With all of the political discussion during the recent Presidential campaigns I’ve been thinking more about The Constitution of the United States. Not to argue about which party/politician/person is doing things right or wrong, but simply to go back and read the original text. I figured by breaking it up in to smaller posts that focused just on one part it would be easier to digest.
For a source I’m using the National Archives Constitution of the United States site. They have complete transcripts and high-resolution images of the original documents.
What better place to start than at the beginning, so with out further adieu, the Preamble to the 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 defence, 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.
This seems like a pretty straight forward statement of purpose for the articles and sections that were to follow. The list of goals also would imply that each article and section is there to meet one (or more) of these purposes. Perhaps it is worth while to note which of these purposes are being served as we go through the rest of the Constitution.
The Preamble doesn’t spell out any specific laws, which makes me wonder if it has ever been cited in any legal decisions.