<Li> Ochoa v. Hernandez y Morales, 230 U.S. 139 (1913): the Fifth Amendment's requirement that "no person shall...be deprived of...property, without due process of law" was held, by the Supreme Court, to apply in Puerto Rico, even though it was not a State and thus not "part" of the United States . </Li> <P> The phrase "to form a more perfect Union" has been construed as referring to the shift to the Constitution from the Articles of Confederation . The contemporary meaning of the word "perfect" was complete, finished, fully informed, confident, or certain . The phrase has been interpreted in various ways throughout history based on the context of the times . For example, shortly after the Civil War and the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court said that the "Union" was made "more perfect" by the creation of a federal government with enough power to act directly upon citizens, rather than a government with narrowly limited power that could act on citizens only indirectly through the states, e.g., by imposing taxes . Also, the institution was created as a government over the States and people, not an agreement (union) between the States . </P> <P> Later, the phrase came to mean the continual process of improvement of the country . </P> <P> "To know what has come before is to be armed against despair . If the men and women of the past, with all their flaws and limitations and ambitions and appetites, could press on through ignorance and superstition, racism and sexism, selfishness and greed, to create a freer, stronger nation, then perhaps we, too, can right wrongs and take another step toward that most enchanting and elusive destinations: a more perfect Union ." </P>

According to the preamble where is the source of authority for the new constitution