Which founding document of the United States begins with the words “We the People”?

The founding document of the United States that begins with the words “We the People” is the United States Constitution.

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

The Constitution was drafted at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 and signed on September 17 of that year. It replaced the Articles of Confederation, the first governing framework of the United States, which had created a weaker national government.

A common mix-up is confusing the Preamble with the entire Constitution. The Preamble is its opening statement, while the Constitution’s seven articles establish the federal government’s structure and powers. The first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, were added later.