Schoolhouse Rock: Preamble to the U.S. Constitution
Thanks to the Schoolhouse Rock America Rock series, history became my favorite subject in elementary school and has remained one of my lasting interests.
Judging by the comments on You Tube, history teachers, today, are still using these very same films to teach their students important lessons in history.
As all lessons originally intended for children must be, these are brief with a positive spin, ignoring many of the uglier historical truths. That is appropriate for teaching very young children. However, this does not mean these are not useful tools to teach, not only easy lessons on early American history, law, and government, but also English, through the repetition of useful English words and correct grammar usage.
The Schoolhouse Rock animation short film called “Preamble” teaches the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America. The song quotes the language accurately, except the first line should be: “We the people of the United States.”
Watch and sing along with the lyrics provided below:
Hey, do you know about the U.S.A.?
Do you know about the government?
Can you tell me about the Constitution?
Hey, learn about the U.S.A.
In 1787, I’m told,
Our founding fathers did agree
To write a list of principles
For keepin’ people free.
The U.S.A. was just startin’ out,
A whole brand-new country.
And, so our people spelled it out—
The things that we should be.
And, they put those principles down on paper and called it the Constitution. And, it’s been helping us run our country ever since then. The first part of the Constitution is called the Preamble and tells what those founding fathers set out to do.
We the people,
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.
In 1787, I’m told,
Our founding fathers all sat down
And wrote a list of principles
That’s known the world around.
The U.S.A. was just starting out,
A whole brand-new country.
And so our people spelled it out.
They wanted a land of liberty.
And the Preamble goes like this:
We the people,
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.
For the United States of America.
For the United States of America.
CONCLUSION
Most of these Schoolhouse Rock animation short films were originally aired on TV in the early 1970s. While they were progressive for their time, some of the views expressed in them, as well as their production value, may seem dated by today’s standards. Also, keep in mind that they were intended for very young children who were glued to their TV sets (including me!) after school and every morning on the weekends. It was a noble effort by a lot of idealistic folks who wanted to provide some much needed education to America’s youth at the time.
Schoolhouse Rock offers broad explanations of difficult subjects, which I believe is extremely useful to anyone seeking to learn the English language and American culture. However, these animated short films are, in no way, meant to be complete lessons on the subject.
If you want to buy the entire collection of all 46 Schoolhouse Rock videos in a special edition 2-disc DVD 30th anniversary set from Amazon.com, click here
[For more Schoolhouse Rock videos, click here.]
[For more “Easy Steps to Success with English,” click here.]
