The U.S. Constitution
Preamble
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.
History and Context
Before these fifty-five words were ever set to paper, there was chaos. The Articles of Confederation, the nation's first attempt at self-governance, were a catastrophic failure. The states, behaving like jealous and squabbling principalities, had brought the young country to the brink of collapse. The government was broke, powerless, and unable to defend its own borders. It was in this crucible of crisis that the framers met in Philadelphia, not merely to tweak a failing system, but to forge an entirely new one. The Preamble was not a mere introduction; it was a thunderous declaration of purpose, a mission statement for a new kind of nation, penned with astonishing clarity and foresight by the 'Penman of the Constitution,' Gouverneur Morris.