Click the class title for a detailed description of the presentation.
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A More Perfect Constitution? (6/2 and 6/9)10:15am
6/2
A More Perfect Constitution? (6/2 and 6/9)
Friday, June 2nd, 2023
10:15 AM - 11:45 AM
Storrs Campus Vernon Cottage, Depot Campus
The U.S. Constitution was conceived with a view to “a more perfect union.” The Founders were concerned to go beyond the shortcomings of “The Articles of Confederation,” which bound the states into a form of national unity from 1777 to1787. The Delegates to the Philadelphia convention were not authorized to throw out “The Articles.” They were supposed to make improvements. But in the course of their deliberations, they went much farther than anticipated. They designed a new form of national government, and their creation persists to this day, although not in its original state. George Washington noted a few weeks after the convention that ”the warmest friends and the best supporters of the Constitution do not contend that it is free from imperfections.” In this course we will explore the question: has the U.S. Constitution become a major obstacle to a “more perfect union”? Are the “imperfections” in the Constitution an abiding source of troubles? Are we in need of a more perfect Constitution? Fridays, June 2 and 9, 10:15 to 11:45
Jerry Phillips, Associate Professor of English, UConn -
A More Perfect Constitution? (6/2 and 6/9)10:15am
6/9
A More Perfect Constitution? (6/2 and 6/9)
Friday, June 9th, 2023
10:15 AM - 11:45 AM
Storrs Campus Vernon Cottage, Depot Campus
The U.S. Constitution was conceived with a view to “a more perfect union.” The Founders were concerned to go beyond the shortcomings of “The Articles of Confederation,” which bound the states into a form of national unity from 1777 to1787. The Delegates to the Philadelphia convention were not authorized to throw out “The Articles.” They were supposed to make improvements. But in the course of their deliberations, they went much farther than anticipated. They designed a new form of national government, and their creation persists to this day, although not in its original state. George Washington noted a few weeks after the convention that ”the warmest friends and the best supporters of the Constitution do not contend that it is free from imperfections.” In this course we will explore the question: has the U.S. Constitution become a major obstacle to a “more perfect union”? Are the “imperfections” in the Constitution an abiding source of troubles? Are we in need of a more perfect Constitution? Fridays, June 2 and 9, 10:15 to 11:45
Jerry Phillips, Associate Professor of English, UConn
