Constitution
Preamble to the United States Constitution
Text from National Archives. Explanation last updated September 29, 2026. How we check this
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In plain English
The Preamble is the one-sentence introduction to the Constitution. It says who is establishing the Constitution (“We the People of the United States”) and why: 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.
It states purposes rather than creating powers or rights. Courts do not treat it as a source of legal authority, but it is often quoted to explain what the framers intended the government to accomplish.
The text
As printed by the source cited at the end of this page, with its original spelling, capitalization and punctuation.
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.
Explained section by section
“We the People of the United States”
The opening words attribute the Constitution’s authority to the people, not to the state governments. In the Articles of Confederation the states were the parties; here the people “ordain and establish” the new government. Anti-Federalists such as Cato treated this shift as evidence that the Constitution created one consolidated nation rather than a league of states.
“A more perfect Union”
The phrase looks back to the Articles of Confederation, which had created a “perpetual Union” but a weak central government. The framers wrote “more perfect,” not “perfect,” to indicate improvement rather than completion.
The six purposes
Establishing Justice, insuring domestic Tranquility (a response to episodes such as Shays’ Rebellion in 1786 and 1787), providing for the common defence, promoting the general Welfare, and securing the Blessings of Liberty are goals. The detailed powers to pursue them appear in the seven Articles that follow, mostly Article I, Section 8.
“Ordain and establish this Constitution”
The closing words are performative: the Constitution takes effect when the people, through the process in Article VII, ordain it. The word “ordain” means to enact with authority.
Context and current status
The Preamble was drafted late in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 by the Committee of Style, working mostly from Gouverneur Morris’s pen. An earlier draft began “We the People of the States of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts…” and listed each state; the final text dropped the list because it was unknown which states would ratify.
Current textual status: unchanged since 1787. It is not a grant of power: the Supreme Court said in Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905) that the Preamble has never been regarded as the source of any substantive power conferred on the government.
Terms to know
- Preamble
- An introductory statement of purpose that comes before the operative text of a document.
- Union
- The political bond among the states; the word the framers used for the national community.
- Posterity
- Future generations.
- General Welfare
- The public good of the nation as a whole; the term also appears in Article I, Section 8 in the context of taxing and spending.
Common misconceptions
“The Preamble gives the government the power to do anything that promotes the general welfare.”
The Preamble states goals only. The government’s powers come from the specific grants in the Articles and amendments.
How it connects
Links to related provisions and documents, with the reason each one matters here.
- Articles of ConfederationArticles of Confederation (1777)The “more perfect Union” language responds to the weaknesses of the Articles, which the Constitution replaced.
- Declaration of IndependenceDeclaration of Independence (1776)The Declaration announces that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed; the Preamble puts that idea into constitutional form with “We the People.”
- Article VIIArticle VII of the United States ConstitutionArticle VII explains how “ordain and establish” actually happened: by ratification in nine states.
Study check
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Sources and corrections
- Text: National Archives. Checked against the source on September 29, 2026.National Archives transcription of the engrossed Constitution, with original spelling and capitalization. The signature block and the Convention's interlineation note are not reproduced.
- The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription — National Archives
- The Interactive Constitution: The Preamble — National Constitution Center
Educational material, not legal advice. Spotted a mistake? Tell us; corrections change this page’s update date.