Isabella Carter
The Preamble to the United States Constitution, which begins with the words We the People, is an introductory statement outlining the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. The phrase We the People affirms that the Constitution is of the people, for the people, and by the people of the United States. It emphasizes the direct interaction between the Constitution and the citizens of the nation, highlighting that the people are the source of power for the government. The Preamble, primarily written by Gouverneur Morris, a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, was added to the Constitution during its final days. It sets the stage for the nation's fundamental law and communicates the intentions and purpose of the framers.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To form a more perfect Union |
| Justice | To establish justice |
| Domestic Tranquility | To ensure domestic tranquility |
| Defence | To provide for the common defence |
| Welfare | To promote the general welfare |
| Liberty | To secure the blessings of liberty |
| Posterity | To secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity |
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What You'll Learn
Who is included in We the People?
The famous phrase "We the People" is found in the preamble to the United States Constitution and has become an enduring expression of democracy and self-governance. But who exactly is included in "We the People"?
From a historical perspective, the framers of the Constitution and the
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The democratic ideal
The Preamble sets out the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles, including the establishment of justice, domestic tranquility, common defence, and the promotion of general welfare. The phrase "We the People" signifies the unity and collective endeavour of the American people in creating a more perfect Union. It embodies the belief that the power of the nation resides in its citizens, who come together to form a democratic government that represents their interests and ensures their freedoms.
However, the interpretation of "We the People" has been contested, particularly regarding who is included and excluded from this collective identity. Women's suffrage activist Susan B. Anthony challenged the notion that only white male citizens were encompassed by this phrase. She argued that the Constitution was established to secure the blessings of liberty for all people, including women and those who had been marginalised or excluded from the political process.
The definition of "We the People" has evolved over time, reflecting the ongoing struggle for civil rights and the expansion of democratic ideals. The inclusion of all individuals, regardless of race, gender, or other characteristics, in the political process and the protection of their rights has been a central aspect of the democratic ideal in the United States. This ideal has been tested and strengthened through legal cases, such as the Dred Scott lawsuit, which highlighted the injustice and discrimination faced by African Americans, even as they strived to realise the promise of equality and liberty enshrined in the Constitution.
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Women's suffrage
The preamble to the US Constitution, which includes the phrase "We the People", lays out the document's guiding principles. It reads:
> "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."
The women's suffrage movement made the question of women's voting rights a significant political issue in the 19th century. The struggle was particularly intense in Great Britain and the United States, but they were not the first to grant women the right to vote. By the early 20th century, several countries had already granted women the right to vote in national elections, including New Zealand (1893), Australia (1902), Finland (1906), and Norway (1913).
In the United States, the women's suffrage movement began in the mid-19th century, with supporters lecturing, writing, marching, lobbying, and practising civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change in the Constitution. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), which sent a petition to Congress in 1871 requesting that suffrage rights be extended to women. The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), founded by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson, sent a similar petition to Congress in 1872, asking that women in Washington, D.C., and the territories be allowed to vote and hold office. Despite strong opposition, the movement gained momentum, and in 1917, a Congressional resolution was passed, proposing the extension of the right to vote to women, which became the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920.
In the United Kingdom, the first mass-suffrage petition was signed in 1866, and women over 30 gained the right to vote with the Representation of the People Act of 1918. However, it wasn't until 1928 that British women won suffrage on the same terms as men, for those aged 21 and older.
The United Nations played a significant role in promoting women's suffrage internationally, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, stating that "everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives". The United Nations General Assembly also adopted the Convention on the Political Rights of Women, which came into force in 1954, enshrining women's equal rights to vote, hold office, and access public services.
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African Americans' rights
The preamble to the US Constitution, which begins with the famous words "We the People", establishes the purpose of the document. It sets out 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".
The rights of African Americans have been a contentious issue throughout US history, with the Constitution's original text counting enslaved people as only three-fifths of a person in state populations. The 13th Amendment, ratified in December 1865, abolished slavery but did not address the status of newly freed African Americans or guarantee their rights.
