The Preamble to the US Constitution says, “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, … establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” The meaning of these lines, with regard to what is and is not included in the constitution, has evolved over time while we have inexorably expanded individual freedom, increased equity and equality, and striven to ensure equal voting rights for all. The people who devised the original details of the Constitution were all white men of property. Some of them were wealthy. Some owned other people. They restricted voting rights to property-owning white men like themselves. Indeed, it was not until 1856 that white men without property were permitted to vote in every state. Until the election of Abraham Lincoln, more than half of Supreme Court appointees were slaveowners, and all were white men. Not until 1981 was a woman appointed to the Court. When the Constitution was written, there were only thirteen states. Technology and logistics were far more primitive than they are today. The economy was integrated only loosely, while limited communications and mobility between states ensured that society was considerably less integrated.