Which document begins with “We the People” and remains central to America250’s civic history?

The U.S. Constitution begins with the words “We the People.”

Its Preamble introduces the Constitution’s purposes, including forming a more perfect Union, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing liberty for future generations.

The Constitution was drafted at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 and signed on September 17 of that year. It replaced the Articles of Confederation, which had created a looser national arrangement after independence.

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are both central to American founding history, but they serve different purposes. The Declaration announced separation from Great Britain and explained its justification; the Constitution established the framework of the federal government. The Bill of Rights consists of the Constitution’s first ten amendments.