{"id":12040,"date":"2026-09-30T09:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/?post_type=tribe_events&p=12040"},"modified":"2026-09-30T16:26:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T20:26:52","slug":"the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution","status":"publish","type":"tribe_events","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Speaker: Mark Peterson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor, Department of History, Yale University<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American Revolution occurred when Britain\u2019s constitutional order failed to adapt to the extraordinary growth of its colonies. The framers designed an American Constitution to succeed where Britain\u2019s had faltered, planning for continuous population and territorial expansion that would eventually cross the continent. Yet by the end of the 19th century, it was already ill-suited for an increasingly urban, industrialized society, and the transformations of the 20th century pushed it to a breaking point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book, \u201cThe Making and Breaking of the American Constitution: A Thousand-Year History<\/a>\u201d (Princeton University Press, 2026), Mark Peterson charts the history and aims of the American Constitution\u2019s relationship to the social order from its origins in an agrarian past to the grave crisis we face today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peterson, the Edmund S. Morgan Professor of History at Yale University, joined the Yale history faculty in 2018. He earned his Ph.D. in History at Harvard University and previously taught at the University of Iowa and the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as chair of the History Department.\u00a0His other books include \u201cThe City-State of Boston: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Power, 1630-1865\u201d\u00a0(Princeton, 2019) and\u00a0\u201cThe Price of Redemption: The Spiritual Economy of Puritan New England\u201d\u00a0(Stanford, 1997). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is now working on \u201cRevolution\u2019s Ends: A History of the American Revolution for the 21st Century,\u201d which connects the war and political transformations of the late 18th century to the explosive growth in settler population, territorial expansion, and consumption patterns that characterized this world-transforming era.\u00a0 He is also completing an edited volume of the writings of John Hull, a 17th-century Boston merchant, mint-master, and political leader, for publication by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peterson also serves as co-editor for American Beginnings, a book series published by the University of Chicago Press, with 25 volumes published to date. At Yale, he serves as the Faculty Director of the Lewis Walpole Library, a remarkable research collection of books, manuscripts, graphic arts, and objects related to 18th-century British history, broadly defined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Peterson charts the history and aims of the American Constitution\u2019s relationship to the social order from its origins in an agrarian past to the grave crisis we face today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12060,"template":"","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"America\/New_York","_EventStartDate":"2026-10-08 16:30:00","_EventEndDate":"2026-10-08 18:00:00","_EventStartDateUTC":"2026-10-08 20:30:00","_EventEndDateUTC":"2026-10-08 22:00:00","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"$","_EventCurrencyCode":"USD","_EventCurrencyPosition":"prefix","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"@","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"-","_EventOrganizerID":[12048],"_EventVenueID":[1158],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_tribe_events_status":"","_tribe_events_status_reason":"","_tribe_events_is_hybrid":"","_tribe_events_is_virtual":"","_tribe_events_virtual_video_source":"","_tribe_events_virtual_embed_video":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button_text":"","_tribe_events_virtual_linked_button":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_at":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_embed_to":[],"_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_event":"","_tribe_events_virtual_show_on_views":"","_tribe_events_virtual_url":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"tags":[355],"tribe_events_cat":[4,12],"event_department":[],"class_list":["post-12040","tribe_events","type-tribe_events","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-school-of-civic-and-global-engagement","tribe_events_cat-academic","tribe_events_cat-humanities","cat_academic","cat_humanities"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Making and Breaking of the American Constitution | Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mark Peterson charts the history and aims of the American Constitution\u2019s relationship to the social order from its origins in an agrarian past to the grave crisis we face today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Events\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-30T20:26:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/09\/Mark-Peterson-and-book-cover.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"547\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/event\\\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/event\\\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution | Events\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/event\\\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/event\\\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Mark-Peterson-and-book-cover.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-30T13:24:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-30T20:26:52+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/event\\\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/event\\\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Mark-Peterson-and-book-cover.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/Mark-Peterson-and-book-cover.avif\",\"width\":547,\"height\":365,\"caption\":\"Mark Peterson with the cover of his book, The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/tribe_events\\\/12040#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Events\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Event\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/wp-json\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Event\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Event\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Event\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/tribe_events\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"Event\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/tribe_events\\\/12040\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/\",\"name\":\"Events\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/events\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution | Events","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution","og_description":"Mark Peterson charts the history and aims of the American Constitution\u2019s relationship to the social order from its origins in an agrarian past to the grave crisis we face today.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/","og_site_name":"Events","article_modified_time":"2026-09-30T20:26:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":547,"height":365,"url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/09\/Mark-Peterson-and-book-cover.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/","name":"The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution | Events","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/09\/Mark-Peterson-and-book-cover.avif","datePublished":"2026-09-30T13:24:12+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-30T20:26:52+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/event\/the-making-and-breaking-of-the-american-constitution\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/09\/Mark-Peterson-and-book-cover.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/09\/Mark-Peterson-and-book-cover.avif","width":547,"height":365,"caption":"Mark Peterson with the cover of his book, The Making and Breaking of the American Constitution"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/12040#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":0,"name":"ClarkU","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Events","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Event","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Event","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Event","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Event","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"Event","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/12040"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/","name":"Events","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/12040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/tribe_events"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/12040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12064,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events\/12040\/revisions\/12064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12040"},{"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tribe_events_cat?post=12040"},{"taxonomy":"event_department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event_department?post=12040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}