All in starts right now. Good evening from new york. Im chris hayes. It was a big day for the future of american democracy. We will get to that significant action in a moment, but before we do, just give me a second to go back to the context of what happened in the last election. I think it has been obscured by the sabotage and disinformation and violent insurrection unlike anything weve seen in the history of the country stoked by the former president. Remember this, last november, right, once in a cent ray pandemic, we got a glimpse of what a full or fuller participation version of our democracy would look like because due to the pandemic, state after state, jurisdiction after jurisdiction, and i should note this is both democratic and republican there were fights over this. But across the board, more or less on the whole in the aggregate, all these places did something praise worthy and novel. They took steps to make it easier to vote. They did this by expanding eligibility for mail
Aggregate, all these places did something praiseworthy and novel. They took steps to make it easier to vote. They did this by expanding eligibility for mailin voting and early voting and adding drop boxes for ballots right . Theres Public Health concern. You dont want everyone crowding in on election day so people found ways to just make it easier to vote so you wouldnt have that. And the results are clear. It worked. Turnout was the highest it had been in 120 years. Nearly 67 of eligible voters cast a ballot. And also there was no uniform drubbing of one party by the other. It was not a blowout. It was a competitive election. Yes, joe biden won by a healthy margin. 7 million votes. 70 plus Electoral College votes. But remember republicans gained seats in the house. They want some key senate rates right . Now rather than looking at that outcome and thinking wow, we can be a Competitive Party even in high turnout elections which would have been a totally rational conclusion. Republican
Sworn in. Finds he spends the weekly where you get your podcasts. Previously, on american artifacts, tour guide eric finley took us from the safe slave market to africa town founded by captives of the slave ship clotilda up next in part two, we pick up the story after the civil war with mr. Finley describing how African Americans established businesses on the north side of town. This is the first African American mortuary in the state of alabama. They originally opened in 1880s. They built this building in the 1900s. But the real story is mrs. Allen. She started a private school directly behind us in the 1880s. It was called the Josephine Allen institute. Because in the 1800s before the emancipation proclamation, it was against the law for africanamericans to be educated. After the emancipation proclamation, schools started opening everywhere. She opened one to educate young africanamericans. This family actually came to mobile, from virginia. They were never slaves, they were elite. T
Then you have a paper trail you can audit and it is not a 110 million system, but it is what it is. Ive got to say to Brad Roethlisberger that he did a decent job. I want to thank Stacey Abrams for making sure that there were various Court Rulings in effect that mandated certain activities by the secretary of state, to ensure a free and fair election. I think that is exactly what we got november 3. Host what role did Stacey Abrams play in possibly, it looks like, a democrat winning that state for the First Time Since 1992 . Guest she played a huge role. For the last 10 years, stacey effective been a registrar of voters through her various organizations, and in the runup to the 2020 elections, there were one million newly registered voters. Were were 800,000 of those abramsthe work of stacey and her organizations in the act thoses association with organizations. Those 800,000 newly registered voters, mostly young, who made the difference and turned the tide in georgia, and turned georgi
A cameo. When we get to the q a part there is a microphone in the back of the room and we will let you know when it is time you will line up there to ask your questions. It is always worthwhile to revisit the documents that set us apart from british rule and created the framework for our government. Our guest speaker, kermit roosevelt, explores these documents and shares interpretation of their meaning and relevance. Professor roosevelt teaches constitutional law at the university of pennsylvania law school. He was born and raised in d. C. And attended harvard and yale. Before joining, he served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice David souter. His book sets standards by which citizens can determine whether the Supreme Court is abusing its authority to interpret the constitution. He also teaches creative writing and is the author of two novels. In the shadow of the law and allegiance. Please join me in a round of applause for professor roosevelt. [applause] thank you. Thank you all