"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."
Preamble to the Constitution of the United States
of America, September 17, 1787
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"The situation in which I now stand for the last time, in the midst of the representatives of the people of the United States,
naturally recalls the period when the administration of the present form of government commenced,
and I can not omit the occasion to congratulate you and my country on the success of the experiment,
nor to repeat my fervent supplications to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe and Sovereign Arbiter of Nations
that His providential care may still be extended to the United States, that the virtue and happiness of the people may be preserved,
and that the Government which they have instituted for the protection of their liberties may be perpetual."
George Washington, 8th
Annual Message, December 7, 1796
