Checks And Balances: James Madison And Alexander Hamilton

In “Federalist 10”, James Madison explains and protects the checks and balances system in the Constitution of the United States. He says how each branch of our government is outlined so that its power checks the powers of the two other branches. He explains this by stating that there are factions, a majority faction and a minority faction. These factions are unified by a common belief or interest, and aim to protect the rights or interests of their community. If the power of the majority went unchecked, then the power they received could then be used to oppress the unpopular, or minority, views. The majority could also use their new power to take away the rights given to the minority.

Federalist 51 addresses the importance of checks and balances in defense of the United States Constitution. By setting up the government in this fashion, Hamilton or Madison argues that no one branch will tyrant over another. His argument mentions that first, each of the distinct powers of the government needs to be divided so that each branch has a purpose of its own and does not overlap the jurisdiction of another branch. This, according to Hamilton or Madison, will lay down the foundation of the government of the United States. The three branches include “the supreme executive, legislative, and judiciary” and “[the branches] should be drawn from the same foundation of authority, the people.” The author calls for a democratic form of government

In order to have a stable government one must first be able to separate its powers equally among its members. James Madison explains how he wants the government to be broken down into three branches, the legislative, executive and judicial branch. This is the case in order to not give anyone more power than the other and to keep members from having little to no communication with members of other branches. Madison wrote Federalist 51 in 1788 in order to state his opinion on how he thinks the powers of government should be handled and distributed. He also talks about his concerns of what could happen if the government is not secure and the troubles that could occur. Madison while writing this essay is wanting to convey what he thinks a powerful government needs in order to survive and have as little problem as possible. He highlights on the powers of the legislative branch should and should not have. In this argument Madison is speaking of how the governments power should be given equally towards each branch because he believes that power can not be controlled by one branch alone.

The three branches of government also known as the legislative, judicial, and executive, helped guard against tyranny, by separation of powers. The main idea of a quote by James Madison states that, all three branches of government lean on each other, yet have separate but equal powers. (Document B) Separation of powers, created by the three branches of government, helped guard against tyranny, by allowing the three divisions to lean on each other, so that if one group did something that went out of hand, they could do something about it. In James Madison’s Federalist Paper #47, he states that, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny… (L)iberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.” The beginning of the quote defines the outcome of what would happen if one person or group were to accumulate all the powers of the legislative, executive, and judiciary. The ending of the quote states that if liberty is wanted, the three

Between the years 1787 and 1788 John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison wrote a series of eighty-five papers in order to convince people to ratify the United States Constitution. During this time period there were two different sides. The Federalist, who wanted a more centralized government and to achieve ratification of the constitution to help manage the debt and tensions following the American Revolution. The support of this group was strongly centralized

According to James Madison, “…the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other … the three branches should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” (Doc. C). This means that the three branches can check on each other and keep each other balanced and that the powers among each branch is equal. In the constitution it states, “that court can declare laws unconstitutional.” (Doc. C). This is an example of how the judicial branch can check the legislative branch so each branch has a way to check the other branches. The system of check and balances guards against tyranny because without a system of checks and balances, one branch of government may become overpowered and there may be a

With the concept of majority tyranny in mind, the founder’s, including Madison, divided the power of the government into three different branches. The need

To urge others to ratify the Constitution, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote what is now known as the Federalist Papers. It consisted of 85 letters written to newspapers rebutting Anti-Federalist critics was published as a 2 volume book in 1788. Alexander Hamilton wrote 59 of the essays, Madison wrote 29, and Jay wrote 5. They signed them with the pen name. “Publius.” Hamilton and Madison were delegates at the Constitutional Convention and their essays are used to interpret the original meaning of the Constitution. These essays played a huge role in the ratification process of New York and other

From a portion of the Federalist Papers #51 written by James Madison in 1788, Doc C explains the importance of having each branch posses some sort of power over the other two, so much so that they can check to see if they are appropriately using their power or is committing tyranny. As written in Doc C, “... the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other… . (The three branches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” The quote means that to avoid one branch doing whatever they want, the branches must have power other branches to check to see if they are using power correctly and to balance the power that was given to the branches. With the branches constantly checking each other, no one branch can get away with corruption without at least one of the other two branches stepping in to stop them. They are forced to depend and function together- to balance each other’s powers with their own so that the option of tyranny isn’t

Checks and balances is a system that prevents one branch from having too much power, and giving each branch some power over the others. Doc C is an excerpt from Federalist #51, that was written by James Madison in 1788. The federalist papers were written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, to convince the states to ratify the constitution. According to Doc C, “... the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several officers in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other…. (The three branches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” The quote from Doc C shows that each branch should have some power over one another to ensure that not one branch becomes a tyrant. The constitution guards against tyranny through checks and balances, which lets each branch check each other on their actions, and stop them if they are abusing their

In Federalist Paper number 78, Alexander Hamilton addresses the importance of an independent judicial branch and judicial review. The Constitution proposes the federal judges hold their office for life, Hamilton says by serving for life it decreases the chance of political pressure

The Federalist Papers written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison were wrote to convince the people of the states that the newly written constitution would be a vastly better system of government than the articles of confederation, and that the states should ratify it. The purpose of Federalist Paper No. 51 is to inform the reader of safeties created by the constitutional convention to maintain separate branches of government, and to protect the rights of the citizens and of the United States.

The Constitution guards us against tyranny by using Checks and Balances. The constant aim to divide the several offices so they are checked by each other. “(The three branches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” Madison states that, by giving each branch a government some scrutiny and control of over the other branches.

Madison said “If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” (Madison, 1788). A system of checks and balances needed to be implemented. Madison argued that the only way the government could be effective was to allow it to “control the governed, and in the next place [be obliged] to control itself” (Madison, 1788). The Executive Branch is responsible for implementing the laws passed by the Legislative Branch, and those same laws are either upheld or rejected by the Judicial Branch. The three branches of government must work together to provide for the general welfare. The fragmentation of the power, along with a system of checks and balances, greatly diminishes the ability for one branch to gain too much power. This guarantees the rights of the people and ensures the government’s ability to govern.

Alexander Hamilton, born in 1757 in the British West Indies, began playing a large role in our country’s history as the founder of the “Federalist” party. The Federalist party supported the creation of a United States Constitution in the midst of political conflict over how much of a central government the United States should be built with. Anti-Federalists, people against the constitution argued that far away powers wouldn’t protect the rights of the people. They also were anxious over the absence of a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. Alexander Hamilton and his supporters, “Hamiltonians” argued that individual states cannot protect or govern themselves properly. He contributed to “The Federalist Papers”, a series of eighty-five essays and articles supporting the ratification of the constitution. His efforts proved worthwhile, after the eventual addition of a Bill of Rights to the US Constitution it was finally ratified by all thirteen states.