Preamble to the Constitution - Term Paper Example

The term “We the people” (Morris) was a revolutionary move for the time-frame; it went against all former precedents of naming each state that ratified a document, it cut out the possibility of developing ruling factions from within. (Cullop) Patrick Henry asserted that the wording meant an intention to “create a consolidated national government-not a system as planned by James Madison which was neither nationalist nor federalist-but a combination of both.”3 If the term “we are a collection”, had been used, it would have taken longer for the people of America to have a defined sense of identity-one that brought them together as a new nation.

Collections of people are always in the process of self-definition, whereas immediately aligning American citizens as one people, the writers of the preamble gave Americans a sense of identity. . (Hamilton) In writing the Preamble, the authors tried to address the major concerns of the nationalists. One of those concerns was justice: “In the 18th century, - law enforcement depended on active community support and participation, popular resistance was informal and extralegal—consisting of everything from polite petitions for repeal to outright obstruction of the law in the form of jury nullification and violent mob action.

The creation of a national republic led to efforts to domesticate these sorts of activities.”5 By including “establish justice” in the Preamble as one of the main reasons for writing the Constitution, they were declaring that all men would receive fair treatment under the law if accused of a crime, and ensure all men had equality within the law. The Constitution did not always establish justice; after all, with each of the amendments to the Constitution established laws have been struck down, amended or adopted in favor of citizens’ rights.

The symbol of the Supreme Court is-“Equal Justice Under Law”6, yet, for many years now the Supreme Court has seemed to ‘make constitutional law’ instead of using it as a guideline. As far back as 1976, this was seen to be a major issue in this country, when this question was asked by Professor Lusky; “the question whether the United States Supreme Court is still the law's servant or has become its master.”7 The final topic relates to “provide for the general welfare”, which appears twice in the Constitution; once in the Preamble and again in Article 1, Section 8.

It was placed in the Preamble as a result of ongoing concern for economic stability. The framers of the constitution therefore authorized Congress to be able to