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How Should the Constitution Be Interpreted? | Who Decides Its Meaning?

The Great Courses

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While the US Constitution left many important issues unresolved, it was clearly designed to serve several primary purposes (regardless of disagreements over how it serves those purposes). Travel back to the 18th century and investigate the origins of the founding document of the American experiment—a story of crisis, rebellion, and compromise.

This video is Lecture 1 from the series "Law School for Everyone: Constitutional Law".

Stream the full series now at: https://www.thegreatcourses.com/youtube.

00:00 Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution
04:19 The Constitution's Origins
10:38 Internal Chaos and Shay's Rebellion
13:30 The Constitutional Convention of 1787
17:30 Primary Purposes of the Constitution
23:35 The Constitution and Individual Rights
27:43 Interpreting Constitutional Rights

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20 Comments

@NN-sj9fg 4 years ago

A wise man once remarked: "Don't tell me what it means, tell me what it says."

@teresasevans1926 4 years ago

Before I graduated from 8th grade, I was 14 and it was 1968.. I had to memorize the Preamble..
I still know it by heart and still say it to grand kids, my kids an myself. I think it was the best thing to have children at that age memorize such a document, to be able to go on to High school.

@Mike-qo4kp 4 years ago

I really wish this had been available when I was in school.

@KGTiberius 4 years ago

A great recap would be a chart of where the checks and balances were weakly/strongly enacted by year, over the past 250 years… and why. Executive, legislative, judicial. Also point out voter turnout per election (the people as the 4th check). Identify constitutional changes/amendments. Lastly a heat map of originality vs modernist view of the Constitution. Also indicate relative strength of each branch (per year) via laws passed, impact/efficacy/intent.. some version of an Eisenhower matrix. Speak to this matrix/chart as the basis of the lecture.

@SaulTrue-man 2 years ago

Easy question, which Thomas Jefferson answered long ago: “On every question of construction let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or intended against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.”

@grayj7441 3 years ago

That the general freedoms and individual equalities should be protected and promoted.

@1m2rich 4 years ago

The Constitution is to say what the government should be to prevent tyranny. Even the Bill of Rights doesn't limit private life.

@shellimendoza6875 4 years ago

In my high school in Ames Iowa we were taught some of this. But I have a hearing impairment so I didn't pay much attention this is good Channel

@malcolmneate5852 4 years ago

These are such great lectures.

@djscratchnsniff 3 years ago

thanks for the lesson.

@JJ_7756 4 years ago

I hope that Citizens United is one of the decisions that are discussed. This decision based on flawed theories used as an excuse for the court to favor the wealthy corporations and shadow money is when we went from "We The People of the United States of America" to: We the Corporations of the unlimited donation amounts

@sr2291 2 years ago

The Lovings case was also decided using the Fourteenth Anendmentm

@chrisstanford3652 4 years ago

Wow! Yes, this is a must topic for all Americans 🤗🤗

@charmelllee9034 4 years ago

And the beat goes on. The game is to put supreme court judges on the bench that will rule in favor of certain issues.....
So in reality that's where rights and wrongs are confirmed.
And the beat goes on...

@scark00 3 years ago

Any power not covered in the constitution is given to the states or the people. John Roberts was 100% correct. That is also why the founders made the document amenable but also not easily done on a whim. We the people are the ultimate power, not the Federal government.

@gyterdoneJP7315 2 years ago

Where the Constitution is silent it falls to the States. That was clear in conversations of the Constitutional Cmte to adopt & submit for rattification

@identifiesas65.wheresmyche95 4 years ago

Shouting fire shouldnt be illegal in and of itself, only if it's intended to cause a panic should that be the case, and then not because of the word but because of attempting to cause a panic. I believe thats consistent with the absolute writing.

@toolsforliberty7686 2 years ago (edited)

This vid leaves out significant context. For example. The 3/5ths clause. Why did we end up with that? The founders wanted to abolish slavery completely, but knew they needed the southern states to be on board with the constitution b/c they knew Great Britain was not done with them. They knew they needed the strength of the South, but refused to allow the south to claim all slaves towards apportionment. The Northern states refused. It was a horrible compromise, but not b/c they believed black slaves were less of a human being. It was to keep the south from dominating the North with an overwhelming number of representatives in Congress. The 3/5ths clause can Hardly be attributed to the founders viewing blacks as less than human. Even then, it took the death of 300,000 Northern Soldiers and 400,000 Southern soldiers to end slavery. Slavery was ended by the loss of tremendous American treasure. Both the blood of black American's and white American's.

@ianfitzpatrick2230 4 years ago

I really wish this channel was available when I was in high school. These ideas being so dynamic and fluid, the opinions influenced by policy, religion, or none of these things really helps me today understand how truly incredible the constitution is. I have never believed it was originally written perfect at all but wow has my understanding of the founding fathers stories helped me see where people wanted this document to go and do. I hope as a people we can use these avenues of free knowledge to bypass all the legal and historical jargon to help wrap our heads around that great story which is our founding.