“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…” — Preamble to the United States Constitution (1787)
1. Native American Sovereignty and the Foundation of America
To understand who “We the People” truly are, we must start at the beginning—long before 1776. For thousands of years prior to European contact, hundreds of Indigenous nations cultivated, navigated, and maintained the North American continent through sophisticated agricultural systems, complex governance models, and deep ecological stewardship.
When European colonists arrived, the taking of Native lands unfolded through military force, forced removals, broken treaties, and legal constructs designed to strip away sovereignty [^1].
The sacred connection Indigenous peoples held with the earth was met with deliberate dispossession—evidenced by historical events ranging from the Indian Removal Act of 1830 to the forced marches of the Trail of Tears and hundreds of systematically unfulfilled federal treaties [^1].
HISTORICAL LAND DISPOSSESSION
Pre-1492: Sovereign Indigenous Nations spanning North America
1789–1827: Early treaties & boundary negotiations (ASP Records)
1830: Indian Removal Act: Systematic forced relocation
Late 1800s-1900s: Allotment Acts & Reservation System established
The sacrifice made by Native Americans was not merely physical land; it was the sacred interruption of continuous, sustainable civilizations.
The true foundation of North America rests upon blood, sweat, and tears shed on Indigenous land long before the word “immigrant” was ever weaponized to divide working people.
2. Who Are the “True Americans”?
Reframing Labor and Sacrifice
Throughout American history, political and economic elites have frequently labeled arriving working-class populations as “foreigners” or “outsiders.” Yet, the very infrastructure of the United States—from the Transcontinental Railroad built by Chinese and Irish laborers, to the agricultural fields tended by immigrant workers, to the cities erected by Black labor both forced and free—was constructed by working hands.
The phrase “True Americans” does not belong to an elite minority, nor does it belong to those who inherit intergenerational wealth.
The True American People are those of every ethnic origin and DNA profile who:
• Perform the essential labor that powers daily life (construction, sanitation, agriculture, caregiving, manufacturing).
• Pay their fair share of taxes from every hard-earned paycheck.
• Sustain community infrastructure during times of crisis.
• Bear the physical burden of military service and manual labor.
Calling these foundational workers “immigrants” or “outsiders” to marginalize them is a historic tactic of division.
Anyone who gives their labor, sweat, and devotion to building and sustaining society carries the true DNA of “We the People.”
3. A Brief History: The Machine vs. The Working Class
The rapid growth of the United States into a global power was driven by relentless industrialization.
While the industrial revolution created unprecedented wealth, that wealth became heavily concentrated at the top, building a system where the rich profit off the backs of everyday labor.
Industrial Expansion ──► Wealth Concentration ──► Working Class Squeeze
│ │ │
Built by labor Controlled by elites Stagnant wages vs.
& innovation & corporations rising cost of living
Over the last several decades, structural economic shifts have accelerated this disparity.
According to long-term demographic data from the Pew Research Center, the American middle class has steadily contracted, shrinking from 61% of adults in 1971 to roughly 50% in recent years[^2]. Meanwhile, the share of aggregate national wealth held by upper-income households continues to grow, leaving working families to fight over an ever-smaller piece of the pie.
4. The Economic Breakdown: Middle Class vs. Lower Income Struggles
The modern economy forces working-class and middle-class Americans to bear the financial burden of the state while receiving minimal social protections in return.
U.S. Income Tiers & Economic Realities
Household Category Income Threshold (3-Person HH) [^3]
Primary Economic Challenges
Lower-Income: Less than $56,600 / year = Housing instability, lack of healthcare access, basic inflation
Middle-Income: $56,600 – $169,800 / year = High childcare costs, education debt, shrinking savings
Upper-Income: Greater than $169,800 / year = Capital gains accumulation, lower relative tax burdens & every other American benefits we so desperately are fighting for and you keep from us.
The Unanswered Question’s: “Why?”
The True American People are asking fundamental questions about our national priorities:
1. Why spend trillions on military operations while domestic healthcare remains non-universal?
“According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), federal discretionary spending on defense routinely accounts for hundreds of billions annually” [^4], while millions of working Americans face medical debt or lack comprehensive care.
2. Why neglect our Elders our Military?
Senior citizens who worked four or five decades building this nation are often left surviving on fixed incomes that barely cover medicine, housing, and long-term care.
3. Why do the wealthy profit while workers pay?
Corporate subsidies, bailouts, and tax loopholes routinely protect corporate interests, while the working class faces wage stagnation and rising costs for basic necessities.
