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The Roberts Court sits at the center of a constitutional maelstrom. Two of the most prestigious Supreme Court experts discuss its direction under Chief Justice Roberts and trace the paths of recent landmark decisions on race, guns, immigration, campaign finance, and health care.

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History comes alive for the whole family with Living History Days at the New-York Historical Society! Do you want to know what life was like in the eighteenth century? Please join us as re-enactment troops and Living History actors recreate the world of Revolutionary America. Living History Days will feature appearances by troops of the Continental, Loyalist, British and Hessian armies and, on select days, actors portraying Revolutionary heroes, including George Washington, Benjamin and Deborah Franklin, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

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The American Constitution is our nation's most important document and the battle to ratify it was a crucial turning point in American history. Three experts recall a nearly 225-year-old debate that raged in homes, taverns, and convention halls across the new nation and discuss the key players who fought for and against ratification.

Co-Sponsor

Carl Menges

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James Madison was one of the most influential and integral figures in American history: he collaborated on the Federalist Papers and the Bill of Rights, assembled one of the nation’s first political parties and took to the battlefield during the War of 1812, becoming the last president to lead troops in combat. Richard Brookhiser presents a vivid portrait of the “Father of the Constitution,” an accomplished yet humble statesman who nourished Americans’ fledgling liberty.

Among the maps that George Washington owned was British military engineer John Montresor's A Plan of the City of New-York, surveyed in 1766. The map provided Washington with detailed information about the streets and hills of Lower Manhattan as he fortified the city against a British assault in 1776. The map was also useful for planning Washington's triumphant entry into New York on November 25, 1783 as the British ended their 70- year occupation and evacuated the city.

How does the Constitution, an 18th-century document, relate to and dictate the laws of a 21st-century society? Through the analysis of past cases, including those concerning slavery, the Cherokee Indians, and detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Justice Stephen Breyer examines the Court’s arduous—and often turbulent—journey to establish its legitimacy as guardian of the Constitution. Having earned the public’s confidence, he expounds how the Court can continue promoting a workable democracy going forward.