Question

"We the people of the states of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, and Georgia, do ordain, declare and establish the following constitution for the government of ourselves and our posterity.

Report of the Committee of Detail in the Federal Convention, August 1787, page one
"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."
Report of the Committee of Style in the Federal Convention, September 1787, page one.

1) What arguments would the framers offer for keeping the list of individual states? For replacing the list of states with "the United States"?

2) Consider and compare what each draft explicitly names as the purpose for Constitution. Why might the later draft list "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" when the early draft says merely "do ordain, declare and establish the following constitution for the government of ourselves and our posterity."

3) Can you come up with an example of how one of the goals stated in the final version of the Preamble is carried out by our government today?

Answer 1

The arguments for keeping the list of individual states in the Preamble would be that it emphasizes the federal nature of the government and the fact that the states have ceded some of their sovereignty to the national government. The arguments for replacing the list of states with "the United States" would be that it emphasizes the unity of the country and the fact that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.

The later draft of the Preamble is more specific about the goals of the Constitution, and it also includes the phrase "to ourselves and our posterity." This suggests that the framers were thinking about future generations when they drafted the Constitution.

One example of how the goals of the Constitution are carried out by the government today is in the area of national defense. The Constitution provides for the common defense, and the government carries out this goal by maintaining a standing army and navy, and by providing for the defense of the country through diplomacy and treaties