“We the People”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Can you do it? Can you make out the words here? If you know your U.S. history (or just soaked up a lot of Schoolhouse Rock as a kid), the message being sent is immediately recognizable: It's the Preamble to the United States Constitution, presented in abbreviated form on customized license plates by the American artist Mike Wilkins. All 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia are represented in this piece, which features the plates in alphabetical order.

Here's the Nissan connection: This artwork, created to honor the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, was donated to the Smithsonian American Art Museum by the Nissan Motor Corporation. Best of all, this clever exhibit is on display at the museum in Washington D.C. right now, in the north wing of the first floor.

As we celebrate Independence Day this year—perhaps with a backyard barbecue, a parade, or a pleasant day with family capped by fireworks—let's all take a moment to read the brief but historically significant Preamble, which, in one long sentence, outlines the purpose of the Constitution and reveals the wisdom of America's founding fathers:

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.

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