this episode of The Constitution, Matthew Brogdon sits down with Greg Jackson, America 250 Professor in Constitutiona...

The American Revolution was fought on battlefields, but victory depended on winning another fight overseas: the battle for international support. As the colonies challenged the British Empire, American diplomats had to convince foreign powers that the new nation deserved recognition, financial assistance, and a place among the nations of the world. In this episode, Matthew Brogdon and Savannah Eccles Johnston examine the diplomatic efforts that helped secure American independence. They explor...

Congress went to war in 1775 against the most powerful empire in the world, but could a legislative body actually run a war? With no executive departments, no Pentagon, and little experience managing a national military, the Second Continental Congress had to figure out how to transform colonial militias into a Continental Army, appoint a commander in chief, supply the troops, and direct a war that stretched across thousands of miles. In this episode, Matthew Brogdon and Savannah Eccles Johns...

The American Revolution wasn't fought only on battlefields. It unfolded in homes, farms, towns, and military camps, where women faced shortages, violence, displacement, and the enormous responsibility of keeping families and communities alive. In this episode, Savannah Eccles Johnston speaks with historian Carol Berkin, Presidential Professor of History (Emerita) at Baruch College, and author of Revolutionary Mothers, about the essential and often-overlooked role women played in the Revolutio...