In this lecture from Yale's DeVane course America at 250: A History, Professor Joanne Freeman explores the range of viewpoints that shaped the structure and drafting process of the United States Constitution. Recorded in Yale's Battell Chapel as part of this one-time-only course tracing United States history from the 1770s forward, the session examines the debates and compromises among the framers over how to structure federal power. It builds directly on the prior class's discussion of state versus central authority, following that tension into the constitutional convention itself.