Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, Harvard historian and critically acclaimed writer Jill Lepore delivered a State of the Union address, analyzing the present juncture at which the United States finds itself through the lens of her latest book on the U.S. Constitution, We the People.
At pivotal moments in its history, the United States has reminded itself that the struggle for equality and democracy is constant. Tending to the American Experiment requires vigilance, renewal, and tenacity. Whether during the founding, on the battlefield at Gettysburg, or in the halls of Congress or on Main Street today, Americans constantly wrestle with the idea of their imperfect union.
In her keynote and interview, Lepore examined the Constitution not as a sacred artifact, but as a living document written by fallible humans, reshaped across centuries of struggle and imagination. She traces the hidden history of constitutional change, led not by the powerful alone, but by citizens, activists, and outsiders who expanded the meaning of the Republic.
In dialogue with NRC journalist Bas Blokker, Lepore invites us to imagine a renewed civic covenant to help guide Americans as their experiment with democracy continues: a constitution neither frozen in parchment nor mired in nostalgic interpretations, but still capable of breathing and renewal.
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, Harvard historian and critically acclaimed writer Jill Lepore delivered a State of the Union address, analyzing the present juncture at which the United States finds itself through the lens of her latest book on the U.S. Constitution, We the People.
At pivotal moments in its history, the United States has reminded itself that the struggle for equality and democracy is constant. Tending to the American Experiment requires vigilance, renewal, and tenacity. Whether during the founding, on the battlefield at Gettysburg, or in the halls of Congress or on Main Street today, Americans constantly wrestle with the idea of their imperfect union.
In her keynote and interview, Lepore examined the Constitution not as a sacred artifact, but as a living document written by fallible humans, reshaped across centuries of struggle and imagination. She traces the hidden history of constitutional change, led not by the powerful alone, but by citizens, activists, and outsiders who expanded the meaning of the Republic.
In dialogue with NRC journalist Bas Blokker, Lepore invites us to imagine a renewed civic covenant to help guide Americans as their experiment with democracy continues: a constitution neither frozen in parchment nor mired in nostalgic interpretations, but still capable of breathing and renewal.
