INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSTITUTION

        For over two hundred and ten years the Constitution with its Bill of Rights has served the people of the United States of America both as a plan of government and a safeguard of their rights and liberties. After all these years, there is no indication that this Constitution of ours will ever wear out. Written for a small, weak nation of less than four million people, it has kept pace with the tremendous growth and progress of the United States . Today the Constitution serves a large and mighty nation of three hundred million people.

        Americans owe a great debt of gratitude to the patriotic men of the Constitutional Convention. They wrote a much stronger Constitution than any of them realized, for it has stood the test of time and progress. They did their work wisely and well for the benefit of all Americans coming after them.

        You as an American should know and understand your Constitution, and, if you are to be a good citizen, you must understand and believe in the ideas upon which our government is founded. By understanding the Constitution and by believing in the ideas on which it is based, you can help to keep our country strong in the years ahead.

THE PREAMBLE

The men who wrote the Constitution knew so well what its purposes were that they could express them in just one sentence. The introduction, or Preamble, to the Constitution, explains the purpose of our government.

In many countries governments are not run by all of the people, but by several persons or groups of people for their own selfish interests. In the Preamble to our Constitution, the words “We, the people of the United States ” inform the world that our government belongs to the people, is run by the people and exists for the good of the people.

“.... in order to FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION ...” By this the men of the Constitutional Convention meant a union of the states better than the “league of friendship” under The Articles of Confederation.

“.... in order to... ESTABLISH JUSTICE ...” Injustice had been the main cause of the people had suffered from injustices under the Articles of Confederation. Our how laws are to be passed and courts are to be run so that every citizen will be protected from injustices.        

“.... in order to... INSURE DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY ...” Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States government had little power to keep the country orderly and peaceful.  Some people rebelled against their state governments after the Revolution and the national government had no power to help the states. It was also powerless to help settle disputes between states.  The Constitution solved these problems. Our national government has the power to enforce the laws of our country and to protect the lives and property of the people. It is also able to settle disputes between states fairly. Our Constitution has well protected our “domestic tranquility,” or peace within our own nation.        

        “.... in order to... PROVIDE FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE ...” In addition to keeping things peaceful at home, our government must also be strong enough to keep foreign nations from conquering our country. We have the strength to protect ourselves against foreign attack because wise men who wrote our Constitution included several clauses which allow our government to take care of our changing needs for an army and navy.

“.... in order to... PROMOTE THE GENERAL WELFARE ...” The general welfare means good fortune, health, happiness, and prosperity of every citizen. The government, according to the Constitution, is expected to do things that will benefit everyone.  It may not, however, help person or group of persons at the expense of all the rest of the people.  Many government workers are employed to promote the general welfare. They work to prevent floods, forest fires, spread of disease, and accidents; they help to conserve our soil, forests, wildlife, minerals, and national parks, and they give help to farmers, merchants, and people in industry.

“.... in order to... SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY ...” The men who wrote our Constitution wanted to preserve the liberty they won, so that their posterity—future generations of Americans—would also have liberty. Our Constitution preserves two kinds of liberty for all of us—liberty of the individual and liberty of the country. Our Constitution protects Americans from being unjustly ruled by other Americans and protects our country from being controlled by a foreign country.

“We, the people of the United States ,... DO ORDAIN AND ESTABLISH THIS CONSTIIUTION FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA .” Because we want these things for our nation and because we believe that this Constitution will provide them, we agree to this Constitution as a plan for the government of the United States .