HIGHLIGHTS: THE PREAMBLE OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
INTERPRETING THE PREAMBLE OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION.
The Preamble of the U.S. Constitution
The Preamble of the U.S. Constitution
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
What is the Purpose of a Preamble?
A preamble does not specify any power of government.
Rather, it provides information as to why a Constitution is being written and its goals.
The U.S. Constitution was being written in order to take the goals of the government and create a workable structure reflecting those goals.
Dissecting the Preamble:
“We the People”
The people are granting powers to the government.
The creators of the U.S. government were, by definition, an elite group who understood that they were creating a nation where the majority were not elites, but common people. This majority’s approval was necessary for ratification; one way to gain their approval was to confirm that the people were forming the government, and it was not being handed down by a god or a king.
Dissecting the Preamble:
1st goal and purpose
“In Order to Form a More Perfect Union”
Improve on the Articles of Confederation which was the government in place at the time.
The Articles of Confederation had worked well to a point, and was the best that they could come up with when the Articles were created.
The Framers understood that the Constitution would not be “perfect”, but “more perfect”.
Dissecting the Preamble:
2nd goal and purpose
“Establish Justice”
Ensure that the government would be just (follow the rule of law; law is supreme).
The people wanted a level playing field where courts were established with uniformity.
Fair and equal treatment was also a goal.
Dissecting the Preamble:
3rd goal and purpose
“Insure Domestic Tranquility”
Protect citizens from internal conflict.
Internal conflict creates instability; avoiding instability, such as Shays’s Rebellion (1786-1787) was needed in order for a new nation to take hold.
One of the key “balance of powers” questions raised when there is a national government and state government is how much power should each have, and what are the goals of that distribution of power?
Dissecting the Preamble:
4th goal and purpose
“Provide for the Common Defense”
Protect citizens from external attacks.
No one state was really capable of fending off an attack from land or sea on its own.
The states needed each other to survive attack, especially from Britain or Spain, or by Native Americans.
This notion is reflected in Article IV of the U.S. Constitution as:
Dissecting the Preamble:
5th goal and purpose
“Promote the General Welfare”
The government focuses on the “public interest”.
Allow every state and citizen to benefit from what the government could provide.
The point of having tranquility, justice, and defense was to promote the general welfare.
Reinforces “we the people” concept.
Dissecting the Preamble:
6th goal and purpose
“Secure the Blessings of Liberty for Ourselves and our Posterity”
Posterity = future genterations
The “public interest” is intended to work to the people’s benefit and not to their detriment for now and forever.
The U.S. and the states would resemble something of a paradise for liberty.
Dissecting the Preamble:
“Do Ordain and Establish this Constitution for the United States of America”
It finishes the “we the people” approach, gives the document a name, names the nation/state, and summarizes the preamble.
Higher power involved here—the people themselves are the higher power.
Replaces the Articles of Confederation (“establish”) and creates one national government.
Summary Meaning of the Preamble
It is from the people that the government derives its powers, and not the other way around.
In practice, the most effective way for the people to grant their power to the government is through voting—selecting that government through either direct or indirect means.