A Primer to The Preamble of Our Constitution

Article V Blog ^ | September 2nd 2016 | Rodney Dodsworth

[Political Junkie Too]

I posted this brief discussion of the Preamble linked to the Declaration of Independence back in 2010. It may be a little "out there" regarding abortion, but I like the rest.

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I recently posted the thought that there is a ban on abortion in the Constitution after all. Here are the salient points:

I think there is one bridging phrase to the Declaration of Independence that is in the Constitution, which can be seen as a link to "unalienable rights."

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 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.

Note the use of the phrase "Blessings of Liberty." They didn't say "liberty," they said "blessings of liberty." They also capitalized Blessings and Liberty. Why?

In the Declaration of Independence, the Founders said:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Note the use of capitalization for Life, Liberty, and Happiness. Also note that these refer to the rights endowed by the Creator, which would be blessings. By this language, is it possible that Founders meant the Constitution to establish a government that secured the blessing of the unalienable right to Liberty?

Therefore, when they spoke of "securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity," wouldn't those referred to as "our posterity" be the unborn children who were also "blessed" with the right to Liberty, and the other unalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence?

How can the Founders believe that they were securing Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness for our unborn future if they were also writing abortion into the Constitution?

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-PJ

[Political Junkie Too]

I posted this brief discussion of the Preamble to discuss the natural born citizen clause in Article II. .

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I suggest that the Constitution defines who are natural born citizens at the very beginning of the document.

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 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.

"We the People" are citizens of the United States. "Our Posterity" are the natural born who follow -- the children of the People. The Constitution was "ordained and established" to "secure... Liberty" to its citizens and their children. Whom else was it crafted to secure?

Naturalized citizens can become a part of "We the People," and then their children can become natural born citizens.

It's right there in the first words.

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-PJ

[Ohioan]

General welfare is the opposite of the particular welfare of special interests.

[Ohioan]

"Posterity" is about lineal descendants. But it does not itself define "natural born citizen." One's posterity could emigrate, as for example President Obama's mom.

What is important about the language in the present context is that it defines the purpose of the Constitution. It is obviously to put America first, since it defines the beneficiaries as the future generations of the existing population. (And see "Who We Are?" [Trump Supporters].)

When George W. Bush sought to push amnesty of illegal immigrants in 2006, he deliberately confused the intention of the Founders.

[Jacquerie]

For sure, there is zero right to take innocent life. IIRC, one of the scotus clowns in Roe even declared abortion to be a protected unenumerated right under the 9th Amendment.

[MosesKnows]

"We the People"

The "Preamble" contains the answer to what you wonder about.

We the People of the United States, blah, blah, blah, and blah, for the United States of America.

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.

This a puzzle for some Americans misled into believing the Constitution is about them; it is not. The Constitution is about how the government is to function within the "herein granted" legislative powers. The Constitution is for the people, not about the people.