Preamble Cheat Sheet

Form a More Perfect Union: by this the founders of he Constitutional Convention

meant a Union of the states was better than the league of friendship under the Articles
of Confederation. All states should work together as a unified nation.

To Establish Justice: Injustice had been the main cause of the Revolution and the
citizens had suffered from injustices under the Articles of Confederation. Our
Constitution tells how laws are to be passed and courts are to be run so that every citizen
will be protected from injustices. Everyone should be treated equally and fairly under the
law.

To Ensure Domestic Tranquility: Under the Articles of Confederation, the United

States had little power to keep the country orderly and peaceful. Some citizens rebelled
against their state governments after the Revolution and the national government had no
power to help the states. It was also powerless to help settle disputes between states. The
Constitution solved these problems. Our national government has the power to enforce
the laws of our country and to protect the lives and property of the people. It is also able
to settle disagreements between states fairly. The government has the responsibility to
ensure peace and order at home.

To Provide for the Common Defense: In addition to keeping things peaceful at

home, our government must also be strong enough to keep foreign nations from
conquering our country. We have the strength to protect ourselves against foreign attack
because the founding fathers who wrote our Constitution included several clauses which
allow our government to take care of our changing needs for an army and navy.

To Promote the General Welfare: The general welfare means the good fortune,
health, happiness and prosperity of every citizen. The government, according to the
Constitution, is expected to do things that will benefit everyone. It may not, however,
help any person or group of person at the expense of all the rest of the people. Many
government workers are employed to promote the general welfare. They work to prevent
floods, forest fires, spread of disease, and accidents; they help to conserve soil, forests,
wildlife, minerals, and national parks, and they give help to farmers, merchants and
people in industry.

Secure the Blessings of Liberty: The founding fathers who wrote our Constitution
wanted to preserve the liberty they had won, so that their posterity, future generations of
Americans, would also have liberty. Our Constitution preserves two kinds of liberty,
liberty of the individual and liberty of our country. Our Constitution protects Americans
from being unjustly ruled by other Americans and protects our country from being
controlled by a foreign country.