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What the Constitution Means For Us – with Meg Mott
September 17, 2025 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
The Preamble of the Constitution has its own particular grammar. In that singular sentence We, the People define what we want from government: Justice, domestic Tranquility, a common defence, the general Welfare and the Blessings of Liberty. The rest of the Constitution provides the means to achieve those noble ends. It’s not enough to say what we want. We have to design a government that saves us from ourselves.
This Constitution Day (09/17) presentation considers whether or not the Constitution is up to the task. This is not a new question. Some antebellum abolitionists referred to the Constitution as “an agreement with Hell.” Others said it was the only effective tool against the wickedness of political leaders. Without the Constitution the People have no power against the State. Finally, we’ll ask ourselves how we might better dwell in the Constitution in order to achieve a “more perfect union.”
This program is part of The America 250 Town Hall Series, a collaboration with Brooks Memorial Library, Windham World Affairs Council, and Vermont Independent Media, publisher of The Commons, and is made possible, in part, through a generous grant from the Vermont Humanities Council.
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About the presenter: After twenty years of teaching political theory and constitutional law to Marlboro College undergraduates, Meg Mott has taken her love of argument to the general public. She attended the University of New Hampshire in the 1970s and is currently teaching at Keene State College. Meg’s award-winning series, Debating Our Rights, on the first ten amendments, brings civil discussions on contentious issues to public libraries and colleges.
