Which document contains the phrase “We the People” at its beginning?

The United States Constitution begins with the phrase “We the People.”

Those words open the Constitution’s Preamble, which introduces the purposes of the document and identifies the people as the source of governmental authority. The Preamble lists goals including forming a more perfect union, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing liberty.

The Constitution was drafted at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 and signed on September 17 of that year. It replaced the Articles of Confederation as the framework for the federal government after the ratification process reached the required threshold.

The phrase is sometimes mistakenly associated with the Declaration of Independence because both documents are central to America’s founding story. The Declaration announces separation from Great Britain, while the Constitution establishes the structure and powers of the United States government. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were added in 1791.