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Course Introduction: Reading America's Written Constitution
This introductory lecture outlines a textual, article-by-article approach to the Constitution, emphasizing its democratic, pro-slavery, and national security dimensions.
This introductory lecture outlines the course structure for exploring American constitutional law through both the written Constitution and its unwritten supplements. Akhil Reed Amar explains that the first half of the course will examine the 8,000-word text in textual order from the Preamble through the amendments, while the second half will explore unwritten constitutional principles, precedents, and rules of interpretation. Throughout both sections, the lectures track three major substantive themes: how democratic the document was, its pro-slavery dimensions, and its role in national security and geostrategy.
Referenced inYale Law School Open Course · LAW-CONST1 (2014)
Lecture Guide
- 1The American Constitution is about 8,000 words long and can be read in roughly half an hour.
- 2The first half of the course follows the written Constitution in textual order, from the Preamble through Articles I to VII and chronologically through the amendments.
- 3The second half of the course investigates the unwritten Constitution, which includes precedents, case law, structure, and techniques of interpretation that supplement the text.
- 4Amar tracks three core substantive themes across the course: democracy, slavery, and national security/geostrategy.
Proofs, Examples & Demos