5. What If America Was Never Invaded?
The Unbroken Dream
What would a True American Dream have looked like if this continent had not been invaded, enslaved, and fractured by commercial exploitation?
” I think it would have been a civilization built on the foundational principles of Indigenous governance. “
I believe we would have:
• Care for the Vulnerable: Elders were honored as living libraries, the sick were nursed by the community, and no one went hungry while others hoarded wealth.
• Ecological Balance: Living with nature rather than extracting from it until destruction. Taking only what was needed and preserving the land for the next seven generations.
• Mutual Protection: Clothing, feeding, and sheltering one another as an interconnected tribe, rather than treating basic human survival as a commercial commodity.
In this alternative reality, “progress” would not be measured by stock market indices or billionaire net worth, but by the health of the water, the security of the elders, and the unity of the people.
6. Gilded Palace in Washington: Why Are “We the People” just find this not a political issue but to Suffer?
When we turn our eyes to Washington, D.C., the disconnect between power and the people has reached a boiling point.
Everyday Americans are suffocating under inflation, sky-high housing costs, debt, and healthcare expenses.
Yet, while the working class struggles to survive, our political leaders surround themselves with gilded luxury, framing self-enrichment and corporate conquest as “progress?“
Why is the system operating this way?
Progress Built for the Rich, Not the People: Laws originally designed to ensure equal protection, labor rights, and public welfare are systematically dismantled to clear the runway for deregulation and corporate monopolies.
The legal architecture of the nation now prioritizes the rights of capital over the rights of human beings.
The Spectacle of Power: Watching leaders clad their surroundings in gold and claim national achievements as their personal property reveals a profound decay in republican virtue.
The presidency was built to be a public trust—a service rendered to the people—not a personal brand or an empire to be inherited.
A Forgotten Electorate: Washington feels indifferent because the political establishment has surrendered to dark money and corporate lobbying.
When billions flow into campaigns, representatives become responsive to donors rather than the working men and women whose blood, sweat, and tears keep the lights on in this country.
The True American People are not asking for handouts; they are demanding the basic promise of the Constitution—that government exists to promote the general welfare, not to enrich a select few while leaving the majority to bleed.
7. Personal Reflection and Conclusion
My Take on “We the People“:
“The true spirit of America has never resided in corporate boardrooms or political rhetoric. It lives in the hands of the working people who carry this country on their backs.
“We the People” must mean ALL the people—honoring the original Indigenous caretakers, respecting the immigrant and working-class families who built our infrastructure, and protecting the civil rights and economic dignity of every person who pours their life into this nation.”
If I had to live a TRUE American dream, it would follow the path of Native traditions: taking care of our elders, our sick, and our poor; clothing, feeding, and protecting one another; and using nature to survive instead of destroying it.
All things are connected.
We come from the earth, and we leave by the earth.
“We Are All Related.”
Final Author’s Note
A Note to the Reader: “Writing this piece is not about division; it is about remembering who we are when the noise of political spectacle tries to make us forget. Every bridge built, every harvest gathered, every elder cared for, and every sacrifice made on this soil was paid for by working hands—long before gilded towers were built to overshadow them. If we want a future that honors “We the People,” we have to stop letting those at the top divide us by origin, income, or lineage.
Look around you: the person working next to you, bleeding and sweating for their family just like you are, is your relative in this shared struggle.
Honor the land, protect one another, and never stop demanding the dignity we have all earned.”
— Coni Dubois
References & Documentation
For further reading and resource materials related to socio-economic reform, civil rights advocacy, and cultural commentary, visit conidubois.com.
Footnotes & External Data Sources
[^1]: National Archives & Records Administration (NARA). Published Primary Sources Relating to American Indians. Historical records of federal policy, treaties, and government relations with Native American tribes. Link: https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/published-resources.html
[^2]: Pew Research Center. How the American Middle Class Has Changed in the Past Five Decades. Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and demographic data tracking the contraction of the middle class since 1971. Link: https://www.pew.org/en/trust/archive/fall-2022/how-the-american-middle-class-has-changed-in-the-past-five-decades
[^3]: Pew Research Center. Are you in the U.S. middle class? Income Calculator & Tier Definitions. Data breakdown of lower, middle, and upper-income parameters adjusted for household size and inflation. Link: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/16/are-you-in-the-american-middle-class/
[^4]: Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Health Care and Federal Budget Spending Reports. Official analyses comparing federal defense expenditures against mandatory healthcare and social allocations. Link: https://www.cbo.gov/topics/health-care
Copyright & Legal Notice
© 2026 Coni Dubois (conidubois.com). All Rights Reserved.
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