Question

What does the preamble say about the power of government? Select all that apply.

If the government abuses its power, people’s natural rights are taken away.
Great Britain has always upheld the natural rights of the colonists.
The government has a responsibility to protect people’s rights, not to control their lives.
Government’s power comes from the Creator.
A government is empowered by the consent of the governed.

Answer 1

Select:
- The government has a responsibility to protect people’s rights, not to control their lives.
- A government is empowered by the consent of the governed.

Why: The preamble (Declaration of Independence) says governments are instituted to "secure these rights" and that they derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed." It does not say Great Britain upheld colonists' rights, nor that government’s power comes from the Creator (the Declaration says people are endowed by their Creator with rights). The first statement about rights being "taken away" is not the preamble’s phrasing; it instead says people may alter or abolish a government that becomes destructive of those rights.