The Roberts Court has increasingly relied on history to resolve some of the most important constitutional questions of our time. Embracing a form of interpretation called “originalism,” the Court’s conservative majority argues that the original public understanding of the Constitution is what really counts. But discerning the goals and assumptions of those who ratified the Constitution requires an understanding of the document they were replacing: the Articles of Confederation.

Today, the Articles are ignored as a false start. That’s a mistake. The Constitution was an explicit attempt to form a union “more perfect” than that of the Articles of Confederation, and they provide vital context to the framers’ choices.

Join us in Philadelphia on Monday, May 12, at 11 a.m. ET as historians, journalists, law professors, and political scientists explore how the nation’s first experiment in self-governance paved the way for the Constitution we have today. Participants will examine the legacy of the Articles of Confederation, the founding debates over federal power, and the lasting influence of these debates on modern-day constitutional interpretation.

Presented in partnership with the National Constitution Center

Venue:
National Constitution Center 
525 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Register here to attend in-person in Philadelphia on May 12. For online registration, click attend virtually.

Monday, May 12, 2025
11:00 AM - 11:15 AMIntroductory Remarks

Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO, National Constitution Center

Michael Waldman, President and CEO, Brennan Center for Justice

11:15 AM - 12:30 PMThe Articles of Confederation

This panel will discuss the revolutionary context of the Articles of Confederation, exploring the political, practical, and ideological reasons why “each state retain[ed] its sovereignty, freedom, and independence.” Experts will tell the story of how this “firm league of friendship” among the 13 states became fundamentally unworkable.

12:30 PM - 1:15 PMLunchtime Keynote 
1:15 PM - 2:30 PMDebating the Constitution

The Constitution resulted from clashes between the federalists and anti-federalists over the Articles of Confederation. Despite their differences, the two sides agreed on fundamental principles that influence how we interpret the Constitution today. This panel will reflect on the reasons for the Constitution’s particular plan of government, how people understood it at the time, and how concerns over its potential failings were addressed through the ideologically and regionally polarized debates at the Constitutional Convention.

2:45 PM - 4:00 PMThe War Over the Constitution’s Meaning

Following the Constitution’s ratification, federal supremacy was soon challenged: Americans eager to preserve the state prerogatives protected by the Articles insisted, in both subtle and overt ways, that states could subvert or overrule the federal government. Over time, they advanced competing narratives of the Constitution’s origin story. This panel will explore governance under the new Constitution and the Articles’ long shadow through four periods of American history and constitutional jurisprudence: the early republic, the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Lochner and Jim Crow eras, and the post–New Deal modern era.

4:00 PM - 4:15 PMClosing Reflections 
  • Aditya Bamzai, Martha Lubin Karsh and Bruce A. Karsh Bicentennial Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
  • Alicia Bannon, Director, Brennan Center Judiciary Program; Editor in Chief, State Court Report
  • Wilfred U. Codrington III, Walter Floersheimer Professor of Constitutional Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Fellow, Brennan Center
  • Jay Cost, Gerald R. Ford Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

  • Maureen Edobor, Steven M. Polan Fellow in Constitutional Law and History

  • Jonathan Gienapp, Associate Professor of History, Associate Professor of Law, Stanford University
  • Johann Neem, Professor of History, Western Washington University
  • Farah Peterson, Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School
  • Jack Rakove, Coe Professor of History and American Studies, Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Stanford University

  • Jamie Raskin, U.S. Representative (D-MD)

  • Kermit Roosevelt, David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
  • Illya Somin, Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University
  • Alan Trammell, Washington and Lee University School of Law