The Different Meanings of “We the People…”

By Brigitte L. Nacos

Violent and peaceful protesters at the right and left often use the slogan “We the People” to link their demands to their understanding of the U.S. Constitution’s promise. Both sides refer to the U.S. Constitution which was written and signed by the Founding Fathers in 1787 and begins with the words “We the People of the United State, in Order to form a more perfect Union….”

On January 6, 2021, many in the violent MAGA crowd considered themselves “We the People” fighting to keep Donald Trump in the White House. “We The People need to be in that building,” screamed a preacher from Ohio into the direction of Capitol police officer who stood behind metal barricades.

Four years earlier, anti-Trump activists organized a “We the People” protest on January 20, 2017, when Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. President. A poster for the event, created by Shephard Fairey, showed the images of African-American, Latina, und Muslim Women as “a pointed reference to people who have felt attacked” by the president-elect as the artist explained.

While Conservatives tend to insist on the original words and meanings of the Constitution, Liberals tend to insist on interpreting the living Constitution in the context of the more than 200 years since the document was framed.  

So, what did “We the People” mean for the Founding Fathers? Whom did they consider the citizens of the republican form of government?

Since the framers were all White male elitists or, as the political scientist James MacGregor Burns put it, “the well-bred, the well-fed, the well-read, and the well-wed,” they restricted “We the People” to their own kind. Excluded from citizenship with voting rights were

• Slaves,
• Indentured slaves,
• Males without property,

No wonder that contemporary Americans, who resent the multicultural nature of modern America’s population and call for “taking our country back” consider the Framers’ meaning of “We the People” as justifying White Supremacy. And, yes, some of the Far-Right extremists would also like to repeal the voting rights for women. While they embrace and misinterpret the Bill of Rights (especially the First and Second Amendments) that the first U.S. Congress adopted, they reject the bulk of later Amendments that expand the franchise and other rights for formerly excluded groups.

In contrast, Liberals appeal to an inclusionary “We the People” concept achieved by the progress made in the 19^th and 20^th centuries for the benefit of groups excluded by the Framer’s view on citizenship.  

Now, in the 21^st century, hard fought-for rights of women and minorities are under attack from constitutional originalists—among them the majority of Supreme Court Justices.

To be sure, the Founding Fathers did not mention abortion rights in the document they framed. Thus, a 6-3 majority of the Supreme Court overturned last year in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization the Roe v. Wade decision that established the constitutional right to abortion.

Among the major cases to be heard by the highest court during the current session are others with issues not mentioned by the Framers and thus other opportunities for reactionary rulings.