The Preamble

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, 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.

The Preamble declares the purposes of the Constitution: to establish a new form of government that would ensure cooperation amongst the States, secure justice and peace for its people, defend against any foreign enemies, promote the general well-being of its inhabitants, and secure freedom for its people, now and forever. The phrase "We the People" proclaimed that the new form of government would be based on a combination of representative government and popular sovereignty.