How to Memorize the Preamble to the United States Constitution

Memorizing the Preamble is powerful in its own right, and arguably more powerful than memorizing The Constitution itself.

At some point in every grade school education in the United States of America, students are instructed to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution. The Constitution itself is a long document with many different articles that would be difficult to memorize. However, The Preamble to the Constitution, as its introduction, states its main purpose and is significantly shorter and easier to memorize. Memorize the Preamble to the Constitution by choosing several marker lines to commit to memory, breaking pieces into shorter parts for memorization and practicing over, and over again.

Things You'll Need

• The Preamble to the Constitution
• Note cards, 4 by 5 inches
• Word processing software
• Computer
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Break the Preamble into smaller pieces and either cut and paste or write each piece on a note card. You may want to break it into groups of sentences that go together. For example, "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union" would all go together.

2. Place all of the purposes of the Constitution together on another card: "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty." If this is too large, divide each two-word purpose into different cards.

3. Place the ending phrase on two cards separated by topic. Make one card for the audience, "to ourselves and our Posterity" and another for the topic "do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." When you practice with the cards, the separation by topic will help your brain as you recall key words and phrases.

4. Make a list of key words from the beginning of each card. Then, create a mnemonic device to help you remember the key words. A mnemonic device is typically one word, or a series of words, such as PEMDAS (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) that helps with the order of mathematical operations (Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction). Your mnemonic device should include the first letter from all key words and may vary depending on the key words you choose.

5. Practice with the note cards and apply your mnemonic device. Begin by using only the mnemonic device to trigger each part of the Preamble in your memory, then look at the note cards only as needed. Once you feel reasonably confident that you know the Preamble, have someone hold the cards and prompt you as you practice without looking at the cards. If you are diligent with your practice, you will have the Preamble memorized in no time.

Tips & Warnings

• You may want to associate hand motions with your memorization phrases to activate the physical part of your memorization pattern.

References

• US History.org: Constitution of the United States
• National Center for Constitutional Studies: Hand Motions for Memorizing the Preamble
• Academic Tips: Memorization Techniques

Resources

• School House Rock TV: Preamble