Preamble to the United States Constitution
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The Preamble to the United States Constitution consists of a single sentence (a preamble) which introduces the document and its purpose. The preamble neither grants any governmental powers nor inhibits any of its actions, but serves to explain the reason behind the U.S. Constitution, and has been used by courts in construing or providing background for other constitutional provisions.
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[edit] Meaning and application
The preamble of the U.S. Constitution does not assign any powers to the federal government,[1]or provide specific limitations on government action. However, the Supreme Court has cited the preamble in consideration of the history, intent and meaning of various parts of the rest of the Constitution. As Joseph Story said in his Commentaries, "Its true office is to expound the nature and extent and application of the powers actually conferred by the Constitution, and not substantively to create them."[2]
[edit] "People of the United States"
The phrase "People of the United States" has been construed synonymously with "citizens",[3] but has also been construed as "all under the sovereign jurisdiction and authority of the United States."[4] The phrase has been construed as bearing witness to the fact that the Constitution emanated from the people and was not the act of sovereign and independent States,[5] and that it was made for, and is binding only in, the United States of America.[6] Thus, this language implies that the power and authority of the federal government of the United States does not come from the various states, or even from the peoples of the various states, but rather from the greater entity identified as the people of the United States of America. The Constitution thus serves as a compact between the people of the United States, the several States, and a newly created entity: the federal government of the United States.
The Preamble clarifies that the powers of the federal government are not derivative solely from the States. This would become an issue of contention during the Nullification Crisis which tested the ability of a state to nullify a federal law based upon the premise that the federal government drew its power from the several states and thus a sovereign state was free to ignore a federal law inconsistent with its law. A similar issue arose during the Civil War, which tested the ability of a state, through its people, to secede from the Union, and thus withdraw from the compact.
[edit] "to form a more perfect Union"
The phrase "to form a more perfect Union" has been construed as referring to the shift to the Constitution from the Articles of Confederation, and the union was made "more perfect" by the creation of a national government with enough power to act directly upon citizens, rather than a government with narrowly limited power that could act on citizens (e.g., by imposing taxes) only indirectly through the states.[7]
[edit] "The Preamble"
The ABC educational television series, Schoolhouse Rock! had a segment on the Constitution, and put the preamble to song. As a result, many Americans became more familiar with the lyrics of this musical version which took poetic license with its beginning, "We the People, in Order to form a more perfect Union."
[edit] Notes
- ^ See Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11, 22 (1905), in which the Court rejected Jacobsen's claim that he had a personal right to the "blessings of liberty", stating that "[a]lthough that preamble indicates the general purposes for which the people ordained and established the Constitution, it has never been regarded as the source of any substantive power conferred on the government of the United States, or on any of its departments."
- ^ Story, Joseph. Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (Boston: 1833), 462.
- ^ See Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857) (stating that the Preamble protected only U.S. citizens, and did not give Dred Scott, a citizen of Missouri but not a U.S. citizen, the right to sue in federal court). But see id. at 581–82 (Curtis, J., dissenting) (arguing that the Preamble applies to the people of the states, and dictates that people born in any state are automatically U.S. citizens). Scott was superseded by the 13th Amendment and 14th Amendment.
- ^ Jacobson, 197 U.S. at 22.
- ^ McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316, 403 (1819); Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 14 U.S. (1 Wheat.) 304, 324 (1816); Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 419, 471 (1793),
- ^ Downes v. Bidwell, 182 U.S. 244, 251 (1901); In re Ross, 140 U.S. 453, 464 (1891).
- ^ See Texas v. White, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 700 (1869), overruled on other grounds by Morgan v. United States, 113 U.S. 476 (1885); Lane County v. Oregon, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 71 (1869).
[edit] External links
- Constitution of the United States at Wikisource
- National Archives
he:המבוא לחוקת ארצות הברית nl:Preambule van de Grondwet van de Verenigde Staten
