Filming. Also, if youre wondering what all the equipment is in the back of the room, its cspan, so make show your nicest smile, brush your hair, get ready, just in case you get a cameo. And when we get to the q a part, there is a microphone in the back of the room, and well let you know when its time for that, and well ask you to line up this to ask your questions. In a politically restive time, its always worthwhile revisiting the documents that set us apart from british rule and created the framework for our government. Tonight, our guest speaker, kermit roosevelt, explores these documents and shares his 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 University and yale law. Before joining the penn faculty, he served as a law clerk to Supreme CourtJustice David souter. His book, the myth of judicial activism, making sense of Supreme Court decisions, sets out 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, so please join me in a warm welcome for professor roosevelt and enjoy the program. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you all for coming. And happy super tuesday. So, as you know, of course, its super tuesday. The democrats are in the process of choosing their nominee. Later on, well have the general election, and we will choose our president , and that choice will reflect something about who we are as a nation, and thats what i want to talk about tonight. Who we are, how we decide who we are, and what our sense of ourselves means for our relationship with the constitution and for our sense of ourselves as a country and as a people. So, who are we . Were americans. This is the most american slide i could find. But what does it mean to be an american . And how do we decide that . What gives us our sense of what america means . The first point i want to make is that stories do that. Stories tell us who we are. They organize the world for us. And this is true of individuals. When people think about their lives, they tend to think about them in narrative form. They find meaning in experience. They find themes and heroes and villains. James joyce once said, this is the artists task, transforming the daily bread of experience into the radiant body of everlasting life. But in that sense, were all artists. Were all the authors of our own stories. Not because we decide what happens. We dont actually get to decide that, but because we decide what it means. We decide how its interpreted. And usually, of course, we pick interpretations that flatter ourselves. We end up being the heroes of our own stories. So, this is true for individuals, and its also true for nations. People have a sense of National Identity that comes from stories about the nations history. And thats what im going to talk about tonight. Im going to talk about different stories of america. Where they come from, how they relate to each other. But before i do that, i want to say one more thing about stories which is theyre powerful. So, as you heard, im a law professor. Before that, i was a lawyer. I was doing appellate litigation and it was my job, and in some ways its still my job, to make people agree with me about the correct understanding of the law. And i learned something while i was working as a lawyer which has been reinforced by my experiences with legal scholarship, which is that sometimes, on some issues, you can present a strong, logical argument and people will change their minds. Sometimes, the voice that persuades is an analytical voice. But thats not true all the time. And in particular, its not true if youre dealing with an issue that relates to peoples identities, to their sense of self. In those kinds of situations, you can make the best, the most logical argument in the world, and it wont have any effect. Because logic doesnt make people change their minds about who they are. Theres been some social Psychology Research on this, and it shows people are actually incredibly resistant to reasoned, logical argument if it conflicts with their narrative about the world, if it conflicts with the story that they tell themselves to make sense of the world. So they did a study where they took people with certain beliefs. In this study, it was beliefs about Climate Change, so they took Climate Change skeptics and Climate Change believers, and they took each group and exposed them to facts that suggested their beliefs were wrong. So the groups got different information. In each case, they got information that challenged their beliefs. You would have thought this would make them less confident, but the result was the people on both sides expressed greater confidence in those beliefs, because they felt a threat to their identity and basically they responded by reaffirming it. Those beliefs were not just factual beliefs about the world. They were beliefs that signalled membership in a particular community and because of that, they were part of peoples identity, part of the story that people told themselves about themselves. So, heres an ordinary factual question, right . Is it raining outside or not . Your belief about that doesnt relate to your identity at all and with questions like that, people do change their mind if theyre presented with contrary evidence. But with other things, with beliefs that are connected to identity, you cant dislodge those beliefs by facts or by logical argument. The analytical voice just doesnt persuade. So, what does . Well, this is another thing that i learned as a lawyer. I think its maybe the most important thing that i learned to teach my, students in the creative writing seminar that i teach at the law school. If youre wondering why is there a creative writing seminar at the law school . This is why. Because it actually can make you a much more effective lawyer, because the narrative voice persuades. To change beliefs that are connected to identity, to the story that we tell ourselves about the world and our place in it, you have to offer a different story. You have to offer a story that opens up a different