Did the Constitution Reign in Democracy?

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i just felt like in my history class, as we rushed through everything that happened before the constitution was the real, meaningful beginning. But it turns out that the articles of confederation were too democratic for lot of powerful people at the time. So in fact, the constitution was about reigning in democracy than it was about expanding or codifying it. Some more mainstream historians would say that the constitution was necessary and a good step to make capitalism work better.

In the summer of 1787, fifty-five men got together in Philadelphia to write a new Constitution for the United States, replacing the new nation’s original blueprint, the Articles of Confederation. But why, exactly? What problems were the framers trying to solve? Was the Constitution designed to advance democracy, or to rein it in? And how can the answers to those questions inform our crises of democracy today?

By producer/host John Biewen with series collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews with Woody Holton, Dan Bullen, and Price Thomas. The series editor is Loretta Williams.