What Does the Preamble Mean?

1. What Does the Preamble Mean? What are the goals of the Constitution and why are they important?

2. Schoolhouse Rock: The Preamble

3. How is the Preamble structured? Is there a way that this can be divided into parts? 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.

4. Work Individually on your Handout • How is the Preamble structured differently on the handout? Why is it separated into lines on the handout, instead of being written as one long sentence? • What words are unfamiliar to you? Write them in the center column of the handout. What do you think they mean? (Have student groups work to generate definitions based on the context of the document.) • According to the first few words of the document, who established the Constitution? • Why are the words, “We the people” so much larger than the other words on the original document? Why is this? Who are “the people”? • What are the six reasons why the Constitution was written?

5. Work in Pairs • The authors say that they want to form a “more perfect Union.” What does that suggest about past governments they had? • What does the phrase “establish justice” mean? What does it mean to establish something? What is justice? Why is justice (all people treated equally under the law) so important? • How might the Constitution “establish justice”? • What do the words “insuring domestic tranquility” mean? (Teacher note- the teacher may have to ask students to define each word separately in order to evaluate the meaning of the phrase.) How might the Constitution insure domestic tranquility? • What does the phrase “provide for a common defense” mean? What does “provide for” mean? Why did the authors use the phrase “provide for a common defense” and not just “provide for a defense”? Why is the word “common” important? • Why would a nation need to provide for a common defense? How would a Constitution help with that?

6. Work in Pairs • The Constitution promises to “promote the general welfare.” What does the word “promote” mean in this context? (Teacher note- the word has multiple meanings and students need to be able to use the word in context.) What does the word “welfare” mean in this context? (Teacher note- many students only think of the word welfare in terms of public assistance, so you may have to spend some time on the use of the word in context.) • How might the Constitution promote the general welfare? • Why do the authors use the word “blessings”? What can you infer from the use of this word? (Teacher note- religious imagery) • Who are the “blessings of liberty” for? What does the word “posterity” mean? Why is it important that these words are included in the Constitution? • How might the Constitution “secure” liberty for its people? • What does it mean to “ordain” the Constitution? Why did the authors choose to use this word?

7. Close What are the goals of the Constitution and why are they important?