Date/Time
Date(s) - 01/23/2025
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location
Campus Martius Museum
The Constitution is constantly referenced in politics as a repository of wisdom and principles. However, the document itself contains few statements of principle and is mostly a set of rules and dry sounding procedures. In this talk we will examine what the Constitution explicitly says and what it actually contains. Along the way we will consider the sometimes principled, sometimes pragmatic, and sometimes ‘smoke-filled-room’ type politics that led to the contents of the Constitution. This will point us to the more “unwritten” elements of the Constitution that are often invoked in politics: the ideals and principles seen as inspirations or drawn from the document. We will then briefly consider the Amendments to the Constitution and how these clarify, add to, and change the meaning of the Constitution. In the end we will have a more realistic idea of what the Constitution actually says while also appreciating the unwritten principles and ideals people seek to draw from it.