A wonderful, engaging and accessible journey through the written words of the American Constitution. If taken by itself, it empowers the student who diligently grapples with it, a clear and concise understanding of not only the American Constitution, but also of the great animating principles that made such a remarkable document historically and materially possible. If taken with its companion course, it makes constitutional scholars of us all, a desirable virtue in an age where the nature and direction of the American project is argued with passion from all ends of the political and legal spectrum.

I've learned a lot. I thank Prof. Akhil Reed Amar for good thought provoking Videos, discussions and his book "America's Constitution" which I purchased and continue to read. The essays I found hard it had been many years. However I learned some word and did the best I could, now I have added a new objective to learn word and essay writing. Thank you for opening my eyes to the founders and this great document called "The Constitution".

Professor Amar is an incredible lecturer. He has such a wealth and depth of knowledge. His lectures are emotional and pring you into the mind set of the Dafter and those involved during landmark events that charted the creation and development of our Constitution. It was an EXCELLENT course which I thoroughly enjoyed!

I found this course to be informative, concise, and very understandable. Professor Amar is an excellent communicator and his obvious enthusiasm for the U.S. Constitution is evident in his lectures. I will be moving on now to the Unwritten Constitution and look forward to learning more about this national treasure.

Very interesting course. I learnt a lot. Also about the American history. Very nice that this course is given by Professor Amar. He speaks with a lot of passion for this subject.

This class is by far the best online class I have ever taken, and I recommend everyone to take it so they can become engaged with and understand the American Constitution.

I really enjoyed the professor's enthusiasm and learned a lot about the context in which the Constitution was written as well as the overarching themes.

The Professor Amar is the highlight of the course. He has great ease in making the student understand complex topics.

Pretty good course. A little disorganized, but overall very informative.

Interesting topic, but the course is not organized well. Sometime the professor gives us a good lecture with lots of interesting details, sometimes he's just rambling.

I attempted to take this course because I really wanted to learn more about the US Constitution and how it applies to my daily life. I made it to week three before I could no longer keep listening to Professor Amar drone on and turn a 10 minute lecture into a 25 minute lecture with filler words, tangents and lack of structure. Professor Amar is very knowledgeable about the Constitution and I don't doubt his credentials or accomplishments. However, with out an outline, slides, notes, structure... something... anything... this class is just a talking head that is painfully hard to pay attention to. If you're an auditory learner and prefer the old school, pretentious, Ivy League lecture hall format this is the class for you.

Awesome!! Even for a History major like myself it was incredibly thought provoking and extremely well taught. I only wish every American received this level of instruction on The Constitution.

I highly recommend this course, specially for people keen on law and history. The lecturer makes the lessons very easy to follow, and the content is interesting and very relevant nowadays.

I was very disaappointed by this course, in fact a bit more so than by the "Unwritten" course that has run concurrently with this one. I was **very** put off by the professor's simply opening his book and trying to remember what he'd said there and then, in front of his audience, reduce it down to a videoed talk. He needed to put some effort and thought into understanding his topic from the point of view of an audience that is inevitably very, very different from the one he had in mind (if any, in particular) as he was writing the book. If he didn't have time for proper preparation, he should have found another medium for flogging his publications.

By and large, everyone who is from the US (I'm not) and who teaches about the US constitution emphasizes its uniqueness. Indeed, they have a point: it was the first (and, admirably, the shortest) modern written constitution. However, uniqueness isn't unique among nations; all nations are somehow unique. Undertanding a nation (including thir constitution) has to involve looking at both hum-drum normality as well as uniqueness. I felt that the course would have been more substantial if it had been built on the obvious fact that the US revolutionaries were "Englishmen fighting for an Englishman's rights." And, indeed, what they created had both the worst and the best traits that England's historical jurisprudence offered. Social stare decisis has been a major stumbling-block not only for common-law countries but as well for countries that follow other sorts of jurisprudence.

The course was embarrassingly bad.

Professor is difficult to follow, often repeating himself and adds fluff that can often be a waste of time

I found the professor to be not only a poor and awkward speaker, who fumbled and rambled through the videos, but also overly romantic, jingoistic, and apologetic about the history surrounding the formulation of the United States. While the Constitution is obviously an important stepping stone along the way to the broader (yet imperfect) expression of democracy we enjoy today, that is no reason to glamorize it, its writers, or the circumstances of its ratification as above criticism; nor does it excuse the racism and sexism inherit in its ratification because of the "context" in which it was written.

This type of glorification and casual dismissal of foundational flaws in our founding document due to "context" only serves to propagate and justify further racism, sexism, and inequality, and is not up to the standards that I look for in a course about constitutional law. A token acknowledgment of these bedrock inequalities does not dismiss the continuing impacts that they are having on our country today; they are the fundamental cause of the inequalities that we see today.

