happy constitution day i'm so glad you're here to celebrate our shared
inheritance the constitution is a tool it's an
instrument for organizing the powers of government
we wield that instrument to shape its powers into a house for liberty and
equality now you're making time in your busy day to celebrate the constitution
that tells me you understand just how important it is i'm grateful to you for
that the value of our inheritance depends on
spreading understanding of the constitution far and wide
thank you for being here and for all you do to help
i'm danielle allen i'm a professor of political philosophy at harvard and
director of the edmond and lilly safra center for ethics i'm a mom i'm the
author of a book on the declaration of independence i'm also a lover of our
constitution my love hasn't come without a struggle
like many i've had to wrestle through the question of how to make peace with
the constitution's early compromises around enslavement
over the last 10 years i've traveled around the country speaking about my
love for the declaration of independence wherever i go i'm always met with the
same question how can you love these documents that
enslavers had a hand in writing from massachusetts to wisconsin to
kansas to texas to california i faced the blinding light of lecture halls and
pressure from that question they've more or less merged in my experience
but thanks to all those great audience members asking me that question time and
again i've spent a lot of time studying up on it
i've come to understand that in the debates in philadelphia in 1787 there
were two sides there was a side ready to see the end of enslavement was a side
that wanted to keep it each side hypothesized that the new
constitution would hasten its victory one side was right
the victory was long incoming it was achieved only thanks to the hard work
and personal sacrifice of people from david walker to harriet tubman to
frederick douglass to abraham lincoln to a person these true advocates for
liberty and equality insisted that the constitution rested on a basis of human
dignity therefore it could make sense only if all humanity could enter its
house of freedom they insisted that the statement of
principle in the declaration of independence that all people are created
equal that statement was the only firm footing for durable constitutional
government and so the hypothesis that the
constitution would support the perpetuation of enslavement was defeated
those who hypothesized that the constitution truly supported abolition
were validated thus we inherit an old but durable
instrument for building and securing the house of freedom
it's ours to improve until that house has light filled rooms for everyone
it's ours to renovate so that we keep alive the project of self-government for
free and equal citizens for generations to come
but most importantly it's ours and ours means all of us we share this
inheritance i hope you will carry and spread this
idea that the constitution is foremost something that we share everywhere you
go enjoy this conversation today you're in
good hands