Y "good or success." good of all the people. The Government should work for the The people had many troubles when the war with England was won. The young men had been in the army when they were needed at home to raise the crops. Many of them had been killed in battles or died in camps. The houses, shops, and factories had gone without repair. Food and clothes were hard to get. Prices were high. The people were in debt. Taxes had to be paid. The Fathers of the Constitution, therefore, said that the new National Government should do things to help all of the people. "WE THE PEOPLE TO SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY The last purpose stated in the Preamble is that the people shall always be free to govern and to enjoy their liberty. This thought was copied from the Declaration of Independence. The Fathers of the Constitution believed that all men have the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." King George III and the Parliament had refused to respect these rights. They had tried to destroy the liberty of the people. Special examples were set out in the Declaration of Independence. The Fathers of the Constitution wanted to make certain that the people would always control the Government. They said that the Government should never become strong enough to take away the rights of the people. They tried to guard the rights for all future citizens by limiting the authority of the National and State governments. They listed special things that our Government cannot do. The limits placed on the authority of our Government have made it impossible for the Government to become too strong. The people have been free to go to the officers and to the courts to demand protection of their rights. The Constitution declares that our children and their children shall be free to enjoy their rights in the same way. : S t t The Fathers of the Constitution made this possible for us and for them. For every right that we enjoy, there is a duty that we✅ owe to others. If we want to keep our rights, then we must carry out our duties. Only in this way can we secure the "blessings of liberty" to our children and their children in future years. THINGS TO DO Put the correct word in the open space: 1. The government that holds the whole Nation together is called the Constitution provides for a government. Government. The system of 2. The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States begins with these words " 113 "There are ---- (give number of) purposes or aims set out in the Preamble to the Constitution. Every citizen should those objectives. A State cannot 3. The first purpose listed in the Preamble to the Constitution is to " the States. the Union and the Union cannot 4. The second purpose listed in the Preamble to the Constitution is to " the sons are This aim was copied from In the United States, all per in the eyes of the law. People who cannot decide their quarrels may go into and have them decided. 5. The third purpose listed in the Preamble to the Con 6. The fourth purpose listed in the Preamble to the Con stitution is to " to declare to the is taken away from the States and given The power to provide for the com mon defense is divided between the and the 66 7. The fifth objective stated in the Preamble is to " Congress has power to lay and collect taxes to provide for " States." 8. The last purpose stated in the Preamble is to “ United CHAPTER XI How the Congress in Our National Government Is Organized "Error of opinion may be tolerated [allowed] where reason is left free to combat [change] it." -Thomas Jefferson. We have studied the purposes which the Fathers of the Constitution had in mind. Those purposes must be followed by our National Government in everything that it does. But what is the National Government? The Constitution tells us how that Government is organized. It says how the different branches are to work together for the good of all the people. If the people cannot come together to use their final authority, they must have representatives to make the laws. They must have officers to enforce the laws. They must have judges to explain what the laws mean. We may well ask: How do the three groups of officers work together? What qualifications must they have? How long do they remain in office? What authority do they have? What limits are placed on the use of their authority? We shall now begin to answer these and other questions. THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES The Constitution deals with the lawmaking branch first. This is only natural. There must be laws before there is any need for officers to enforce them or to explain them. The authority to make laws is given to the Congress by Article I of the Constitution. The word "Congress" means "a meeting of representatives to act on public matters." The government that carried on the war against England was called the "Con |