Constituting America Holds ‘We the Future’ Essay Contest to Promote the Constitution

“This year’s contest asked college students to write an essay exploring the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.”

Posted by Mike LaChance Monday, July 6, 2026 at 11:00am 0 Comments

Higher education in America needs more of this.

Campus Reform reports:

Constituting America hosts ‘We The Future’ essay contest to promote constitutional fluency

Constituting America recently held its “We The Future” essay contest, promoting constitutional literacy among students of all ages.

Established in 2010, the competition “encourages America’s youth to create original works (songs, essays, speeches, short films, PSAs, STEM projects, marketing plans) about the relevance of the U.S. Constitution.”

According to the group’s webpage, Constituting America “is committed to reversing the trend of civic apathy and ignorance permeating our society today” and aims “to teach students and adults across America about the nonpartisan relevancy of the U.S. Constitution and the principles of self-governance inherent in our founding documents.”

This year’s contest asked college students to write an essay exploring the relationship between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. One entry will be named “Best Essay,” an award that includes a $5,000 scholarship.

Students could also submit original songs, short films, social media videos, public service announcements, and STEM-related projects on a variety of prompts related to principles articulated in America’s founding documents.

All categories for college students have grand prizes of $2,000 scholarship prizes except the public service announcement section, whose winner will receive $5,000.

Students committed to attending Hillsdale College will also be considered for a “one time $5,000 scholarship award from the Hillsdale/Constituting America Scholarship Fund.”

The contest was also open to individuals of other education levels, including students in elementary school, middle school, high school, law school, and graduate school.

High school students were able to use the same prompt as the college students or write about “the different powers vested in our three branches of government and why the concept of checks and balances, as guaranteed by our Constitution, is vital to the preservation of our government.”