Name: Jill Lepore: The State of the Union
Start: 2026-02-11T19:30:00+01:00
End: 2026-02-11T21:30:00+01:00
Location: Zuiderkerk Amsterdam

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, Harvard historian and critically acclaimed writer Jill Lepore will deliver a State of the Union address, analyzing the present juncture at which the United States finds itself through the lens of her latest book on the U.S. Constitution, 'We the People.'
In her keynote and interview, Lepore examines the Constitution not as a sacred artifact, but as a living document written by fallible humans, reshaped across centuries of struggle and imagination. She traces the hidden history of constitutional change, led not by the powerful alone, but by citizens, activists, and outsiders who expanded the meaning of the Republic.
At a time when American democracy is under strain, Lepore returns to the John Adams Institute for a timely address and conversation about the country’s past and future.