Preamble

We, the People of the United States... The first question to ask is, who are the People of the United States. Simply, this reference is to the common man. While the few that were responsible were among the best and brightest America had to offer at the time, they knew that the surrogated power of Government could only be kept under control if all the peoples of the United States were considered and active in watching over the government therein. Throughout history, the fewer people in any area that were active in government, the more totalitarian the government became.

in order to form a more perfect Union... The second phrase. This was a direct response to the Articles of Confederation, which was the first directing power of the United States. After only ten short years, there were flaws that were becoming apparent. The Constitutional Convention was formed to create a document that would help to form a MORE PERFECT (note that it is not stating perfect) Union.

establish justice... injustice was paramount of the concerns of the late 1780s. The Founders wanted all people to have fair and equal treatment under the law. Not special, not extra, but fair and equal. What does this mean to today? How many "special interest" groups are there today? Almost every minority group feels they should have additional favors or treatment from the government. Was that what our forebears wanted? I dare say no. They left no argument in the document to this point. Title IX, Affirmative Action, AARP, GLAAD,Americans With Disabilities Act, all these allow or seek for, special protections. Should their rights be protected, yes. Do they, or anybody else, deserve additional rights or entitlements? The answer should be obvious to all those who are honest, and not buying into the socialist presentations that are happening today.

insure domestic tranquility... One of the issues that started people looking into reforming the government at that time was Shay's Rebellion. I won't begin to give this historical lesson. Google it if you don't know about that rebellion. So how could the federal government help to insure this "tranquility"? Throughout my following posts, we will delve into the individual statements of the Constitution. I believe that as we go through them, and learn of the limited powers of the federal government, we will begin to see how that would be possible.

promote the general welfare... This phrase starts to explain the culmination of the goals of the Constitutional Convention. What does it mean to "promote the general welfare"? Remember that these people fought for freedom from an oppressive government that was not interested in general welfare, but in power and control. The general welfare, when left to itself, will improve more than get worse. What would cause them to focus on this? Quite simply, limiting the scope of the federal government to interfere in the day to day lives of the people it is set forth to protect and defend.

and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity... How do you secure the blessings of liberty? What are these blessings? The blessings of liberty are hard to list. True liberty allows for so many blessings. But what were they speaking of? To start helping us to understand, we need to first know what liberty is. According to the free dictionary, the following is a definition of liberty:
1.
a. The condition of being free from restriction or control.
b. The right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own
choosing.
c. The condition of being physically and legally free from confinement, servitude, or forced
labor
2. Freedom from unjust or undue governmental control.
3. A right or immunity to engage in certain actions without control or interference

Based upon these definitions, the blessings of liberty would be autonomy of the individual to choose their own life. Not having somebody or anybody else controlling them. Having the opportunity to, as they said in "Knight's Tale," chane their stars. Another important part of this phrase is "for ourselves and our posterity." Remember, they weren't writing a "living" document. They were writing a document that would guide the future as well. A "living" document is open for translation and change. This document was written to be the government, difficult to change.

do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America... This phrase closed out the Preamble. Notice that it named the document, and reaffirmed the name of the Country. The United States. A group of individual states, coming together (uniting) to serve the common good. It was ordained, as in from a higher power. What was this higher power? Debate has raged, but the important part is that it was not of just one man or one small group of men, but by this higher power. The ratification process of this document will show what a large group was required to help "ordain" this. Establishing this document replaced the document before it. This is important, because it shows that even the Founding Fathers recognized their fallibility. Perhaps this is why they made it difficult, not impossible, to change the document.

In the 222 years since this document has passed, we have forgotten a lot of what the original writers were facing. We have also started to trust the government. Make no mistake about it, the people living at that time did NOT trust the government. They went to war to fight against an "all powerful" government that was not interested in the individual, but in gaining and guaranteeing their own continued power. Sould familiar?

Over the next few weeks, I will be trying to walk through the Constitution and setting forth my own understanding of said document. Please feel free to read these posts and leave comments of your own understanding. I am willing to discuss this with anybody, at any time.