I got maybe four videos in before I flipped off the screen. Despite his uncomfortable delivery, I don't question the professor's broader knowledge about the subject (I was actually willing to sit through the awk for several videos to glean the info.) I also don't want to infer that I watched the whole course before making a full assessment, but his editorializing on the subject this early on was too much for me to disregard, and was a strong indicator that I had to say no to the rest of the course.

The instructor just rambles on and on... there is no structure to the lectures.

Thank you for educating me on America's Written Constitution! I am from Canada, and an avid history buff, so am following the 2016 election with baited breath. The second amendment is constantly mentioned by the players in the election, so I thought I should learn all about the amendments and how they were written, and in what context. After taking this course my friend from New York said I should take the american Civic test to see if I could pass. I took the test and after 2 tries I passed with 90%. It made me realize how there are most likely a large majority of American citizens who do not know the constitution at all, and the history in which it was created from. I agree with the professor in that this document changed the world. And as I watch the world news of the day, I am thankful that it was written and that I live in a part of the world that has democracy, flawed as it is, it at least gives some voice to the people. I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to learn and understand American history.

The course was excellent in developing the ideas that shaped US history. The idea that the constitution is an inter generational project and that yes, there were problems, and people. particularly blacks and women were treated unfairly, but that over time these problems were fixed. Note: Nothing was said about native Americans.

On the negative side: Instructor was very long winded, every lecture started with a too detailed review, often going back to the Revolution. The worst example of long-winded discussion of the 22nd amendment where the instructed listed all the presidents who did not opt for a third term. All of us know that FDR was the first to choose a third term. He also said that there was not much to say about the prohibition amendment, then spent half a lecture on it.

it was difficult to navigate through the course. It said I had completed the course when I did not

Professor Amar, is one of the best college professors I have ever been instructed by. His teaching style is in-depth, but easy to comprehend. Personally, I will enroll in Any law class that he teaches. He's Sincerely AWESOME! For anyone with an interest in Constitutional Law, Professor Amar is the instructor you're looking for. I have been humbled and honored to be enrolled in two of his courses. In addition, make sure, that you enroll in America's Unwritten Constitution, as well. America's Written Constitution and America's Unwritten Constitution, should be studied consecutively. By the way, Professor Amar's books for both courses, are a must have. They are definitely worth the minimal costs to purchase. Thank you Yale University, for making this Higher Education experience possible, for those who are unable to attend college on campus!

This course deserves a 7/5 stars rating!! Absolutely phenomenal lectures by Prof. Amar which are perfectly suited for anyone whether a law student or otherwise to learn about the US Constitution Law from the beginning up to all the amendments (and beyond!). I really love the attention that Prof. Amar has given to different reasons/rationales as to why certain laws were drafted the way they were, as well as political interests, the themes of ‘democracy, national security, slavery, women’. The bonus content is also outstanding and a must watch! While I wish that the lectures were endless, I’m going to continue the journey by completing this course’s sequel- “America’s Unwritten Constitution”. Amazing job and efforts, Prof. Amar.

I would like to congratulate Professor Amar by course ministrated , it opened my eyes to the logic of American's constitutional law and how historical and political events influenced directly in building of this country. I live in Brazil and sometimes fundamental premises settled in US law are discussed, not always understood by the depth and intensity that this course presented . It was gratifying to realize how important concepts to the world were signed by the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. And much congratulate the explanations and enthusiasm of Professor Amar to share his vast knowledge with clarity and sympathy. Thanks.

Priscila C. Fernandes.

Professor Amar offers a gentle, thorough, interesting journey through America's Written Constitution. I recommend using his book, America's Written Constitution: A Biography, as well as listening to his excellent lectures. The course is accessible to non-lawyers as well as lawyers. Professor Amar's Coursera course is quite different from constitutional law as taught in law schools. One would think that in law school, a course on constitutional law would include the text of the Constitution but, at least in my case, it didn't. Professor Amar's course is as much a course in American history and it is in law. I recommend it highly.

I feel truly honored to have taken this course taught by Akhil Reed Amar, a Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, at (and through) the incredibly prestigious Yale Law School. At risk of being 'wordy,' I did not say enough; it was a true educational experience and effort by many at Yale to bring this course to us, the online students. I thank all at Yale that made this happen and of course Professor Amar and Coursera... "I learned about the Constitution... which was my Goal ...much more than I thought I would!" I wish 'good things' for the MOOC program! - Evan McNeeley

Prof. Amar.approach of historical and chronological approach was an interesting study in contrast to others at unique to everything else out there. It was an excellent time to be reading with the resignation Speaker of the House, during the Pope's visit. The colonial soldiers marching in front of the white house welcoming the Pope, a reminder of the established values by the founding establishment A great time to be a descendant from the original Reformed Church of America and a stranger to people like the Pope.