The framers of the Constitution designed a system of government in 1787 that distributed power among three branches—legislative, executive, and judicial. Having just overthrown a king, the framers did ...

The U.S. Constitution is among the oldest constitutions in the world but also one of the most difficult to amend. Jill Lepore, Harvard professor of history and law, explains why in We the People, the ...

Each September 17, our nation pauses to recognize Constitution Day, commemorating the signing of the United States Constitution in 1787. It is a day not just for lawyers, judges, or politicians–it is ...

Dr. Lepore is a professor of history and law at Harvard and the author of “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution.” In 2016, Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, read James Madison’s ...

Harvard’s Jill Lepore is a triple threat: lauded historian, prominent legal scholar and New Yorker journalist. She approaches the American experiment from myriad angles, drawing on protagonists such ...

When Benjamin Franklin was asked what form of government the American framers had created, he wryly replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” This Constitution Day, on the brink of celebrating the ...

Sept. 17 is Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, meant to celebrate the signing of the United States' founding document and all those who have become citizens since. Here's a quick history lesson and ...

In "We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution" (to be published Sept. 16 by Liveright), Harvard professor and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore explores the ongoing struggle to amend America's ...

The writer Jill Lepore wrote a history of the United States called "These Truths." Now she's gone through the same history again for a book on the Constitution. She focuses on fights to amend or ...

We may receive an affiliate commission from anything you buy from this article. In "We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution" (to be published Sept. 16 by Liveright), Harvard professor and ...