The preamble to the U.S. Constitution begins with the phrase "We the People of the United States." This establishes that the Constitution derives its authority from the people, not from the government. It is a foundational principle that reflects the idea of popular sovereignty and sets up the structure of government established in the rest of the Constitution.
The full text of the preamble is:
"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."
The preamble sets forth the broad purposes and principles that guided the framers in writing the specific clauses of the Constitution. While the preamble itself does not establish any government powers or institutions, it sets the context and philosophy that underlies the subsequent articles and amendments.
So in summary, the phrase "We the People" in the preamble establishes that the authority of the U.S. Constitution comes from the consent of the American people, not from the government. This reflects the principle of popular sovereignty that influenced the founding of the United States.
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