FOUNDING PRINCIPLES: THE FRENCH CONNECTION
MONDAY, July 20, 2009, 6:30 p.m.
Free. Reservations required. Please call 215.409.6700 or
order online.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach
F.M. Kirby Auditorium
National Constitution Center
Independence Mall
525 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA
The National Constitution Center welcomes Visiting Scholar A.E. Dick Howard, White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Virginia School of Law, for a discussion about the founding periods in France and America, including how the U.S. constitutional experience influenced the debates on the first French Constitution and the divergence in French and American constitutionalism after those early years. This program is presented in conjunction with the Center's summer American history teacher workshop "A Revolution in Government" and the Center's summer exhibition, NAPOLÉON.
In 1791, the National Assembly created the first written constitution in France, only four years after the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. In debating key constitutional issues, the National Assembly repeatedly invoked the American Constitution, as well as various state constitutions including Pennsylvania's Constitution of 1776 and the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. As consecutive Ministers to France in the 1770s and 1780s, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin played key roles in bringing U.S. constitutional ideas to France. Thomas Jefferson said, “it is indeed an animating thought that while we are securing the rights of ourselves and posterity, we are pointing out the way to struggling nations who wish, like us, to emerge from their tyrannies also.” With few competing models, the U.S. Constitution immediately emerged as an important influence on constitutional politics in France and elsewhere.
A. E. Dick Howard is the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs at the University of Virginia School of Law. Recognized as an expert in the fields of comparative constitutionalism, the Supreme Court, and constitutional law, Professor Howard has argued several cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. Professor Howard often serves as a consultant to constitutional draftsmen in America and abroad, and has worked on writing constitutions in such places as Brazil, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Albania, Malawi, and South Africa. He was executive director of the commission that wrote Virginia’s current constitution and has been counsel to the General Assembly of Virginia, as well as consultant to state and federal bodies, including the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he read philosophy, politics, and economics and is the author of several monographs including Democracy’s Dawn and Constitution-making in Eastern Europe.
From May 29 through September 7, 2009, the National Constitution Center will host NAPOLÉON, an exhibition offering visitors a rare opportunity to explore the private life of the Emperor of France and to see beyond the legend to gain an understanding of this complex political leader whose actions reshaped the landscape of Europe and America.
Parking for this event is available for $7.00 after 5pm at the National Constitution Center’s garage located on Race Street between 5th and 6th streets. Parking availability is subject to change, so please call the Center on the day of the program or check our web site for more information. Please also see our directions by public transportation.
For reservations please call 215.409.6700 or order online. Programs at the National Constitution Center begin promptly and latecomers may not be admitted to the program. Please note that this program is subject to change.
Related Links:
A.E. Dick Howard
NAPOLÉON
A Revolution in Government: Philadelphia, American Independence and the Constitution, 1765-1791