United States Constitution Day

(26:40) After the War for Independence, the struggle for a new system of government begins. Professor Pauline Maier looks at the creation of the Constitution of the United States. The Republic survives a series of threats to its union, and the program ends with the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on the Fourth of July, 1826.

Historic first reading of the entire text of the United States Constitution by members of Congress on January 6, 2011.

(26:00) Explores the origins, outbreak, and outcome of the American Revolution, the major political texts which grew out of that struggle, and their ongoing significance. Topics include the heavy British taxation that helped spark the Revolution; the spirit and structure of the Declaration of Independence; the short-lived Articles of Confederation; the drafting and ratification of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and their implications for U.S. government as we know it today.

How could America claim to be the world’s greatest democracy but deny the right to vote to women? With an introduction by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, One Woman, One Vote documents the events that culminated in the passing of the 19th Amendment.

Five U.S. presidents—including two in the last 20 years—have assumed office without winning the popular vote. The most recent example, President Trump's victory in 2016, renewed debate about the Electoral College's role in American politics. Supporters argue that the drafters of the U.S. Constitution wisely established the Electoral College to safeguard the nation from mob rule and ensure that voters in less populous states had a voice in presidential elections. But opponents argue that the drafters created the Electoral College to protect the institution of slavery and that, in the modern era, it subverts the will of people and unfairly gives voters in rural and swing states outsize influence. Has the Electoral College outlived its usefulness?

The 10th Amendment to the Constitution allows each state to set its own laws. That's meant that in Colorado, LGBTQIA+ rights have often been repressed. Meet the students at William J. Palmer High School who took their school district to court - and won!

Gun control in the U.S. has been a loaded term here for decades. In this video, we delve further into that controversial, Second Amendment, the NRA and the students vying to change the American right to bear arms.

America’s democracy is threatened. Narrated by Jeffrey Wright, Rigged tells the story of how the principle of "one person, one vote" is being compromised, and how American citizens are fighting back.