We the People

A History of the U.S. Constitution

De: Jill Lepore

Narrado por: Jill Lepore

From the best-selling author of These Truths comes We the People, a stunning new history of the U.S. Constitution, for a troubling new era.

The U.S. Constitution is among the oldest constitutions in the world but also one of the most difficult to amend. Jill Lepore, Harvard professor of history and law, explains why in We the People, the most original history of the Constitution in decades—and an essential companion to her landmark history of the United States, These Truths.

Published on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding—the anniversary, too, of the first state constitutions—We the People offers a wholly new history of the Constitution. “One of the Constitution’s founding purposes was to prevent change,” Lepore writes. “Another was to allow for change without violence.” Relying on the extraordinary database she has assembled at the Amendments Project, Lepore recounts centuries of attempts, mostly by ordinary Americans, to realize the promise of the Constitution. Yet nearly all those efforts have failed. Although nearly twelve thousand amendments have been introduced in Congress since 1789, and thousands more have been proposed outside its doors, only twenty-seven have ever been ratified. More troubling, the Constitution has not been meaningfully amended since 1971. Without recourse to amendment, she argues, the risk of political violence rises. So does the risk of constitutional change by presidential or judicial fiat.

Challenging both the Supreme Court’s monopoly on constitutional interpretation and the flawed theory of “originalism,” Lepore contends in this “gripping and unfamiliar story of our own past” that the philosophy of amendment is foundational to American constitutionalism. The framers never intended for the Constitution to be preserved, like a butterfly, under glass, Lepore argues, but expected that future generations would be forever tinkering with it, hoping to mend America by amending its Constitution through an orderly deliberative and democratic process.

Congressman Jamie Raskin writes that Lepore “has thrown us a lifeline, a way of seeing the Constitution neither as an authoritarian straitjacket nor a foolproof magic amulet but as the arena of fierce, logical, passionate, and often deadly struggle for a more perfect union.” At a time when the Constitution’s vulnerability is all too evident, and the risk of political violence all too real, We the People, with its shimmering prose and pioneering research, hints at the prospects for a better constitutional future, an amended America.

©2025 Jill Lepore (P)2025 Recorded Books

The author is balanced

Jill Lepore explained the majority of problems in both a legal document that goes unchanged and how the culture behind the same becomes rigid and frail. She is willing to explain both sides of the political structure and then goes on to state that neither side has held the nation up or work to maintain our world. An excellent read.

Her deep knowledge.

Not the best reader. Would have been better with someone else reading it just my thoughts.

History Beautifully Explained

A comprehensive review of the building and maintenance of the United States Constitution that was read by the author in a manner that really brought it to life. Jill Lepore is one of those teachers who keeps one very engaged and entertained. A very enjoyable book that taught me a great deal.

Loved it!

Great book that made me feel more connected to the country I live in now.

Great content. Fascinating constitutional history that is super relevant today. Terrible reader.

Hard to listen to the author reading the work even though the content is so good. Very grating.