After four seasons, more than 70 hours, and 75 episodes, Harry and Jon share some parting thoughts on the Constitution, the problems and struggles of interpretation, the role of politics and compromise, and some constitutional near misses. Reje

The Presidency: the 22nd and 25th Amendments

Aug 23rd, 2022 2h 2m

Despite the constitutional convention’s tentative rejection of term limits, early presidents establish a custom of two terms (each for their own reasons). After a few presidents flirt with a third (nonconsecutive) term, FDR goes for four, lead

Elections: the 20th Amendment

Aug 16th, 2022 39m 5s

Poor initial planning leaves Congressional terms and Congressional sessions badly out of sync, and 130 years’ worth of long and short sessions. A dispute over shipping subsidies rebalances the sessions, but leaves a short lame duck period. Twea

Democracy, Part 2: the 24th and 26th Amendments

Aug 9th, 2022 55m 40s

The 24th Amendment goes halfway toward removing poll taxes—one of the many historical practices used to suppress voting on the basis of race and class—before the Supreme Court expands the scope of the 14th Amendment to go all the way. Earlier v

Democracy, Part 1: the 17th, 23rd, and DC Voting Rights Amendments

Aug 2nd, 2022 1h 24m

120 years of corruption and deadlocks finally allow reformers to achieve direct election of Senators, with the hope of a more responsive and functional Senate. (Points for trying, we suppose.) An absent-minded decision by the Federalists strips

The Child Labor Amendment

Jul 26th, 2022 52m 33s

Popular opinion rises against child labor, and the Supreme Court shrugs. Congress tries again, but the Court is unmoved. Congress passes an amendment, ratification stalls, we take a detour through Kansas, and questions about the ratification pr

Prohibition: the 18th & 21st Amendments

Jul 19th, 2022 1h 20m

A multi-decade organizing project by the WCTU and ASL and the malapportionment of state legislatures leads to the passage of the 18th Amendment, with support from various factions. Alcohol use goes down, then doesn’t. Congress goes overboard in

Taxation: the 16th Amendment

Jul 12th, 2022 1h 18m

The delegates to the Constitutional Convention create distinctions without comprehensible differences. The advocates of broad taxation join the adversaries to luxuries to tax the carriage-riding classes. Justice Paterson begins a proud traditio

Trailer

Announcing Season 4: Remodeling

Jul 5th, 2022 5m 39s

We’re back for the final season of How to Build a Nation in 15 Weeks. Join us as we discuss events and amendments from the past 100 years that remodeled the written Constitution into what it is today, including income taxes, the rise and repeal

Reconstruction: Conclusion

Mar 23rd, 2021 34m 36s

We discuss the decisions and events leading to the end of formal Reconstruction, culminating with the corrupt bargain ending the election of 1876 and the continuing attacks on multiracial democracy in America. We conclude by reflecting on legac

Bonus

Bonus Episode: Impeachment Redux

Mar 16th, 2021 1h

In the wake of the second Trump impeachment, we review the Johnson, Clinton, and (first) Trump impeachments (and Nixon’s resignation), and conclude that not much is new under the sun. We also reflect on the inherently political nature of the im

Reconstruction: 19th Amendment, Part 2

Mar 11th, 2021 40m 53s

During World War I, suffragists pursue both national and state-by-state strategies. The National Women’s Party takes a more radical approach with protests and hunger strikes, and is met with violence. The Wilson administration and Congress yiel

Reconstruction: 19th Amendment, Part 1

Mar 9th, 2021 1h

We begin our discussion of the struggle for women’s political rights in the United States with the Revolution, with a focus on the fight against coverture and slavery, and the particular challenges for Black women. The abolitionist, labor, and

Reconstruction: 15th Amendment

Mar 2nd, 2021 1h 32m

We discuss how organizing among African-Americans, continuing violence in the former Confederacy, and a union of principle and politics in the North lead Congress to move toward universal male suffrage, two years after rejecting it. Proponents

Bonus

Bonus Episode: Historical Parallels

Feb 25th, 2021 52m 35s

The team convenes again to further discuss the January 6, 2021 insurrection and its echoes of the end of Reconstruction, as well as thoughts about the way forward.

Reconstruction: 14th Amendment – Equal Protection Clause

Feb 23rd, 2021 1h 38m

Ongoing mob violence spurs Congress to try to help Black Americans achieve meaningful equality. But in the 1870s, the Supreme Court limits the clause to cover only state action, despite Congress’s intentions. In the 1890s, it allows segregation

Reconstruction: 14th Amendment – Privileges & Immunities and Due Process Clauses

Feb 16th, 2021 56m 4s

Congress draws on Article IV and the Corfield opinion to craft a new privileges and immunities clause, but the Supreme Court quickly narrows its scope to near-invisibility. Lochner era courts use the due process clause to promote economic right

Reconstruction: 14th Amendment – Birthright Citizenship Clause

Feb 9th, 2021 1h 24m

We discuss ancient and early modern doctrines regarding the inheritance of citizenship, state and federal citizenship in the early republic, and early arguments for racial equality among citizens. We return to Dred Scott’s creation of a racial

Bonus

Bonus Episode: 14th Amendment, Section 3 and Impeachment Revisited

Feb 4th, 2021 49m 59s

In light of the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol and the second impeachment of Donald Trump, the team has reconvened to further discuss the history and mechanics of Section 3 and the use of impeachment against former government offic

Reconstruction: 14th Amendment – Overview & Sections 2–4

Feb 2nd, 2021 1h 21m

We begin our review of the 14th Amendment with the lesser-known middle clauses. Northern demographics, racism, and sexism block universal voting rights, leading to indirect support of male suffrage that is too complicated to work. Section 3 pre

Reconstruction: 13th Amendment

Jan 26th, 2021 1h 22m

We review the history of resistance by enslaved people in the United States, and how the Civil War changed things, leading to widespread self-emancipation. We then talk about the intended scope of the amendment, its passage through moral argume

Prelude to Reconstruction: Harper’s Ferry through the Corwin Amendment

Jan 21st, 2021 57m 50s

John Brown leads a raid on Harper’s Ferry and becomes a martyr. The Republicans prepare for their first real shot at the presidency. The Democratic convention disintegrates, the Northern and Southern wings propose competing candidates, and the

Prelude to Reconstruction - Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 through Dred Scott

Jan 19th, 2021 1h 19m

In the wake of Prigg, Congress passes its worst law. Abolitionists debate whether the Constitution is pro-slavery, anti-slavery, or neutral. For love of a railroad, Stephen Douglas blows up the Missouri Compromise, and a preview of the Civil Wa

Prelude to Reconstruction: Constitutional Convention through Prigg

Jan 12th, 2021 1h 1m

For hundreds of years, enslaved people resist and escape. The delegates’ initial compromises in 1787 give disproportionate influence to slaveholders. Additional compromises, including the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and Missouri Compromise, both

Trailer

Announcing Season 3: Reconstruction

Jan 5th, 2021 3m 25s

We’re back, with a new season about the next era of constitutional development: Reconstruction. Join us as we discuss the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments and surrounding events, America’s subsequent retreat from the promises of Reconstruc