CONSTITUTION 101
Module 2: Principles of the American Revolution
2.4 Info Brief
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DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE PREAMBLE |
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Read the excerpts of the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution before watching the following video, and be on the lookout for them as you watch. As you watch underline or highlight phrases that match to key terms reviewed. Look for ideas that match the principles like natural rights, popular sovereignty, rule of law, and social contract theory.
Declaration of Independence (1776):
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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Preamble to the Constitution (1787):
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.
