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Whose Constitution Do We Actually Live In?
Explore how unwritten symbolic texts like the Gettysburg Address and the Northwest Ordinance shape constitutional law.
Lecture guide · Written by AI from the lecture. For the lecture’s own words, open the Transcript tab.
Examines how unwritten symbolic texts help resolve ambiguities in the written American Constitution, focusing on six historical documents. Akhil Reed Amar discusses the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the Northwest Ordinance, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Brown v. Board of Education, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech. He concludes that the modern American constitutional order is defined fundamentally by Lincoln and Reconstruction rather than by the original framers Madison and Jefferson.
This lecture assumes
Key Takeaways
- Unwritten symbolic texts help fill gaps and resolve ambiguities in the written Constitution.
- The Declaration of Independence's principle of no taxation without representation supports judicial doctrines like McCulloch v. Maryland and the dormant commerce clause.
- The Northwest Ordinance served as a blueprint for westward expansion and anti-colonial governance.
- Lincoln's Gettysburg Address reinterpreted the nation's founding equality, which was later codified in the Fourteenth Amendment's principle of birth equality.
Concepts Explained7
Symbolic Constitution—Six particular texts that serve as central elements of America's unwritten or symbolic constitution alongside the written text.
Dormant Commerce Clause—The judicial doctrine that the Commerce Clause implicitly restricts states from passing legislation that discriminates against or unduly burdens interstate commerce, even in the absence of federal legislation.
Northwest Ordinance—A 1787 resolution passed under the Articles of Confederation that served as a blueprint for governing western territories and admitting new states on equal terms.
Gettysburg Address—Abraham Lincoln's speech framing the Civil War as a struggle for a new birth of freedom and equality.
Examples, Proofs & Derivations
Works & Sources Cited11
Case
McCulloch v. Maryland—Supreme Court case cited regarding state taxation of national banks.
Primary Document
Article 1, Section 8—Constitutional provision containing the Commerce Clause and common defense clauses.
Primary Document
Federalist Number 10—Federalist paper cited in the context of constitutional interpretation.
Primary Document
Northwest Ordinance—1787 resolution passed under the Articles of Confederation governing territories and new states.
Primary Document
13th Amendment—Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery.
Part of course·Lecture 12 of 19
LAW-CONST2: America's Unwritten Constitution
About the lecturer
Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University
Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University and one of the most cited scholars of the U.S. Constitution.
2 courses · 35 lectures in archiveView profile
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