“We the people of the US 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 phrase, in order to form a more perfect union has always fascinated me. However, today it haunts me. What does it mean to provide a more perfect union? What was the thought behind including such a phrase in the document?
“The Constitution was not born at once, it was developed gradually through debate, interchange of opinion, and careful consideration of problems.” The document was born out of necessity for states to interact, to ensure peace and provide a defense against ‘foreign’ enemies. The objective was to establish a strong national government while keeping state independence.
Throughout the long hot summer months of 1787, delegates from each state carefully considered national problems. They labored over a framework and created a central government made up of individual states. The purposes was to create the Constitution with the intent to develop “a most elastic instrument, readily adaptable to meet changing conditions.”
As our country ages and celebrates another birthday, my pledge, as an American is to work each and every day in both my personal and professional interactions to form a more perfect union by being more conscious of individual actions. The idea is simple, be positive, kind, thoughtful and open to people, ideas and conflict.
Let’s work at forming a more perfect union with each other and just maybe it will spread across our country. Happy July 4th!
http://www.ushistory.org/independencehall/history/indhall4.htm