"In order to form a more perfect Union"

More perfect than what?

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, 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

I often marvel at the magnitude of the misunderstanding most Americans have of our Constitution. Oh, many believe they grasp its purpose, know its contents, and comprehend the rights it grants us (that last was an intentionally sarcastic dig, because the Constitution doesn’t grant us any rights). A recent exchange between Charlie Kirk and an attendee at one of his events illustrates my point:

As a result, Americans believe things like the idea that the federal government “runs the country.” Many have even been asking online lately, with Biden perpetually in absentia, “who is running the country?” This is a positively preposterous perspective because neither the President nor the federal government is responsible for “running the country.” This misapprehension stems from a lack of knowledge of the Constitution and of its origin.

As an example, it is widely believed that the Constitution creates “a wall of separation between church and state,” and then completely misunderstand that Jefferson, when he made that statement, was talking about keeping the government out of religion, not religion out of government (part of the purpose of the First Amendment). 

But there is more to the story. Unfortunately the propensity for people to peruse political papers perfunctorily rather than giving careful consideration to the content and context has led to a federal government that is utterly out of control and far beyond that which was envisioned by the founding fathers.

Consider the preamble to the Constitution quoted at the head of this post. It says, “We the People of the United States…” It also states that this constitution is being established “in order to form a more perfect union.” These lines should lead one to question: In order for the people of the United States to pen this parchment, would the United States not already have to exist? And these people wanted to form a union more perfect than what?

Answering these questions can help understand how America was truly intended to function.

Perhaps it comes as a surprise to you that the United States was not formed at the signing of the Constitution in 1787. It was not formed at the signing of the Declaration of Independence either - that document simply made known that the people on this soil would no longer submit to the government of King George.

The union between the states was actually formed ten years prior to the signing of the Constitution, in 1777, when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation. The first of these articles, which is rather short and simple, reads as follows:

Article I. The Stile of this confederacy shall be, “The United States of America.”

Thus was begun what many call the American Experiment (or the Great Experiment, or the Great American Experiment…..) in self-governance. And that is key - self-governance. The founders did not want to fall back under a strong central government like that which they had cast off. Representation was to be local, close at hand, so that the people would have a voice and not simply be ruled. This is why state governments were (and are) so crucial, and why the second article carried such importance:

Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.

Americans today fail to understand this about the Union, and that the founders intended to carry over the sovereignty of the states. This is why people are mistaken when, upon hearing the phrase “Tenth Amendment,” which mirrors this article, minds immediately rush to the idea of “states’ rights.” While this does to some extent reflect the purpose of the Tenth Amendment, it should be viewed more as protecting the sovereignty of the states and restricting the federal government to that which is stated in the Constitution.

If there is any doubt as to the states retaining their sovereignty under the new Constitution, we can turn to James Madison’s own statement in the Federalist Number 45 that “…the states will retain under the proposed constitution a very extensive portion of active sovereignty…”

The federal government itself doesn't exist, nor was it ever meant, to "run America" or "run the country.” It exists as a proxy for the union of the states in protecting our borders and negotiating foreign treaties and trade agreements. It exists to provide for the mutual safety from attack (externally or internally) and well-being of the states. This is revealed as well in the third article:

Article III. The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their Liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever.

Americans tend to think of the United States as a monolith with various (50) subdivisions all under the authority of the federal government. The reality is, as clarified by this article, that the United States is 50 individually sovereign States joined together in a union for the purposes of security and prosperity.

The Constitution did not change this purpose. It is both enshrined in the preamble, and expounded by Madison in the Federalist No. 45:

If the new constitution be examined with accuracy and candour, it will be found that the change which it proposes, consists much less in the addition of new powers to the union, than in the invigoration of its original powers.

I will not belabor the comparison of the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution. There are ten additional articles that can be read at leisure. The main point to take away from this discussion is that comprehending these articles composed by the contrivers of this country is crucial to inform us greatly how government should operate and the intent and extent of the nature of the federal government. Just from the three already elaborated it should be clear that what our federal government has become is nothing akin to that which the pioneers of this great nation proposed.