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Goals and
Principles of the
Constitution
Preamble,
Articles and
Amendments,
Seven Basic
Principles
The Preamble
• The Constitution is divided into 3
main parts: the Preamble (opening
statement), Articles, and
Amendments.
• The Preamble defines 6 goals.
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 of the United
States of America.”
The Goals of the Preamble
 To Form a More Perfect Union
 Wanted states to be more unified
 To Establish Justice
 Applied fairly to every American regardless of race, religion,
and gender
 To Insure Domestic Tranquility
 Peace and order at home (US)
 To Provide for a Common Defense
 Gives the government power to protect citizens
 To Promote the General Welfare
 Promote the well-being of all its citizens (health, happiness)
 To Secure the Blessings of Liberty
 Freedom and rights for its people
How can we meet the goals
today?
 To Form a More
Perfect Union
 To Provide for a
Common Defense
 To Establish Justice
 To Promote the
General Welfare
 To Insure Domestic
Tranquility
 To Secure the
Blessings of Liberty
Articles
• The main body of the Constitution is
divided into 7 sections called Articles,
which establish the framework for our
government.
– Articles I-III - describe the 3 branches of
government : legislative, executive, and judicial.
– Article IV deals with relations between the
states.
– Article V provides a process to amend the
Constitution.
– Article VI states the Constitution is the Supreme
law of the land.
– Article VII sets up a procedure to ratify the
Constitution.
Amendments
• In over 200 years, only 27 formal changes
have been made to the Constitution.
• The first 10 are known as the Bill of Rights
(added in 1791).
• Article V outlines the amendment process.
– An amendment may be proposed by two thirds
of both the House and the Senate.
– Ratification – may be approved by the
legislatures of 3/4ths of the states.
Seven Basic Principles
• Popular Sovereignty
– states that the people have the right to alter or
abolish their government
• Limited Government
– Because the colonists wanted to avoid tyranny,
they said the government has only the powers
that the Constitution gives it
• Separation of Powers
– The government was split into three branches
• Legislative – makes the laws
• Executive – carries out the laws
• Judicial – explains and interprets the laws
• Checks and Balances
– Each branch of government has the power to
check, or limit, the actions of the other two.
Seven Basic Principles Cont’d
• Federalism
– Division of power between the federal
government and the states
• Federal Examples – power to coin money, declare
war, regulate trade between states
• State examples – regulate trade within their borders,
establish schools
• Power not clearly given to the federal government
belongs to the states.
• Republicanism
– Citizens elect representatives to carry out their
will
• Individual Rights
– Protect individual rights such as freedom of
speech, freedom of religion, and the right to
trial by jury