Preamble

Shakespeare is credited with saying "Brevity is the soul of wit". Perhaps the framers of the Constitution had "the bard" in mind when they wrote the "intro" to our Constitution. It is one sentence tells what they were attempting to accomplish with the Constitution and some of the means that they intended to use to get this done.

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.

It is interesting to me that this one sentence introduction has been referred to by the Supreme Court of the United States "as evidence of the origin, scope, and purpose of the Constitution" at least five times.