After many months of heated debate and several rewrites, our founding fathers finally produced a document concrete enough to provide for a strong central government without adversely impacting the freedom of the people. At the same time, this document was flexible enough to allow for change as times and needs changed.
As we go through the text of our Constitution, we will see how this was done.
The US Constitution begins with the Preamble. This serves as an introduction and states the purpose for the articles to follow while also conferring power to them. The preamble 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 defense, 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.”
As we go through this series you will see the thought and care that went into choosing every word. I hope you’re ready. It will take a while to get through the whole document, but once you do you will be glad you did. You will have a greater appreciation for your freedom, a fuller understanding of how our government works, and a firm grasp on the issues that we face today as well as what you can do about them.
The first three articles created the three branches of government and delineated powers granted and forbidden to each. This was to create a system called checks and balance. With the system, no single branch can act independently of the others. Each branch is accountable to the others in some way (which we’ll examine as we go) and all three are accountable to “We the People”.
Next: The Legislative Branch
