“It’s birth equality,” author Akhil Reed Amar said. “You shouldn’t be treated better or worse if you’re born black or white, male or female, gay or straight, in or out of wedlock, first born versus fifth born, with citizen parents or non-citizen parents, or born to Jew or Gentile.”
This quote captures the central theme of Amar’s lecture at the Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy’s 48th Annual Donald A. Giannella Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, March 11.
Amar discussed his second book in what will soon be a trilogy: “Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840–1920”. It examines the four constitutional amendments that abolished slavery and established citizenship and voting rights for minorities in the United States.
The event, hosted in John F. Scarpa Hall by Villanova’s Law School, attracted students, faculty and members of the surrounding community interested in constitutional history. Amar focused his talk on how constitutional amendments, legal reforms and historical figures following the Civil War reshaped the nation’s understanding of citizenship and rights. He asserted that the most fundamental connection among Americans is their natural history, while also emphasizing a problem: they remain largely unaware of it.
Amar graduated summa cum laude from Yale University in 1980 and later earned his law degree from Yale Law School in 1984. After clerking for Judge Stephen Breyer, who later became a Supreme Court justice, he joined the Yale faculty in 1985. At Villanova, he addressed the themes of his book, highlighting the struggles and legal developments that have shaped modern interpretations of equality in the United States.
Amar emphasized the importance of understanding the history of the Constitution.
“You need to know that story, because otherwise, you can’t lead America,” Amar said. “You are the leaders and future lawyers of America, and you need to know the story, and my claim is you don’t.”
Amar also explained how diverse America is in terms of race, national origin, religion, politics and geography.
“And yet we have to govern ourselves,” Amar said.
Despite our differences, America’s diversity finds unity in the Constitution, which provides a common framework for governing the nation, establishing laws and protecting individual freedoms.
During the lecture, Amar examined the historical context behind the 13th, 14th, 15th and 19th Amendments, emphasizing how these Reconstruction-era changes helped redefine the meaning of equality under the law. He argued that the Constitution Americans recognize today is the product not only of the original document but also of later movements and written pieces that expanded democratic participation and civil rights.
Amar continued to address how the period between 1840 and 1920 saw major constitutional developments, including the abolition of slavery, the expansion of birthright citizenship and the eventual ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. He mentions the names of important reformers or abolitionists at the time. Abe Lincoln, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Amar referenced the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship.
“Everyone born in America is born an American citizen, even if you’re born of foreign travelers,” Amar said.
During a question and answer session following the lecture, attendees asked Amar about his take on Section 1 of the 14th Amendment, and what he believed to be intended by the words, “subject of the jurisdiction thereof.” Amar explained that the “subject of the jurisdiction” means “under the flag.”
Amar claimed that if one is born on American soil or under its flag, they are a citizen. In a “just” society, no one is born master nor slave, and no one has the right to remove someone else’s life, liberty or pursuit of happiness. That is and should be America’s aim and what “we are compelled to follow,” as Amar said.
Freshman Avery Pollackov gave her opinion on the lecture.
“I enjoyed how he brought both a historical lens as well as a current-day lens, as being born equal is now up for question with the Supreme Court,” Pollackov said. “So I thought overall it was really interesting and really important to hear about, especially at this time.”
The lecture was part of Villanova’s ongoing efforts to bring prominent thinkers and authors to campus to foster dialogue about law, politics and public life.
Amar’s book, “Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840–1920”, explores how Americans in the 19th and early 20th centuries reshaped the Constitution through activism, legislation and amendment, ultimately laying the foundation for many of the civil rights protections recognized today.
“We become ‘WE’ through constitutional conversation [and] by talking to each other,” Amar said.
The lecture left the audience wondering whether that conversation should start now.
