Steven Hahn, author of Illiberal America: A History, and Manisha Sinha, author of The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860–1920, explored America’s historical encounters with illiberalism and its relevance to contemporary challenges confronting American democracy today. Thomas Donnelly, chief content officer at the National Constitution Center, moderated the conversation.

Resources

• Steven Hahn, Illiberal America: A History (2024)
• Manisha Sinha, The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920 (2024)
• Abraham Lincoln, “ "Speech to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield” (1838), Founders’ Library
• 13th Amendment, Interactive Constitution
• Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Founders’ Library
• Steven Hahn, The Roots of Southern Populism: Yeoman Farmers and the Transformation of the Georgia Upcountry, 1850-1890 (1985)
• Marcia Coyle, “The U.S. Supreme Court Cases Built on a ‘Rotten Foundation’,” Constitution Daily (May 2022)

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