Youth Voices and Perspectives on the American Revolution

Representation isn’t just a principle. It determines who gets heard, who gets help, and who gets left behind. As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, we are reminded that the Declaration of Independence placed representative government at the center of the new American nation. WHYY, McNeil Center for Early American Studies at Penn and the National Constitution Center have come together to explore early American life in the context of ongoing debates about representation and its significance in civic life. An expert panel has been assembled to discuss representation not only as a system of elections and institutions, but as a lived experience shaped by ethnicity, gender, class and access to power. Drawing on history and present-day experience, this conversation will center youth perspectives on the American dream and its ideals. Held at the National Constitution Center, this gathering situates questions of representation in a space dedicated to the ideals and contradictions of American democracy. This event is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial.