In the inaugural symposium of the “We Hold These Truths: America at 250” initiative held at AEI on November 15, 2023, renowned historians and political scientists explored evolving interpretations of American democracy from the beginning of the American Revolution to the present. AEI’s Yuval Levin and Brown University’s Gordon S. Wood opened the event by discussing how the founders’ conception of democracy changed over time and reconsidering the Constitution as a democratic document. Harvard University’s Danielle Allen and Assumption University’s Gregory S. Weiner examined the Declaration of Independence’s democratic principles by tracing John Adam’s involvement in drafting the Declaration and Abraham Lincoln’s role in interpreting it. The event concluded with a moderated discussion between Hoover Institution’s Peter Berkowitz and Yale University’s Bryan Garsten on Alexis de Tocqueville’s analysis of democracy’s impact on American society and how we should teach the Declaration of Independence today.
