2c - Preamble of the Constitution

The Constitution has 3 parts to it. The Preamble is the first part. What is its purpose?

• To give the reasons the Constitution was written

• To lay out how the US gov't will be organized

• To explain how changes (amendments) to the Constitution occur

• To give reasons why we broke away from Great Britain

The Preamble isn't very long. It talks about several reasons the Constitution was written. One is to protect us from outside enemies. This is written as...

• "to secure the blessings of liberty"

• "to promote the general welfare"

• "to establish justice"

• "to provide for the common defense"

This reason is about making sure citizens are healthy and well-taken care of. This is written as....

• "to establish justice"

• "to secure the blessings of liberty"

• "to ensure domestic tranquility"

• "to promote the general welfare"

What does "to ensure domestic tranquility mean"?

• The gov't should make sure we have peace inside of our nation

• The gov't should make sure everyone is equal in the eyes of the law

• The gov't should try to make the country a better one than the one before

• The govt should make sure can enjoy the good things freedom gives us

When the Preamble says "to form a more perfect union", they mean...

• have a stronger military than before

• to makes sure everyone is healthy and well-cared for

• to make sure the police protect us

• to have a better nation than the one that existed under the Articles of Confederation.

If you were not treated equally by the court system, which part of the Preamble could you say was violated?

• "to provide for the common defense"

• "to ensure domestic tranquility"

• "to establish justice"

• "to promote the general welfare"

The Preamble goes on to say "to secure the blessings of liberty for us and our Posterity". What does "posterity" mean?

• ancestors

• the generations yet to come

• government

• friends back in Great Britain

The Preamble begins with the three words....

• "This the nation..."

• "We the People..."

• "Here we are..."

• "Hey let's talk..."

By starting the Preamble with the words "We the People", the Framers were saying the power of govt comes from the people. This is most closely linked to which of the 5 ideas of US Govt?

• Democracy

• Rule of Law

• Limited Govt

• Representative Govt

What are the correct synonyms for the following words found in the Preamble: tranquility - domestic - union - welfare.

• peace - group - comfort - home

• foreign - home - group - unrest

• peace - home - group - comfort

• comfort - home - group - peace