Laconia Human Relations Committee: Toward a more perfect union

The following is the Preamble of the United States Constitution: "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."

The Preamble contains five ingredients for developing a more perfect union: establishing justice, insuring domestic tranquility, providing for common defense, promoting general welfare, and securing liberty.

Each of these five ingredients interact with one another and are necessary.

In 1789, the U.S. Constitution was signed by 39 people: all white and all male. States retained control of the process of voting and routinely disenfranchised or created barriers to voting by various strategies. People of color were disenfranchised from voting until 1870 with passage of the 15th Amendment. Women were disenfranchised from voting until 1920 with passage of the 19th Amendment. Native Americans were excluded until 1924 with the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act.

Even with this legislation, our country continues to struggle. In fact, debate and struggle are crucial processes in democracies. With a population over 330 million, the challenges of our social contract keep expanding and growing more complex.

The Laconia Human Relations Committee has developed a series of short essays, Toward A More Perfect Union, to explore our social contracts and how they might be made more perfect. Future series will explore other topics.

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The Laconia Human Relations Committee envisions a world where everyone is treated with dignity, fairness, respect, and kindness.