Archives Discusses America’s Covenant with the Constitution
By Pete Lewis | National Archives News
WASHINGTON, February 3, 2025 – On Wednesday, January 29, Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan welcomed Dr. Yuval Levin, Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, to the National Archives in Washington, DC, for a discussion about his newest book, American Covenant.
On Wednesday, January 29, Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan and Dr. Yuval Levin, Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, discussed his newest book, American Covenant.
Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan and Dr. Yuval Levin discuss his newest book, American Covenant, at the National Archives on January 29. (National Archives photo by Susana Raab)
"As the steward of the Constitution, I can't think of a better subject for the National Archives to kick off 2025,” said Shogan. “Levin helps us to see and understand how the Constitution can foster a healthier, and more robust, civic and political culture and discourse. Levin argues that, empowered and enlivened by the Constitution, ‘We the People’ can continue to create that 'more perfect union.'"
Levin spoke about the important role the Constitution plays in allowing for civil political disagreement.
“There is an idea of unity that is inherent in the Constitution. It says unity in a free society doesn’t mean thinking alike. Unity means acting together,” Levin said. “In a free society, the challenge is ‘How can we act together, when we don’t think alike?’ I think the American Constitution is a set of answers to that question.”
Levin drew parallels between the Founders’ original intentions when drafting the Constitution and processes that occur in our government in the modern world.
"The Constitution's authors were deeply concerned about the potential for factional division and disunity in American society, and the Constitution reflects that concern in its emphasis on bargaining and negotiated settlements as the means of policy action,” Levin said. “It's an emphasis we would be wise to recover in our time."
The author expressed excitement about having the discussion at the National Archives, the home of the country’s Founding Documents: the Bill of Rights, Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence.
"The Archives are home to the key records of the Constitutional Convention itself, including the formal journal of votes taken at the convention, and the letters of transmittal that accompanied the text of the Constitution that the convention submitted to Congress. These are a great resource for anyone tracing the work of the convention," Levin added. "I've gotten to speak about the book in many places now, but only at the Archives are we in the presence of the U.S. Constitution itself—the original document that is the framework for American public life that the book takes up. There is obviously something very special about discussing the Constitution not just as an idea, but as a concrete reality present with us in the building."
View the event on the National Archives YouTube Channel.
Visit the National Archives online for more news, and view the Calendar of Events for upcoming programs.
Visit the National Archives Catalog to search digitized federal records in our holdings.
Road to Revolution is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation, through the generous support of Comcast Corporation, Microsoft, and Procter & Gamble.