By Douglas V. Gibbs
During the Constitutional Convention, when the delegates began meeting on May 25, 1787 in a room at Philadelphia’s State House (which, today, we call Independence Hall), sentries were posted at the closed doors and windows because they were sure the people would not understand the debates, and be fearful of the constant changes of the document and to keep their “secrets from flying out.” The members of the convention swore a vow to not reveal to anyone the words being spoken and the actions being taken. The convention was rigorous, and while some delegates departed, with a few of them returning later, the majority of the delegates met nearly every day for four months, taking once only an eleven-day break.
The first draft of the Constitution was completed and printed in August of 1787. The document was printed with wide margins so that the delegates could make notes in the margins. Then, the Framers went back to work and did not produce the final official printed version until a month later.
The Preamble on the first draft changed significantly by the time it reappeared on the final draft. As with the other sections of the Constitution, the committee wrote the section as they felt was proper, and then it was presented to the floor for debate, and suggestions for alteration should there be any. The “Committee of Style,” headed by Gouverneur Morris, presented the final draft of the Preamble in September of 1787. The introduction to the Constitution, which it was agreed would not be legally binding as would be the rest of the Constitution, began with awkward phrasing and stilted language. This was nothing new, for the whole document had originally been twenty-three articles, and through diligent work had been condensed into seven articles.
The early draft of the Preamble, for example, began with “We the People of the States of,” and then named each and every State. The phrase was changed to “We the People of the United States.” The final draft was intended to have a more unified vision, and was intended to be presented with emotional force.
The purpose of the Preamble was to introduce the Constitution, communicating its reasons for being written, and the goals that needed to be met by the new system.
While traditionally the Preamble is broken up into a beginning or introduction, six purpose clauses, and a conclusion, we can break it down further today. The aim, as some may instruct, was to outline the fundamental goals and guiding principles of the U.S. Constitution, setting the stage for the articles that follow. However, the six clauses between the introduction and the conclusion, while they are all purposes that the Framers sought, can be further broken down with the first four serving as a purpose (or reason) for the establishment of a federal government, and the final two serving as results if the new government operates as originally intended.
The Preamble is the introduction to the Constitution that lays out the general goals of the Framers. It is not legally binding, and emphasizes that the Union is ruled by the people, not a king or a dictator, or even the President of the United States.
In 1905 the United States Supreme Court agreed in their ruling of Jacobson v. Massachusetts, stating in their judicial opinion that the Preamble is not a source of federal power or individuals’ rights. Rather, federal powers are set out in the articles and amendments that follow, and our rights are enumerated in the language of the Constitution following the Preamble.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
