who was included in the phrase we the people... from the u.s. constitution
Preamble to the United States Constitution The phrase "People of the United States" has sometimes been understood to mean "citizens." This approach reasons that, if the political community speaking for itself in the Preamble ("We the People") includes only citizens, by negative implication it specifically excludes non-citizens in some fashion.[48] It has also been construed to mean something like "all under the sovereign jurisdiction and authority of the United States."[49] The phrase has been construed as affirming that the national government created by the Constitution derives its sovereignty from the people,[50] (whereas "United Colonies" had identified external monarchical sovereignty) as well as confirming that the government under the Constitution was intended to govern and protect "the people" directly, as one society, instead of governing only the states as political units.[51] The Court has also understood this language to mean that the sovereignty of the government under the U.S. Constitution is superior to that of the States.[52] Stated in negative terms, the Preamble has been interpreted as meaning that the Constitution was not the act of sovereign and independent states.[53]