Born Equal Author to Meet with Study Forum

By John A. O'Brien

Denver, Colorado

Friday, May 29, 2026

Yale professor of law and political science Ahkil Reed Amar will join the regular meeting of the Lincoln Study Forum on June 13 as they complete discussion of his timely and engaging book, Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840-1920. The session is open to all Lincoln Group members. Dr. Amar is a gifted educator and legal scholar who appears frequently on television news shows to provide analysis for U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Born Equal recounts the dramatic events and constitutional debates that unfolded across eight decades and which reimagined the meaning of the Declaration of Independence proposition that "all men are created equal." It relates the stories of several remarkable nineteenth-century women and men, Black and white, who elaborated a new vision of what this ideal demanded. Their debates played out through such events as the Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York; the Buffalo Free Soil Convention of 1848; the Lincoln – Douglas Debates; many Civil War battlefields; post-war Reconstruction; and the crusading efforts of the National Women's Suffrage Association.

Amar offered a cogent description of his book, saying that “it blends law, history, and political science in order to offer a grand narrative of America’s Constitution.” The author intends for Born Equal to inform “high school students and Supreme Court justices and everyone in between.” He notes that the book is so long (700 pages) only because his editors would not allow a longer one. This is the type of comment that typifies Amar’s use of humor and personal insights to make Born Equal both provocative and easily readable.

This discussion will come at the end of the Study Forum’s usual two-hour Saturday meeting. Lincoln Group members are welcome to join us on Zoom from 11 a.m. to noon eastern time on June 13, 2026. Dr. Amar will introduce his work in about 20 minutes, then entertain our questions. The Study Forum will soon select a new book, and Lincoln Group members are welcome to join. See the directions at the Study Forum tab on this website. Not a member yet? Select the Join Now tab on the website homepage and participate in all our events!

Zoom link:  https://bit.ly/3Q4GKo7