way of understanding the world, and you can change peoples minds. You can change their selfconceptions, if you talk to them the way that their interior voice does, and for most people on these important issues, the interior voice is not giving arguments. Its telling stories. So, stories tell us who we are, both as individuals and as countries, and stories are powerful. Frequently, they cant be dislodged by reasoned argument or logical analysis. You might have heard some people say it takes a theory to beat a theory. I say it takes a story to beat a story. And what i want to do now is tell you some of the stories about america, about who we are. These different stories say Different Things about the past, but perhaps more important, they have different ideas about the essence of america, about what it means to be american. So, im going to compare them, im going to analyze them, i will be doing some logical argument, im a law professor, i cant really get away from that, but in the end, i hope that you like the same story i do, not because of those arguments but because its a better story. It shows us in a better light. Its more inclusive. Its more optimistic. It is, im going to say, more american. But im going to start with what i call the standard story, and according to this story, American History, the history of america as a nation, starts with the declaration of independence. Here we go. The declaration. And the standard story that should be familiar to you, this is sort of what we say in our civic religion, our basic celebrations of america, the standard story says, long ago, back in 1776, our great founders wrote down some wonderful principles. They called these selfevident truths. All men are created equal. They are endowed by their creator with inalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and our founders fought a war for those principles and they built a society around them and the constitution was their vehicle for carrying those principles into execution. Hold on. Theres the constitution. Expect constitution, according to the standard story, sets out our fundamental values. What are those fundamental values . Liberty and equality. And it tells us what it means to be an american. It tells us who we are. And for more than 200 years, our constitution has served us well because of the wisdom of the founders. Our task as americans is basically to live up to their example, to fulfill their vision of america, to be true to the principles that started in the declaration of independence and then were codified in the constitution. Now, American History, the standard story admits, hasnt always been easy because we havent always lived up to those principles. We had slavery, of course, which is in direct conflict with the principles of the declaration, those values of liberty and equality. But we fought a war for those principles again. The civil war. That was a war fought in the name of the principles of the declaration. How do we know that . Well, Abraham Lincoln said so. In the gettysburg address. Thats an actual photo of lincoln delivering the gettysburg address. Because its such an early photo, its not really a very good one but hes there somewhere. And in the gettysburg address, lincoln looks back to the declaration as the birth of the nation. It takes a little bit of arithmetic to figure this out, but hes giving the gettysburg address in 1863, he says, four score and seven years ago, subtract four score and seven years from 1863 and what do you get . Not 1787 and the constitution. You get 1776 and the declaration of independence. And lincoln, of course, invoked those principles, right, he says the nation is conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, so the civil war is a challenge, but its also an opportunity for americans to move forward, to more fully realize the promise of the declaration. Now, of course, the standard story concedes, even after the civil war, the work is not done. Racism and discrimination persist, and the Civil Rights Movement rises up to challenge those darker aspects of american life, and it does so again in the name of the declaration. So the Civil Rights Movement sponsors the march on washington in 1963. Martin luther king gives his i have a dream speech from the steps of the lincoln memorial. This, you can see, is a much better photo than my photo of the gettysburg address. And he talks about the founders. He talks about the architects of our republic, the people who wrote the magnificent words of the constitution and the declaration of independence. They promised, he says, that all men, black as well as white, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Weve fallen short, he says. He points to segregation, to racebased denial of the right to vote, as breaches of the promise made by the declaration and he says he dreams of a day when we will rise up and live out the true meaning of all men are created equal and maybe that day hasnt come yet. Again, the standard story concedes, but it is getting closer because the story of america is a story of living up to the ideals of our founders, the ideals that started us on this journey. So, we move forward but were guided by the past. By the spirit of 1776. We remember, as president john f. Kennedy said in his inaugural address, that we are the heirs of that first revolution and we still carry that banner, the flag of freedom, the flag of equality. Were marching in the name of the declaration of independence, and if theres a picture of the true america, its Something Like a famous painting by Archibald Mcneil willard, the spirit of 76. So here you have the three men marching forward with a fife and a drum and in the background, the betsy ross flag with 13 stars arranged in a circle. So, this is what im going to call our standard story. This is what we usually tell ourselves to explain who we are. We are the heirs of the first revolution. We are the descendants of the signers of the declaration, of the drafters of the constitution. American