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who are "we" in "we the people"?

I know what was meant by the phrase, "we the People of the United States" in 1788. I want to know:

1.) who are "we the People" in 2020. 

2.) those not included in the definition of "we the people" have no "legal" rights, but do they have "inalienable" rights?

6 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 7
    1 year ago

    It did not include slaves, native americans, wildlife, domestic animals, plants, minerals, active volcanic regions, deep sea trenches, women, or children. Like obviously, dude. Is the source of your confusion your ignorance of the zeitgeist? Wow.

  • User
    Lv 7
    1 year ago

    Basically

    at that time

    "we the people" included

    - free adult male residents of the U.S.

    - excluding Native Americans

    It did not include

    - women

    - children

    - slaves

    - Native Americans

    Clearly

    at the time

    they did not consider ALL of the so-called "inalienable rights" to be universal.

    For example: the Declaration identifies these three as "unalienable rights"

    - life

    - liberty

    - pursuit of happiness

    and clearly the second was not afforded to slaves, either in the time of the Declaration nor in the time of the Constitution's adoption by the colonies (states).

    Fortunately

    the meaning has changed over the centuries

    and now we interpret it as including at least all U.S. citizens

    some would say: all U.S. residents, citizen or not, legal or not.

  • 1 year ago

    We the people are American citizens. Those not included in that category have human rights.

  • 1 year ago

    the modifier "of the United States" implicitly excludes everyone living here who is not a citizen [because their allegiance is to some other nation].

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  • Anonymous
    1 year ago

    Us...................................

  • Anonymous
    1 year ago

    We means we.....all of us.

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