THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION 1. PREAMBLE

THE PREAMBLE On your white shee underline all the words as they are shown and number each purpose as shown.

THE PREAMBLE We the people of the United States, 1 in order to form a more perfect union, 2 establish justice, 3 insure domestic tranquility, 4 provide for the common defense, 5 promote the general welfare and 6 secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

PREAMBLE VOCABULARY Copy the vocabulary word, the synonyms and the definitions.

UNION Blending, coming together, combination The act of joining together people or things

ESTABLISH Create, start, begin, set up To start or set up something that is intended to continue

JUSTICE Fairness, fair play, morality

INSURE Make certain, make sure To make sure something will happen

DOMESTIC home, household, family, national, internal Happening within one country

TRANQUILITY Peaceful, calm, quiet

COMMON General, universal, shared, everyone’s Belonging to, or shared by two or more people or things

PROMOTE Endorse, encourage, support, sponsor To encourage the growth and development of something

GENERAL universal, common, wide- ranging Including all or nearly all the members of a group

WELFARE well-being, health, security, success

LIBERTY Freedom independence the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions

POSTERITY future generations

ORDAIN order, proclaim, command, establish To order or establish something formally, especially by law

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.

We, the people of the United States

All the citizens of the United States

in order to form a more perfect Union,

To come together and make things better for everyone who lives in our country

Establish Justice

To make things fair for all people

insure domestic Tranquility,

To make sure we can all have a good life and get along with one another

Provide for the common defense,

To provide protection to everyone

Promote general welfare,

To make life good for everybody by providing food, shelter, and safety

And secure the blessings of Liberty

To protect our rights and freedoms and not let anyone take them away

To ourselves and our posterity,

For ourselves and all our children and their children and every generation to come

Do ordain and establish this Constitution

To approve of and begin to follow

For the United States of America.

Our country, where we live

ASSIGNMENT Rewrite the Preamble changing the underlined words. It must make sense. Read it out loud to yourself to make sure. You can rearrange the words to allow your paragraph to make sense. DUE FEBRUARY 10, 2015 Assignment Name: Preamble Rewrite

BASIC IDEAS THE FOUNDERS INCLUDED IN THE CONSTITUTION

1. Natural Rights and Higher Law Purpose of government is to protect the rights of people to life, liberty, and property (natural rights) Everyone had to obey the state constitution (higher law)

2. Social Contract The people agree to form a government to protect their natural rights

3. Popular Sovereignty The idea that the people give the government its power The government has no power unless the people give it to them

4. Representation The legislature should be made up of representatives elected by the people 1 st limited to white property owning men

5. Separation of Powers A government divided into different branches to keep powers separated Legislative Branch-law making Executive Branch-enforces laws Judicial Branch- interpret the law, determine the constitutionality of the law, and apply it

6. Checks and Balances One branch makes sure the other branch is not abusing their powers In the legislature there were usually two houses that kept checks on each other Voters could elect new representatives if they didn’t like the way the government was working

7. Legislative Supremacy The majority of the governments power is given to the legislative branch because these are the representatives elected by the people Most didn’t like the idea of giving the governor (executive) lots of power because they remembered how the governors appointed by the king had abused their power

8. Declaration of Rights Most state constitutions included a declaration of rights (Bill of Rights) List of the basic rights of citizens

Bill of Rights Right to vote Elections Freedom of speech and press No taxation w/o representation The right to have An attorney A jury trial Protection from illegal searches and seizures Protection against self- incrimination Protection from excessive bail and fines Protection against cruel and unusual punishment