“...provide for the common defense,...”
This document lays out the need to be able to fight wars, but pay attention to how they said it! These men were not war-mongers. At the time that this was written these same men were just beginning a war against Great Britain. Great Britain at that time was a world power. They had one of the greatest armies and navies in the world. They were stronger than most of the world. The thirteen colonies fought against an established world power and won. That took a lot of guts and came at a high price for both nations. Thousands died in battle and thousands more as a result of illness. Some of the men who contributed to the Constitution fought in the American Revolutionary war. George Washington was a general who led men into combat and watched his men suffer through illnesses. He himself had bullet holes in his coat that could only be explained as the hand of God (see “The Bulletproof George Washington” by David Barton). I find it easy to suggest that George Washington of all people despised war as much as anyone could, but understood its unfortunate necessity in order to provide for a common defense. This line also suggested a promise that since these men claimed this country from Great Britain, they would take on the responsibility of defending its people.
