What is ConText?

ConText is a groundbreaking online tool developed by the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier in partnership with the Brookings Institution. Working with an interdisciplinary group of historians, political theorists, lawyers, technological innovators, educators, and you, we are all together crowd-sourcing the most important documents in our nation's history. With this site, you can explore historical documents through browsing the text, reading scholar commentary, and adding your own observations. In the process, you will delve into the document's historical context and realize its relevance to the contemporary world. The first text we explore in ConText is Madison's notes of the federal convention of 1787.

The Notes of Debates in ConText addresses a real need in our constitutional scholarship. There is currently no systematic, accessible commentary on the Notes that explains the details and context of each decision made at the convention, while also describing the subsequent (and ongoing) debates over constitutional meaning that have stemmed from those decisions. With this site, we are providing the most up-to-date analysis of the Framers’ debates by some of the country’s leading academic voices.

Montpelier’s Center for the Constitution continues to innovate and explore new ways of illuminating James Madison’s contributions to America’s experiment in constitutional self-government. Leveraging new technology, ConText is a fully searchable, multimedia experience that makes accessible one of the most important, and one of the least recognized, documents in American history.

Latest Notes

One impetus for the call to write a Commonwealth Charter was the perceived need to address the laws against homosexuality that exist in a large majority of the member countries.  In some cases, these laws prohibiting homosexual acts are enforced with the harshest of punishments.  The wording of this paragraph, which concludes by announcing an implacable opposition to discrimination based on “other grounds” – avoiding the topic of gay rights altogether – demonstrates how difficult it was to reach a consensus of value among a group of countries as diverse as those in this alliance.

Lynn Uzzell

 


On March 11, 2013, it was reported in London’s Daily Mail that Britain’s Queen was expected to make a controversial statement in support of homosexual rights when she signed this Charter.  She was reportedly going to emphasize and make explicit that the “other grounds” that are included in the Charter’s commitment to nondiscrimination included sexual orientation.  
 
This story was widely repeated in other newspapers around the world.  Instead of this widely anticipated watershed moment in the Queen’s career, however, the monarch cancelled her public appearance at the Commonwealth celebration, reportedly due to illness, and Buckingham Palace issued a statement stressing that the Queen was signing the Charter only as a part of her official duties and that she was herself apolitical.

Lynn Uzzell

The Charter may recognize the “surge in popular demands for democracy” and the “inalienable right of individuals to participate in democratic processes,” but the Commonwealth itself is not an exclusive club for democracies.  Currently, of the 54 member nations, 33 are republics, 5 are national monarchies, and the remaining 16 are either headed by Governors General who represent the sovereign power of Britain’s Queen or (in the case of Great Britain itself) is headed by the Queen in person.  The role of the Governors General is primarily ceremonial, but the 5 monarchies in the Commonwealth range between constitutional monarchies and almost autocratic rule.  Brunei Darussalam’s Sultan, for instance, is a hereditary monarch and consolidates considerable power in the hands of one person.  Queen Elizabeth II presides as the Head of the Commonwealth, but for most countries she serves only as a figurehead.  

Lynn Uzzell

References to the Langkawi Declaration on the Environment and the Lake Victoria Commonwealth Climate Change Action Plan are examples of one of the most recent values adopted by the Commonwealth: Sustainability.  This goal has recently been brought to bear on the Commonwealth Games – a competition that brings together sports teams from the Commonwealth members and other territories every four years.  Pressure has been mounting to make the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, at least as committed to the goal of sustainability as the London Olympics of 2012.

Lynn Uzzell

The Charter’s emphasis on political, social, and economic development merged well with the theme of the 2013 Commonwealth Day: “Opportunity through Enterprise – Unlocking potential with innovation and excellence.”  

Lynn Uzzell