Question

The Preamble to the US Constitution lays out the purposes of the Constitution. Which two purposes/goals are most important? How does the Constitution fulfill each purpose? Use specific examples in your response.
What are the three most important characteristics that are necessary for a government to meet the needs of the people? Explain why these traits are essential to success. Give specific examples to support your arguments.

Answer 1

The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States is a brief introductory statement of fundamental declarative and introductory principles of the US Constitution. It establishes general terms and objectives that the courts use as a faithful reference to the intentions of the so-called Founding Fathers regarding the meaning of the Constitution and what they expected it to achieve.

Technically, the preamble of the Constitution of the United States does not give powers to entities within the federal government, however, the Supreme Court has cited the preamble in consideration of the history, intent and meaning of several clauses that follows in the Constitution. As Joseph Story said in his Commentaries, "Your real trade is to expose the nature and extent and application of the [lost words] that are conferred by the Constitution, and not to create them."

The phrase "WE, THE PEOPLE" is of singular importance because it stipulates that the power and authority of the federal government of the United States of America does not come from the various states or the people of the various states, but from an entity that is identified as the People of the United States of America, with the Constitution serving as a compact or contract between the People of the United States of America, the various states, and the new entity: the federal government of the United States of America. The importance of this language lies in the idea that the government does not derive its power only from the various states. This became a major contention issue during the Annulment Crisis and during the Civil War.