The story of America’s history—its pivotal moments, its triumphs, and its disgraces—can’t be told without the Constitution. The Constitution’s amendments are documentary evidence of the arc of American history, and arguments about the Constitution have figured prominently in most of the nation’s great debates. This is true of slavery, the Civil War, and the civil rights movement, but it is also true of other issues, including western expansion, war, contested elections, and even prohibition. Because decisions of national consequence must fit within the terms of our supreme law, the history of America is necessarily intertwined with the history of the Constitution.