Paul Tosto
National Archives
With spaces and punctuation, it takes 327 characters to print the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution.
Now, suppose the Founding Fathers had to Tweet it?
As part of the Constitution’s 225th anniversary, the Archivist of the United States has thrown down the gauntlet, calling on Twitter users to boil down the Preamble to 140 characters or fewer.
Through Monday (the day in 1787 that a majority of Constitutional Convention delegates approved the documents), you can be part of the National Archives contest “to condense the meaning of the Preamble in a bite-sized tweet.”
The Archivist (David Ferriero, like you knew), will pick a best tweet. The winner gets a pocket-size Constitution.
Here’s the Preamble:
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.
There’s a growing list of entries on Twitter using the #preamble hashtag.
Reactions to “Tweet the #Preamble” contest have ranged from horror to amusement. But the question is, can YOU? go.usa.gov/r7TH
— US National Archives (@USNatArchives) September 14, 2012
Tweeting is great — love the Twitter. But there’s still no better way to learn the Preamble than to sing it.
Take it away, Schoolhouse Rock!
Note: I’m not kidding, that Schoolhouse Rock song gets me a little choked up when I hear it.
— Paul Tosto