The famous opening line of the Constitution’s preamble, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union…” was written by Gouverneur Morris, a Founding Father who is widely regarded as the Penman of the Constitution.
When the Continental Army first defeated the British Army under George Washington, there were different, competing ideas about how best to run the newly-formed country. Many patriots, concerned by the excesses of past monarchies, preferred the model of a confederation of independent states, banding together for their own mutual aid and protection, but with limited or no central government at all.
Initially, this new government was bounded by the Articles of Confederation, a kind of precursor to our present-day Constitution, which outlined how the government was to be run. In time, however, the practical necessities of running a government proved the Articles to be lacking. Under the Articles of Confederation, there was no executive or judicial branch to enforce laws or to resolve disputes between states. The federal government had no power of taxation with which to fund itself, and no ability to regulate commerce, with different states using their own, unique currencies, and imposing tariffs on one another.
And so, on May 14th, 1787, delegates from each of the original 13 colonies, except Rhode Island, were sent to the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, to the very same room where the Continental Congress had declared independence from Great Britain 11 years earlier, and a Constitutional Convention was held to determine the best method of governing the new nation. Originally intended only to amend the Articles, the Convention ultimately decided to start a new Constitution from scratch, and on September 19th, 1787 our country’s current Constitution was announced. It contained the full preamble written by Gouverneur Morris, which reads as follows:
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 United States Constitution has thus far endured more than two and a quarter centuries and counting, and has served as a model to other nations as to how to form a government run for, and by, the people. The powerful words of Gouverneur Morris’ opening preamble serve as an introduction to the Constitution, opening with its founding principals of dedication to liberty, to preserving a free and independent nation, and to the spirit of a government run by the people.
