CHAPTER 1: THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
"Scene at the Signing of the Constitution," by Howard Chandler Christy. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
We the People
The Constitution of the United States. Courtesy of the National Archives.
The beginning of the Constitution is called the Preamble. The Preamble to the Constitution explains why the Founders wrote the Constitution.
The Preamble also says that under the Constitution, the people of the United States will have self-government. This means that the people of the United States are not governed by a king or a queen. Instead, the people of the United States govern themselves. The people of the United States govern themselves by electing representatives who serve in the local, state, and U.S. governments.
The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. These words are, "We the people".
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services