“We the People” begins the Preamble to the Constitution, a founding text highlighted during America250.
The Preamble introduces the Constitution’s purposes: forming a more perfect Union, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing liberty for present and future generations.
Its opening places authority in the people rather than in a monarch or a single state government. The phrase therefore became one of the most recognizable expressions of popular sovereignty in United States political language.
The Preamble is an introduction, not a detailed grant of governmental power by itself. The Constitution’s operative articles and amendments establish the federal government’s institutions, powers, limits, and rights. “We hold these truths” begins the Declaration of Independence instead, making it a frequent mix-up.