In light of the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, some of America's most influential men and greatest minds gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the summer of 1787 to hammer out a new form of government. The document that emerged from this convention has lasted over 200 years and is still the framework for our political structure today.
The opening paragraph of the Constitution is commonly referred to as the Preamble. These fifty-two words serve as America's promise to itself. I have posted the Preamble below. What does it mean to you? In light of the changes our country has experienced since the 18th Century, should the Preamble be rewritten to be more relevant today? Defend your answer.
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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.
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This is a test posting on the comments section.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the Preamble should not be changed. However, it should be honored by all who live in the United States and taken more seriously. This Preamble was written by people who wanted to make sure everyone had the same rights. Although things today are crazier and more out of control, these principles are good principles. It seems like people in the United States today are less united. They want things for nothing; we are losing our freedom and allowing the government to control our lives more and more. If the Preamble was rewritten today, I think it would support the government, not the people. I do not think what the people had to say would be important. I do not think the people or the government could agree on what was right. DDoss (125)
ReplyDeleteI think the Preamble states goals of the Constitution. To me it shows their original intentions. Even though they knew they couldn’t make a perfect country or make everyone feel important, I think they were trying to show what they wanted the country to become. The authors were listing standards for our country. Their last statement of the preamble was kind of like they were making it official. The beginning statement was like that too it was very formal, official, and very fancy.(107)
ReplyDeleteI do not think that this should be changed. Although I do think that since we do not talk that way anymore that it should be changed to the way that we talk today. Only so it could be more eaisly understood. I like the fact that it basically says that we stand behind what we have written 100 percent. The fact that it has lasted thgis long in our history I say that we should just leave it alone, unless a huge problem should arise concerning it. But, I highly doubt a problem would come up about it if there hasn’t since it was written. (106 words)Erin Cooke
ReplyDeleteThis means a lot to me. The preamble says that they are going to defend the people of our country justly and fairly, which is very important for a country to have. Although our country has changed a lot from the 18th Century, I think it should stay the same. It is still relevant to today, they just used their way of speaking and writing that has changed a lot through the years, making it look irrelevant. If we re-worded it making it how we use language today, I don’t think anyone would want to change it. It pretty much sums up what the Constitution says. (106) Converse (sorry I had to use my mom's account..)
ReplyDeleteThe Preamble is very important. In my opinion the Preamble should not be changed. The ideas that are stated in the Preamble are very good ideas. We should still live by them today. We should be united. To me, America isn't as united these days. We all have different ideas and don't want to admit anyone else is right. Also, this is what our founding fathers wrote. The very people who started our country wrote this. That's a big deal! We should want to live the way they did. The Preamble worked for 200 years without any problems, so why can't it work for another 200 years or more? I think the Preamble shows our character as a country. (119) Alaina :)
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ReplyDeleteThe Preamble was in a way our country's second chance of making our government work to the country's ideas, views and standards. They wanted to set a strong foundation for our country that would last for a long time and that it did. This document has helped to keep the country's view of who and what we are all about. It gives us a view of what our founding fathers wanted us to be and hold our standards to. If we were to rewrite the Preamble we might end up changing that vision they had for us. Sure it might be easier to understand but do we really want to risk loosing that vision that they had for us. (119)
ReplyDeleteThe Preamble is a very important document in American history. I think the men that wrote the Preamble were hoping to have a country that had good values and a good foundation to build a country that would prosper then and years later. I think since the Preamble worked for the people back then and all the people after them it shouldn't change. Even though the way people think today is different from the way people thought back then the Preamble definately should not change. The intentions of the Preamble were a way of life that everybody should try to live like. I think the people in office today should refer back to the Preamble and try to change the way they run our country and make it the way the people back then had wanted it to be.(139)
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that the preamble should be changed. It is a good introduction to the constitution. The preamble lays out the basics of the new country’s government that was about to be formed. The few things that the preamble mentions are just a short summary of the constitution. The writers laid out the guidelines they new they needed to have in order for the new country to succeed. They mention justice; every country needs some sort of justice. Without justice there would be chaos. The writers also defend the liberties of American citizens. If the government was going to re-write the preamble I don’t think they would need to rethink the whole thing, they would just need to rephrase it to make it more understandable since the language has changed since the time it was originally written. (138) Rowell
ReplyDeleteI do not think that the Preamble should be changed. I think its perfectly fine like it is. No matter how old it is, it is still just as relevant to us now as it was then. It is stating that all Americans deserve the same right to make this country, America, a better place. We all need defense from terrorists, and justice for when we are wronged, or have done wrong against someone else. Without those things, this place would be a mess. For protection, justice and freedom, It would basically be every man for himself. Maybe it is hard to understand because of the language they use. But it has the same meaning, and it is part of our history. If it is changed, what will we have to remember? (133) Jared
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ReplyDeleteThe preamble means a lot to me because it stands up for American rights. It is well written and really specific on what Americans want. I do not think the Preamble should be rewritten to be more relevant today because it had a lot of things Americans wanted then Americans still want that now. I think if it was rewritten it would ask for more recent things in the world like food stamps and things for people who do not have much. The preamble was written a long time ago so they asked for things like justice and freedom. Back then they didn’t have that much anyway so they didn’t ask for a lot of physical things like clothes and food. (122)
ReplyDeleteI do not think the Preamble should be changed. It makes a great introduction to the Constitution. It also makes a great start by making powerful rules for our United States of America. What this mean to me is that the people who wrote this wanted to make a better union. It means that the people back then stood up for what they wanted. They fought for freedom which we now have because of it. This Preamble made a huge success for our country. I’m glad our government still follows these rules that our forefathers started to make our union and lives better. 103 chloe
ReplyDeleteI do not think that the preamble to the constitution should be rewritten. It clearly shows the goals of the government. Rewriting in any way, shape, or form has the possibility of changing the intended meaning of the preamble. When the meanings of such important documents get changed, it opens the way to things such as laws that were constitutional would then become unconstitutional or vice versa and that would be a huge problem for all of us. Also there has been no complaint about the preamble, so why change it. As the saying goes “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” (102) Eli
ReplyDeleteI don’t really think that the Preamble should be re-written. It’s a part of history, and just because the world changes doesn’t mean that we should change a part of history. In my opinion, the Preamble isn’t really that hard to understand. I think that the Preamble is not only is an introduction to the Constitution, but it sums up the rules that they want their country to abide by. Like Mr. Haston said, the Preamble is still a “framework for our political structure today”. Why change it now, when it’s been used for so long to help us write new laws, etc?
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I don't really think it should be re-written. It has a lot of meaning to our country today. It says that we are going to have changes in our country. It may have some grammar error in the real one. But that doesn't matter at all. It includes " We the people" that means everyone in the United States. People think the preamble means nothing at all. It really does it is the beginning of the main thing. It states what we are planning on doing in these pieces of paper. It really should mean a lot to everyone. Just not the beginning of some pieces of paper. It is the first major thing for our country. It should be taken very seriously. (Words:103)(LATE):(
ReplyDeleteTo a literate person of even average intelligence the preamble is about as clear and unambiguous as it could possibly be. There is no need to rewrite it, and there is no need for any interpretation of it. It seems like whenever a document (of any kind) is "interpreted" the result is almost always something that has a totally different meaning than the actual words of the original document. Any attempt by politicians (or lawyers) to make it "easier to understand" will make it ten times longer and impossible to understand. Leave it alone!
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