The Preamble to the United States Constitution consists of a single sentence (a preamble) which introduces the document and its purpose. The preamble neither grants any governmental powers nor inhibits any of its actions, but serves to explain the reason behind the U.S. Constitution, and has been used by courts in construing or providing background for other constitutional provisions. Text Meaning and application The preamble of the U.S. Constitution does not assign any powers to the federal government,See Jacobson v. Massachusetts, [LINK: http://laws.findlaw.com/us/197/11.html] 197 U.S. 11, 22 (1905), in which the Court rejected Jacobsen's claim that he had a personal right to the "blessings of liberty", stating that "[LINK: a] [1]lthough that preamble indicates the general purposes for which the people ordained and established the Constitution, it has never be