此人民非彼人民。此指美國，彼指中國。

【We the people】是美國聯邦憲法中最重要的三個字。此人民非彼人民。

《聯邦憲法》一開始說：“我們美國人民，為了建立一個更完善的聯邦，樹立公平的司法制度，保障國內治安，籌設共同防衛，增進全民福利，是我們自己和後代子孫，永享自由的幸福，乃制定和確立這一部美國憲法。”

用“We the people”這三個字，聯邦憲法表述出：人民建立了政府，政府為人民工作並保障人民的權力。在美利堅合眾國，賦予政府的權力來自於人民。被稱為“大眾政權”（popular sovereignty）。由人民選舉代表制定法律。

The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution：We the People。

The Constitution says:

“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.”

With the words “We the People,” the Constitution states that the people set up the government. The government works for the people and protects the rights of people. In the United States, the power to govern comes from the people, who are the highest power. This is called “popular sovereignty.” The people elect representatives to make laws.

《聯邦憲法》的前十條，

【人權法案《the Bill of Rights》】

人權法案，指《聯邦憲法》的前10條修正案。當年，國父們書寫聯邦憲法的時候，他們沒有把精力集中在個人權力方面。他們把全部精力放在為新政府創建體繫結構上面。

很多美國人深信，憲法應該保障人民的權力，他們要求憲法給出一個政府做能做到的保障清單。他們害怕一個過於強大的政府會拋棄人民通過革命戰爭得到的權力。

詹姆斯.麥迪遜（James Madison），創作憲法的國父之一，寫出了限制政府權力、保障人民權利的一份列表，這些權力表述在憲法的前10條修正案中，叫做《人權法案》（the Bill of Rights）。

其中的一些權力包括諸如：

表達自由；武裝權力（持槍權）；

不受侵犯的權力；

一罪不可兩罰的權力；

不能自己指證自己的權力；

被陪審團審判的權力；

對公訴人的權力；

不受逼供、濫用刑法的權力等。

人權法案於1791年通過。

 the first ten amendments to the Constitution：

【the Bill of Rights】

The Bill of Rights is the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. When the Framers wrote the Constitution, they did not focus on individual rights. They focused on creating the system and structure of government. Many Americans believed that the Constitution should guarantee the rights of the people, and they wanted a list of all the things a government could not do. They were afraid that a strong government would take away the rights people won in the Revolutionary War. James Madison, one of the Framers of the Constitution,wrote a list of individual rights and limits on the government. These rights appear in the first 10 amendments, called the Bill of Rights.

Some of these rights include freedom of expression, the right to bear arms, freedom from search without warrant, freedom not to be tried twice for the same crime, the right to not testify against yourself, the right to a trial by a jury of your peers, the right to an attorney, and protection against excessive fines and unusual punishments. The Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.