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Constitution of the United States After the Revolutionary War ended, the new country needed rules to live by. In 1787, a group of Americans met to make the laws for the new government. This group of 39 men included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. The new leaders were chosen by the people, not by a king. The Constitution is a set of rules or laws under which everyone in America lives today. It gives Americans a set of rules to live by and describes how the American government is to be organized and run. It also gives Americans certain rights and freedoms such as freedom of speech. The first ten amendments, or changes, to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. These protect people from unjust actions by the government. Other rights have been added over the years. Here is the Preamble to the 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 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." South
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