CORE WORKSHEET
Government and the State 
Why Did the Framers
 Put in This Phrase?
• defense—protection
• welfare—general well-being
Is This Phrase Important 
Today? Why or Why Not?
2

Name ___________________________ Class _____________________ Date _______

CHAPTER
1
SECTION 1

People need government to keep order and to ensure freedom. This 
is what the Framers of the Constitution believed.
The chart below shows seven phrases from the Preamble of the 
Constitution. With your partner, choose one phrase. (Your teacher 
may assign the phrase.) First, think of reasons why the Framers 
may have put that phrase in the Constitution. List these reasons 
in the middle column. Next, decide if the phrase is still important 
today. In the right-hand column, explain why the phrase is 
important or why it is not. Then answer the question that follows.

Vocabulary
 • union—a group of people or States • domestic—related to the home
 • tranquility—peace 
 • promote—to improve 
 • secure—to keep safe

Phrase in the
Preamble
We the people of the 
United States

In order to form a 
more perfect Union

Establish justice

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14

Why Did the Framers
 Put in This Phrase?
Is This Phrase Important 
Today? Why or Why Not?
 2
CORE WORKSHEET
Government and the State 
2

Name ___________________________ Class _____________________ Date _______

CORE WORKSHEET (continued)
Government and the State 

Phrase in the
Preamble
Insure domestic
tranquility

Provide for the
common defense

Promote the general 
welfare

Secure the blessings 
of liberty

Is government needed to keep order and ensure freedom? Why or 
why not?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Copyright © by Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
15