Historical Background on the Preamble

The Preamble’s origins predate the Constitutional Convention—preambles to legal documents were relatively commonplace at the time of the Nation’s Founding. In several English laws that undergird American understandings of constitutional rights, including the Petition of Rights of 1628,the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, the Bill of Rights of 1689,and the Act of Settlement of 1701, the British Parliament included prefatory text that explained the law’s objects and historical impetus. The tradition of a legal preamble continued in the New World. The Declarations and Resolves of the First Continental Congress in 1774 included a preamble noting the many grievances the thirteen colonies held against British rule.Building on this document, in perhaps the only preamble that rivals the fame of the Constitution’s opening lines, the Declaration of Independence of 1776 announced: 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. The Declaration then listed a series of complaints against King George III, before culminating in a formal declaration of the colonies’ independence from the British crown. Moreover, several state constitutions at the time of the founding contained introductory text that echoed many of the themes of the 1776 Declaration. The Articles of Confederation that preceded the Constitution had their own preamble—authored by we the undersigned Delegates of the States—declaring the Confederation and perpetual Union of the thirteen former colonies.