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Tsk: You'd think Harvard Law School would know which written constitution is the oldest in the world

By adamg on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 1:53pm

Especially since Harvard Law School is in Massachusetts, but apparently not.

An alert reader notes HLS is advertising a talk by the author of new book on the US Constitution - its very own Lawrence Lessig - with a page that begins:

The fundamental fact about our Constitution is that it is old - the oldest written constitution in the world. The fundamental challenge for interpreters of the Constitution is how to read that old document over time.

Only, it isn't the oldest written constitution in the world. That honor belongs to the Massachusetts constitution, which Massachusetts voters approved on June 15, 1780 - after John Adams wrote most of it - and which replaced the previous colonial charter on Oct. 25, 1780.

In fact, the Massachusetts constitution served as a model for the federal constitution, which didn't go into effect until almost nine years later.

Any Harvard associates who go to Lessig's talk on Sept. 25 (a light lunch will be provided) want to ask him about that?

H/t Bob.

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Comments

By Matt on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 2:00pm.

When does Hahhh vahhd miss an opportunity to boast?

By Magna Carta on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 2:02pm.

*cough*

By adamg on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 2:30pm.

The whole point of modern British democracy is that it has an unwritten constitution, so while the carta may indeed be magna, it's not really part of a written constitution.

By KevinS on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 5:14pm.

agrees with your estimation.

(I know, semantics, "governing document" and not constitution)

By eekanotloggedin on Sat, 09/14/2019 - 1:30pm.

say that Corsica's, Saudi Arabia's, and Connecticut's are older.

By perruptor on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 2:19pm.

Not that one, either, because there's an older one.

Among the Haudenosaunee (the "Six Nations," comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora peoples) the Great Law of Peace is the oral constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy. The law was written on wampum belts, conceived by Dekanawidah, known as the Great Peacemaker, and his spokesman Hiawatha. The original five member nations ratified this constitution near modern-day Victor, New York, with the sixth nation (the Tuscarora) being added in 1722.

By anon on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 2:57pm.

Maybe a little-known fact, but Suffolk is a way better law school. (Also happens to be closer to the State House.)

By SamWack on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 3:44pm.

I think, on careful consideration, that that is an opinion, not a fact. While "little-known fact" is an ever-popular phrase, "little-known opinion" doesn't have quite the same ring.

By StillFromDorchester on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 4:14pm.

They tell you.

By Nowy Liberté on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 6:06pm.

"You can always tell a Harvard Man -- you just can't tell him much"

Probably now applies equally well to however many genders that the WGU recognizes

By The "H" bomb on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 7:12pm.

Got to drop me into every conversation.

By schneidz on Fri, 09/13/2019 - 7:38am.

the spy who dumped me joked on that alot.

By CraigInDaVille on Fri, 09/13/2019 - 9:08am.

"I went to college near Boston."

#humblebrag

By Patrick McCabe on Fri, 09/13/2019 - 9:51am.

Massachusetts has the oldest constitution still in use. There are older constitutions, but they have been replaced by newer ones.

By perruptor on Sun, 09/15/2019 - 7:34am.

The Iroquois Constitution, which still governs the Iroquois
today, is regarded as the world’s oldest living constitution.

Please stop ignoring the real and significant history of Native Americans.

By tape on Sat, 09/14/2019 - 8:44pm.

It's going to be why he thinks it's ok for MIT to have taken Jeffrey Epstein's money.

By perruptor on Sun, 09/15/2019 - 11:53am.

You can read what he does think, if you want. Includes the following:

We are friends (Joi and I), and he knew I would be upset by his working with a pedophile. He knew that because he knew that I had been extensively abused as a kid, and that I am ferocious in my anger at people and institutions that protect abusers.