We the "People"

Preamble to the Constitution

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,[note 1] 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.

Source

I don't know where this has been introduced to me, but there has been a interesting interpretation of the word "People."

"People" has the "P" capitalized. The interpretation suggests that "People" do not refer to the masses, but refer to those who wrote constitution and those who were in power. It is almost as if the constitution only applied to those in power because they were the ones with the power to enforce their will.

What do you guys think?

I think that the constitution and declaration of independence were both written at a time when grammar and punctuation were both vague concepts at best. Both are full of random capitalization and commas, they mean nothing.

reply to post by die_another_day


Notice that Tranquility, and Union, and several other nouns are capitalized. Style manuals were thin on the ground in those days; and even then there was some disagreement on capitalization.

But also notice that "Citizen" was capitalized in all cases by the founding fathers. Now notice that "citizens" as referred to in the 14th Amendment was not. Different kind of citizen. See if you can figure that out....

Perhaps different sources can be used to fact check.

I personally prefer the Charters of Freedom, which includes a transcript, and visual copy of the original documents.

Originally posted by ShadeWolf
I think that the constitution and declaration of independence were both written at a time when grammar and punctuation were both vague concepts at best. Both are full of random capitalization and commas, they mean nothing.

People's vocabulary of that time FAR exceeded what the average person knows today, also. Grammar and punctuation standards change over time.

Dn not cast aspersions on the founding fathers. They are not selfish uneducated men, but were very much enlightened farmers and traders who suffered under the oppression of England and the red coats, and who decided enough is enough collectively.

The preamble is 'We the People...." and not ' We the government...."

reply to post by die_another_day


Dont be hating, but what does it matter what it says.Every day it seems to be just a piece of paper that doesnt pertain to you or i any longer.It used to but greed fell into place and now seems high jacked by small groups who need more rights, or added to to fit the needs of the People that drag it and us through the dirt. I say scrap it and start over based on the original draft putting a Biblical foundation to it. Whether you are christian or not it was fare for everyone then as it should be NOW!

Originally posted by ShadeWolf
I think that the constitution and declaration of independence were both written at a time when grammar and punctuation were both vague concepts at best. Both are full of random capitalization and commas, they mean nothing.

You've got your time periods inverted.

reply to post by earthart

Here is what people have forgotten.

The paper never mattered. It is the way the people *think* that matters... the paper was just a reflection.

No paper protects us. The only thing that protects us is the way we think about the situations we encounter. People today do not think the way The Constitution reflects... thus The Constitution no longer "relates to" or "protects" people. As a culture everyone "thought" they could just sit back and it would take care of itself, and are now paying the price for thinking that way.

The only thing that protects people is the way people think and respond to what is in front of them.

No law, no government, no weapon, no document.

That's the entire point behind the truths supposedly being "self evident". And yet here we are where they clearly aren't because everyone keeps pointing to a document for defense while not actually *thinking* like the document writers anymore. The writers thought that way before the document existed... so too would we be wise to remember we're capable of still thinking that way regardless of what someone else does (or doesn't do) to that document.

Change the thinking, change everything.