What did the preamble to the Constitution establish?

Answer 1

The Preamble to the Federal Constitution is the only part of the Constitution that can't be changed by an amendment. Simply because it represents the duty and obligation of government. The American Revolution happened because as the Declaration of Independence clearly states: "He [the King] [had] refused to ascend to laws most wholesome and necessary for the public good." The public good is the meaning of republic, while republican virtue is desiring to do good for the public good. The Latin is res publica; the public good or the public affairs. This qualifies a certain kind of virtue but that's another story. The founding fathers had a "classical education." This remained unchanged for over 500 years. For example the entrance exam to Princeton University in the eighteenth-century was being able to read, write, and translate Latin and Greek. Translate passages from the New Testament, the Roman poet Virgil, and more. All schools in the colonies prepared students for this entrance exam. So in this education was a history of republics. People trying to remedy political evils by founding republics. Sparta, Athens, Rome, Carthage, Venice, England, and now America. By the time of the Constitution America had changed its government three times. First a royal government, then a Confederation, then the Constitution. Inherent in all of these was the duty and obligation of Government. The founding fathers knew well, that even before the Magna Carta in 1215, the King swore a duty and obligation to the people (subjects) and the Common Weal, (the republic: the public good). The Magna Carta was very important to the colonists of Massachusetts Bay. In fact in the statehouse in Boston there is a stained glass with a picture of a colonist with a sword in one hand and the Magna Cart in the other. If you follow the link you can link to the book The Never Realized Republic: Political Economy and Republican Virtue. Then you can search inside the book for more references to the above. Meanwhile, the Preamble to the Federal Constitution established a duty and obligation of government. We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, (not a perfect one but a more perfect one. The Constitution was strengthening the Articles of the Confederation), establish justice, (political, social, and economical), secure domestic tranquility, (referring not only Shay's rebellion in Massachusetts or slave revolts, but acknowledging the importance of tranquility for liberty's sake), provide for the common defense, (protect citizens and others from harm), promote the general welfare, (what is good for everyone), secure the blessings of Liberty, (that's a big statement and only time will tell what blessings have come from what kind of liberty Americans enjoy or do not). Note our posterity: succeeding or future generations collectively: Judgment of this age must be left to posterity. In addition notice the words that are capitalized. Those are the "action words" the words they intentionally wanted to emphasize; United States, Order, Union, Justice, Tranquility, Welfare, Blessings of Liberty, Posterity, etc. 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.