Mark Peterson, "The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution: A Thousand-Year History" (Princeton UP, 2026)

About this episode

Mark Peterson discusses the historical evolution and challenges of the American Constitution in his new book.

A provocative new history of America's constitution and an urgent call to action for a nation confronted by challenges its founders could never have imagined The American Revolution occurred at a time when Britain's constitutional order failed to adapt to the extraordinary growth of its colonies. The framers designed an American constitution to succeed where Britain's had faltered, planning for continuous population and territorial expansion that would eventually cross the continent. Yet by the end of the nineteenth century, it was already ill-suited for an increasingly urban, industrialized society, and the transformations of the twentieth century have pushed it to a breaking point. The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution: A Thousand-Year History (Princeton UP, 2026) charts the history and aims of the American constitution from its origins in an agrarian past to the grave crisis we face today. Mark Peterson traces the American constitutional tradition to the control of land in medieval England, showing how the founders incorporated the aspirations of Magna Carta with the administrative principles of the Domesday Book, a meticulous survey and valuation of landed…

People in this episode

Guest: Mark Peterson

Topics covered

• American Constitution
• history
• democracy
• colonization
• legal framework
• Indigenous peoples
• urbanization

Keywords

• American Constitution
• Mark Peterson
• history
• democracy
• colonization
• Indigenous peoples
• urbanization
• legal framework
• expulsion

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Princeton UP

Books & works: The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution: A Thousand-Year History

Places: America, Britain, England, United States

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