history starts with that declaration. It starts on a high note, and basically, were trying to sustain it. Were trying to live up to the ideals of the founders and the signers. Were following their wisdom and for 200 years, its pointed the way to a better america and a more perfect union. Im going to tell you a couple of other stories, too, but first, i want to say a little bit about this one. The first thing to note is its a backwardlooking story. It tells us our ideals have their or gyp in the past, at the very beginning. The declaration is the central document in the story. Its maybe more important, maybe more Truly American than even the constitution, about the founders constitution, the original constitution, that is important, too. The constitution has the answers to our current problems. America seems to be adrift, people think. Maybe we have lost our way. What is the solution . Go back to the wisdom of the founders. Focus on the constitution. Focus maybe on the original understanding of the constitution. Live up to the ideals of the founders. Be more like them. The way forward is by recovering the greatness of the past. So, first, backwardlooking story. Second thing is this is a Success Story. Yes, weve had our difficulties, but basically if you look back america always succeeds. We always triumph, and why is that . Its because of the wisdom of the founders and the ideals of the declaration, and the civil war is probably the best example of that. Its a terrible war, yes, but the ideals of the declaration triumph, and we improve. We take a big step forward towards more fully realizing those ideals. So backwardlooking, success and then the third thing, its a story of continuity. It tells us theres a line that goes from the signers of the declaration of independence through the drafters of the constitution to us in the present day. We are the heirs of that first revolution, and this is related to the fact that its a Success Story because its telling us basically we are the same people weve always been. We are the same nation. The signers of the declaration, the drafters of the constitution, they got it right. Were living in the world that they designed. Were fighting for the ideals that they championed. So, this is a nice story in a lot of ways, and you can see why it appeals to people, i think. It says were basically good, we americans. We start out with good ideals. We dont always live up to them, but were Getting Better. Were succeeding. Theres a sense of inevitable progress, and when things look dark, answers exist if we look back to find them. Theres authority in the past. In a moment of unity that everyone can rally around, that everyone can share in. Everyone feels a connection to the founding, and the story emphasizes that. The problem though, well, one problem, is that its really not true. Now, i know ive said that logical arguments dont dislodge stories, but now im going to give you a bit of a logical analysis of this story which, of course, might not change your mind, but i hope that it will provoke you to question the story a bit. Im going to present you, i think, with some claims that you will find surprising, that you dont hear in the standard story, that you dont hear very much at all actually, and heres the first one. The declaration of independence does not actually set out our modern values of liberty and equality. In fact, its consistent with slavery, so this should be a surprise, right . I dont think anyone else says this, and often if youre the only person saying something, its crazy and youre wrong, but hear me out because i have ive become quite convinced of this. So generally speaking people say, of course theres an obvious contradiction between the declaration of independence and slavery. But lets look at the declaration and think about what its values actually are. So heres the preamble of the declaration and this is what people usually Pay Attention to. Thats appropriate. After the preamble and a little bit of political philosophy we get a set of grievances against king george, bad things that hes done. Those are not as important. Thats evidence that the founders are setting out sort of in support of their argument but they arent the argument. The declaration of independence is at heart an argument of political philosophy. It is an argument that tries to establish that the colonies are justified in declaring independence. In throwing off the authority of the british empire. And to understand the declaration the crucial thing is to understand how that argument works, and the use that it makes of these fundamental principles. And im going to talk about the argument that the declaration makes in a second. But first i want to talk about the argument that it doesnt make. Which is the argument against slavery. So why do people think the declaration is inconsistent with slavery . Because of these selfevident truths. All men are created equal. They are endowed by their creator with inalienable rights included life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Are they consistent it would go like this. People are created equal. Therefore, no one is entitled by birth to demand that someone else be his slave. Someone might have the power to enslave someone else. Doing so could actually be considered a form of liberty, that is just doing what you want to do but it also conflicts with the slaves Natural Light to liberty. So its prima fascia wrong. Enslaving someone else is an infringement on their natural rights. Thats true, so far, so good. The declaration does get you that far. But theres another step you need, which is that this infringement isnt justified because in the political world there are lots of infringements on peoples natural liberty. If you use your liberty to steal someone elses property, well lock you up, well take away your liberty. If you commit a serious enough crime, we will take your life, thats what we do, even to our own citizens, members of our Political Community. Because those depr