Our United States Constitution

Recently I've been thinking about our United States Constitution. Back in grade school we were required to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution and be able to recite it. This morning I tried to recite it to myself and was not able to remember the whole thing. It has been way too long that I have even thought about it.

Preamble to the United States Constitution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"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,^{[note 1]} 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."

I wonder how many of our elected officials who swear to defend the United States Constitution can recite the Preamble or much more, to know the soul of our Constitution? I think it wise for all of us Americans to go back from time to time and review it so that we don't forget.

United States Constitution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States.^[1] The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles entrench the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure subsequently used by the thirteen States to ratify it. It is regarded as the oldest written and codified constitution in force of the world.^[2]

Since the Constitution came into force in 1789, it has been amended 27 times^[3] to meet the changing needs of a nation now profoundly different from the eighteenth-century world in which its creators lived.^[4] In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of government.^[5][6] The majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures. Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. All four pages^[7] of the original U.S. Constitution are written on parchment.^[8]

According to the United States Senate: "The Constitution's first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. For over two centuries the Constitution has remained in force because its framers wisely separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality, and of the federal and state governments."^{[4] "}