The 14th Amendment, passed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to formerly enslaved Americans and contained key provisions on the definition of citizenship, the protection of civil rights, and the power of the federal government. It established birthright citizenship, stating that all persons born or naturalized in the US and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens. This amendment also included provisions relating to voting and representation in Congress, amending the three-fifths clause to state that population counts would be based on the "whole number of persons" in a state. However, it did not grant African Americans the right to vote, and they continued to face resistance, violence, and legal restrictions on their rights.
The 15th Amendment, passed in 1869 and ratified in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote. Despite this progress, many Southern states continued to restrict the voting rights of Black citizens through various means, including literacy tests and ""grandfather clauses". These discriminatory practices led to the formation of civil rights organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which worked to secure equal rights through legal action.
It wasn't until 1965 that a more direct approach was taken to address African American disenfranchisement. President Lyndon B. Johnson urged Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which provided federal enforcement to remove literacy tests and other barriers to voting, and authorized federal supervision of voter registration. This was followed by the Civil Rights Act of 1966, which fully banned the poll tax as a voting requirement.
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Federal supremacy
The Preamble to the US Constitution begins with the famous words "We the People of the United States". This phrase expresses the idea that the power of the government is derived from the people and that the Constitution is a social contract between the government and the governed.
Now, onto the topic of federal supremacy:
The Supremacy Clause, found in Article VI of the US Constitution, establishes the supremacy of federal law over state law. It asserts that the Constitution, federal laws, and treaties made under the authority of the United States are the "supreme Law of the Land". This means that federal statutes and treaties take precedence over any conflicting state laws or constitutions. The Supremacy Clause is a cornerstone of the US federal political structure, ensuring that federal authority prevails within the boundaries set by the Constitution.
The inclusion of the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution was not without controversy. While it was not a major point of contention during the Constitutional Convention, it sparked intense debate during the ratification process. Federalists like Alexander Hamilton argued that federal laws must be supreme, as their effectiveness depends on their position of supremacy. Anti-federalists, on the other hand, expressed concerns about the potential concentration of power in the federal government. Ultimately, advocates of federal supremacy prevailed, and the Constitution was ratified in 1788 with the inclusion of the Supremacy Clause.
The Supreme Court has played a significant role in interpreting and applying the Supremacy Clause. In its early cases, the Court relied on the Clause to establish a robust role for the federal government in managing the nation's affairs. It ruled that federal treaties and statutes superseded inconsistent state laws. For example, in the 1796 case Ware v. Hylton, the Supreme Court applied the Supremacy Clause for the first time. Additionally, in Missouri v. Holland (1920), the Court held that the Supremacy Clause allows the federal government to make treaties that supersede state law, even if they abrogate states' rights under the Tenth Amendment.
The Supremacy Clause also comes into play in situations of field preemption and conflict preemption. Field preemption occurs when federal law is so pervasive that it leaves no room for state supplementation, or when the federal interest is so dominant that it precludes state law on the same subject. Conflict preemption arises when compliance with both federal and state law is impossible, or when state law hinders federal objectives. While the Supremacy Clause affirms federal supremacy, it is important to note that federal statutes and treaties must still operate within the confines of the Constitution and respect constitutional limits on federal power, such as the Bill of Rights.
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Frequently asked questions
"We the People" is a phrase in the Preamble to the US Constitution, which was adopted in 1787. It has been the subject of debate throughout American history, with different interpretations of who is included in "We the People". Women’s suffrage activist Susan B. Anthony, for example, argued that the phrase referred to "the whole people" and not just "white male citizens".
"We the People" is mentioned in the Preamble of the US Constitution, which outlines the fundamental purposes and guiding principles of the Constitution.
The Preamble was mainly written by Gouverneur Morris, a Pennsylvania delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia.
