Illustration by Liz Zonarich/Harvard Staff Nation & World Democracy? Some founders were skeptical. Historians detail how, why Constitution became (and remains) work in progress Liz Mineo Harvard Staff Writer September 21, 2026 5 min read Part of a series of occasional features marking the nation’s semiquincentennial. Creating a democracy was not really at the forefront of the founders’ minds when the American colonies first declared independence from Britain in 1776. The independence movement began as a struggle between the colonies and the crown to gain more rights within the empire, not to break away from it, said Alex Keyssar, Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy...