2010 Federalist. No. 11, The Constitution of the United States of America

2010 Federalist. No. 11, The Constitution of the United States of America


The preamble to the Constitution states: “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.” That is all. There is no more.

There is no law here. It merely points out what is being done and by this that it will be the authority on what can be done in the future to establish laws and effect all things within the Union. In other words, the Constitution is the final word on how “We the People of the United States” will rule ourselves and the affairs of our country. This is important because “We the People” are making these decisions, not George the King, Pope Pius VI, or Alexander the Great. Not the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Supreme Court nor the President, but We the People. The Constitution was written by us and for us, not any one person, not any office, not any political party and not any interest group.

To inforce this idea, the preamble actually points out that in addition to setting up the normal things that a government would do, “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare”, we also secured “the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” This says that liberty for us and our children is as important as any other part of this document. It is to be secured and protected from all who would take it away from us, foreign or domestic.

Some have hailed this as the greatest document ever written. It has been hailed as a marvel of clairty and brevity. Hand written, it was only 4 pages long. All the amendments make up about another 4 pages. As great at it is, maybe even owing to its greatness, the Constitution has been under attack almost since it was written. Attacks on the Constitution are attacks on us, the people it represents and protects. Many times we have been lulled into thinking that laws, orders and amendments are only opportunities to better refine how the Constitution works or should work. But it is tantamount on us to understand what it says and what it does not say. The following several essays will point out some attacks that need to be repelled.

Citizen 2010