Consider the Constitution

The words are familiar — life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness — but do we really know what they meant to the men who wrote them? As America marks 250 years of independence, Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey sits down with Dr. Lynn Uzzell, Julia Van Geest, and T.C. Le, co-authors of the forthcoming book Locking and Unlocking the Declaration of Independence: An Introduction to Jefferson's Philosophy on Revolution, to trace the ideas behind America's founding document back to their source: 17th-century English philosopher John Locke. The conversation unpacks how Jefferson both borrowed from and departed from Locke on consent, revolution, property, and happiness — and why those differences still shape how we understand American democracy today.

Before the Declaration of Independence, before the Constitutional Convention, colonists were already debating the meaning of a constitution — and it didn't look anything like the document we know today. Dr. Zachary Deibel, assistant professor of history at the Virginia Military Institute, joins Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey at Montpelier to trace the constitutional ideas that shaped the American Revolution. Drawing on the writings of John Dickinson, the legacy of the Glorious Revolution, and the colonial charters that defined the relationship between the King and his American subjects, Deibel unpacks why the dispute with Britain wasn't simply about taxes — it was a fundamental disagreement over the meaning of liberty itself. He also explores a theme that resonates well beyond the 18th century: when two sides decide there is nothing left to learn from each other, that's when the shooting starts. 
This episode is supported in part by the Virginia Law Foundation.

This episode is part of a special five-part miniseries examining James Madison's role in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. As part of Montpelier's commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, this series is funded by a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission, in partnership with Virginia Humanities.
In this final installment, Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey sits down with Chris Pasch, Montpelier's archaeology field director, to examine one of the property's most symbolically charged structures: the Temple. Built around 1810 while Madison was serving as president, this open-air classical structure draws on Greco-Roman architectural tradition to embed the ideals of Enlightenment, liberty, and self-government directly into the landscape. 
Pasch brings both archaeological evidence and architectural history to what the Temple reveals about Madison's world. This episode closes the miniseries with a reminder that the Temple's meaning endures: informed, active citizenship is the foundation on which the American experiment still stands.
This episode is supported in part by the Virginia Law Foundation.

When the Constitution was drafted in 1787, women weren't explicitly excluded — they were simply not addressed. Dr. Catherine Allgor, historian and former President of the Massachusetts Historical Society, joins host Dr. Katie Crawford Lackey at Montpelier to unpack what that silence actually meant — and why it wasn't accidental.
At the center of the conversation is a word every listener will want to know: coverture. The legal doctrine that erased a woman's identity at marriage — subsuming her personhood, her property, her wages, even her children into her husband — was never abolished by the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Dr. Allgor traces coverture from the founding era through Abigail Adams's famous "Remember the Ladies" letter, the suffrage movement, and the ERA debate, arguing that its legacy is still very much alive today.
A bracing, eye-opening conversation for the 250th anniversary year — and a reminder that the republican experiment is still a work in progress.
This episode is supported in part by the Virginia Law Foundation.

This episode is part of a five-part miniseries examining James Madison's role in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States. Part of Montpelier's commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, this series is funded by a grant from the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission in partnership with Virginia Humanities.

What does it actually take to sustain a republic — not just to build one, but to keep it alive across generations? In this episode, part of a special five-part miniseries commemorating America's 250th anniversary, Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey speaks with Professor Colleen Sheehan of Arizona State University, one of the foremost scholars of James Madison's political thought. Drawing on her books The Mind of James Madison and James Madison and the Spirit of Republican Self-Government, Professor Sheehan explains why Madison believed the greatest threat to the republic wasn't foreign invasion or economic collapse, but something far more internal — the capacity of citizens to deliberate well, check their own impulses, and honor what Madison called a "debt of protection" we owe to one another. From the Federalist Papers to Robert Frost, this conversation illuminates why Madison remains essential to understanding what self-government actually demands of us — and what the 250th anniversary asks of us today.