While the United States Constitution is small in size, it is large enough to support our most dramatic disagreements. Beginning with the clash between slave states and free states, we have staged all of our controversies on the Articles and Amendments. Even during the Civil War, the Constitution held.

This presentation considers how the structure and principles of the Constitution gives us a chance to become better opponents, smarter contrarians, and more savvy about the greater good. We'll consider times when political polarization threatened a constitutional crisis and how citizens like Justin Morrill kept the constitutional faith alive.

This presentation is supported by the Vermont Humanities Council