Laws and constitutions or values and principles?

What comes first ? Laws and constitutions or values and principles?

Each of us have our own being, our own values and principles. We behave in  ways which coincide with our  values and principles   If we make "rules" they also fit with our  values and principles .

We are told the United States is a Republic based on a Constitution and Laws written by "The Founders."
What are the values and principles which this Constitution and Laws are supposed to support?
We have the basic: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Than there were amendments added for Equality, Law and Justice.

Initially the Founders were slave owners. To vote or be an Officer of the government you had to be male and a landowner. The Laws and Constitution were written by these Founders utilizing their values and principles of their time.

The constitution was written and ratified to begin March 4 1789.

On September 25, 1789, the first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution--the Bill of Rights--and sent them to the states for ratification. Ten of these amendments were ratified in 1791. In November 1789, North Carolina became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Rhode Island, which opposed federal control of currency and was critical of compromise on the issue of slavery, resisted ratifying the Constitution until the U.S. government threatened to sever commercial relations with the state. On May 29, 1790, Rhode Island voted by two votes to ratify the document, and the last of the original 13 colonies joined the United States. Today the U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution in operation in the world. http://goo.gl/DphoR

Woman suffrage, ending slavery took many years to change. [Arguably these changes are not complete.] These changes came as "values and principles" changed. [A slow process]

I suggest the United States people must urgently review and evaluate our values principles to determine if they are capable of fulfilling the needs of our time. Our use [abuse] of fossil fuels, disrespect of soil, water and air is leading us to a catastrophic end. We must together develop sustainable ways which respect Earth and our Planet.

I ask readers to comment, to suggest values and principles we can use to advance as we must.
Thanks, Bruce