“For the past several years, I’ve pursued a life-changing education with Hillsdale through their excellent and challenging free online courses. ... I do hope you’ll join me in taking this course.”
Charlie Kirk
Radio Host and Author
The United States Constitution was designed to secure the natural rights proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. Signed by Constitutional Convention delegates on September 17, 1787--Constitution Day--it was ratified by the American people and remains the most enduring and successful constitution in history.
In this twelve-lecture course, students will examine the political theory of the American Founding and subsequent challenges to that theory throughout American history. Topics covered in this course include: the natural rights theory of the Founding, the meaning of the Declaration and the Constitution, the crisis of the Civil War, the Progressive rejection of the Founding, and the new conception of justice adopted by modern liberalism.
Join more than one million Americans who have taken “Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution” by enrolling in this free online course today!
To enroll in “Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution,” please enter your email address above.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Hillsdale College, an independent institution of higher learning located in Hillsdale, Michigan, was founded in 1844 by men and women “grateful to God for the inestimable blessings” resulting from “civil and religious liberty” and “believing that the diffusion of learning is essential to the perpetuity of these blessings.”
Hillsdale has more than 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students. Its educational outreach efforts include Imprimis, Hillsdale’s digest of liberty, with a circulation of more than 6.3 million, and more than 30 free online courses, which millions of people have taken.
To maintain its independence and its ability to remain true to its educational mission, Hillsdale refuses to accept ONE PENNY of state or federal funding—not even indirectly in the form of federal or state student grants and loans. Hillsdale’s independence also means that the College’s work depends entirely on the support of citizens like you who understand the importance of education to liberty.
Hillsdale College produces free online courses as part of its mission—written in 1844—to provide “sound learning” of the kind needed to preserve “the inestimable blessings of civil and religious liberty.”
For over a decade, Hillsdale College has offered high-quality free online courses to anyone who wishes to learn. To date, more than three million people have enrolled in one or more of Hillsdale’s free online courses. That’s because these courses help provide instruction missing in far too many schools today.
While these courses are free to you, that’s not the case for the College. Hillsdale invests significant resources to film, edit, and promote these courses to millions of people. That’s why the support of friends like you is critical to the success of the courses.
No. However, if you complete the final quiz for a course, you can download a personalized certificate of completion. This certificate does not count for college credit.
Many of the College’s free online courses are available on DVD. You can order a DVD here for a tax-deductible gift of $100 or more in support of Hillsdale’s educational outreach initiatives.
Courses are not available on compact disk. However, once you’ve created an account, you can download a .mp3 audio file of each lecture on the course page.
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