Constitution Dbq

“…thirteen powerful, independent, disunited States are in the habit off…refusing to obey our national Congress…I pray that we can act in time to prevent the bad things we fear may happen.” George Washington wrote this in a letter to John Jay (Doc 3). Even the man who is immediately thought of when talking about the start of our nation thought that without a new set of guidelines to run our country by, the young country would eventually break apart and the fighting of the higher powers would begin again. The reasons George thought this way was because of how week the Articles of Confederation actually were, also because all the different foreign problems that the country as a whole faced, and another big

The Constitution had changes the United States greatly. The document, written in 1788, was a powerful representation of the government back then, and amazingly, it’s still in play today. During the 1700’s, the first political parties formed over disagreements in the government and the constitution. The two parties were the Federalists and Antifederalists. Federalists made up the people who felt that the stronger government was best for the country and supported the Constitution. The federalists had felt as if different “fiscal and monetary policies” were a weakness in the national economy. Also, the Federalists supported banking("Anti-Federalist vs Federalist"). Federalists wanted to fight for stronger governments, managing the country’s debt

The checks and balances were mostly about how each branch of government can limit the power of the others. In other word it stops the branches from getting too powerful then the others. On document B I learned that the why the Judicial branch is the court.the legislative branch is the congress and the executive branch is the president. One why the congress checks on the president is by approving nomination. One why the congress checks on the court is by impeaching the court. One way the president checks on the congress is by vetoing a legislation. One why the president checks on the court is by nominating judges.Also one why the court checks on the president is by declaring acts of unconstitutional. One why the court checks on the congress is by declaring laws unconstitutional. Check and balances is a reason why the constitution should be ratified because it stops the branches of government to become too

The constitution is a plan of government that lasted for over 200 years, it was a strong foundation that had room for flexibility. It was written in May of 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to replace the Articles of Confederation, the former plan of U.S government. Tyranny is the control of all power by one person or group. The colonists believed that King hb

The system of checks and balances is a procedure in which systems allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other two branches. These checks allow each branch to block the actions of another branch. When Congress has the power to pass laws, the president can check this power by vetoing a bill before it becomes an actual law. Congress also has the same power and can check the president’s power by overriding the veto if two-thirds of the majority in Congress vote in each house. The Judicial Branch can also check these actions of the other two branches. The Supreme Court can declare that a law, treaty, or an executive action is unconstitutional. Basically, the system of Checks and Balances is to balance out each branch and limiting each branch’s power. (Page 162 9.2)

The Separation of Powers is a principle by which powers are divided among different branches of government to make sure no one branch has too much power. James Madison, in Federalist Paper #47, said, “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…” (Document B). He decided that the power would be separated into three different branches, to prevent the risk of dictatorship. Each branch would have separate jobs and duties, as “...

“Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power” (Madison, Federalist Paper No. 63). After the Colonists gained their freedom from Great Britain, delegates from the colonies gathered and drafted the first written body of law for the United States, the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation had many flaws, like not instituting an Executive branch to enforce laws and not allowing Congress to tax Americans. It created a weak central government . Realizing this, fifty five delegates representing twelve out of thirteen states, met up in Philadelphia in May of 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation. Too many disagreements upon revising this document led the delegates to draft a brand new document, the United States Constitution. The constitution was made to divide power equally among the states’ and central government, while also giving the people power and preserving their rights. The United States’ Constitution, thus, . The constitution prevented the United States from being ruled by tyrants and/or corrupt leaders because it adapted the concept of federalism, created a separation of powers among the branches of government, applied a checks-and-balances system to the branches of its government, and compromised the needs of big states and small states.

Then, the second part of the quote, when it says “[that branch]... can be counterworked and thwarted by the others, none of them will excessively outgrow the others or treat them with contempt,” (Document A), is the part that includes the system of checks and balances since it explains the fact that if a branch abuses their power, the other branches can stop them. This ensures that the branch that is abusing their power does not treat the other branches like they have lower authority. The United States government has 3 branches- the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. Articles 1,2, and 3 of the Constitution talk about these three branches. They can all check on each other and make sure that one branch is not getting too much power, or abusing their power. The main job of the legislative branch in the US government is to create laws, the main job of the executive branch is to enforce laws, and the main job of the judicial branch is to interpret laws. The US legislative branch is similar to Ancient Roman legislative branch because they are both bicameral. Rome’s legislative branch had the Assembly and the Council, while the US legislative branch has the Senate and the House of Representatives. The legislative branch is found in Article One of the Constitution. The tribunes could veto laws just like the

Separation of Powers is when the power of each branch of government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) is separate and distinct. This keeps any one branch from becoming too powerful. Each branch of government has its own responsibilities. The Executive Branch consists of the President, Vice-President, and the Cabinet. Their job is to enforce the law. The Legislative Branch is Congress, which is the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Legislative Branch’s job is to make laws. Last, but not least, is the Judicial Branch. Its job is to make sure that all laws are fair. Document B says, “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.” Separation of Powers guards against tyranny because it splits into three and keeps each branch of government

In Document C, it states, “‘The accumulation of all power, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands … whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective … the … definition of tyranny … Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.’” In another part of Document C, Article 1, 2, and 3, it states, “ … legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress … consist of a Senate, and House of Representatives … executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States … judicial power of the United States shall be invested in one Supreme Court.” The legislative, executive, and judicial branch all have granted powers to them. This guards against tyranny because, the branches all have one power given to them, as said in Articles 1, 2 , and 3. Whether it would be the legislative, executive, or judiciary, they all control our government. One person, or group, can’t be given more than one power since the powers are separated into three branches. This stops anyone from abusing their power because, they are not able to gain more power than the power the branch is granted. This reveals that by creating the three branches separate and distinct, it stops against

When the founding fathers realized that the Articles of Confederation just were not working for their country, they gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a new constitution. The Americans feared tyranny in the government like what they had seen under the rule of King George III. The Constitution was written with specific protections against tyranny as described by James Madison: tyranny is “the accumulation of all powers… in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many”. The Constitution guarded against tyranny by separating powers, allowing the branches to check the other branches, and giving states both equal representation and representation based on population.

When the words “We the people” were written so eloquently on a piece of parchment in 1787, did it mean we the people of this convention or we the people of the United States? A group of men so revelled in school teaching and writings as the Founding Fathers of our country fighting for the equality of millions and the democratic processes to insure that this equality is protected were elitist. A statement that goes against all the schooling down by American history teachers for hundreds of years so relevant but we forget, was the Constitution created to be an elitist document? Did they create a new government for profit or for betterment? The Constitution was written from an elitist point of view but, by creating a government that guaranteed them with numerous rights and liberties, they protected all of those who were to also be governed.

According to James Madison, tyranny is “the accumulation of all powers in the same hands.” A decade after the first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was written, the founding fathers decided that it was too weak to run a government. Due to this decision, 55 men gathered together in 1787 to write a new constitution. This Constitution prevented tyranny by including federalism, separation of power, checks and balances, and representation in Congress.

On June 21, 1788 the constitution was ratified. Our first constitution, also known as the Articles of Confederation, was adopted towards the end of the Revolutionary War. Adopting the constitution helped us create a system of government where most of the powers were store in the states rather in the central government. The constitution pushed for a loose confederation of independent states with little power in the central government. Although the articles behold good intentions, it held no sustainability. War and peace could be made but tax could not. Trade could not be regulated. Laws passed by Congress did not ensure total enforcement. If states conflicted with one another there would be no national court system to dispute it. For a national

This legal structure of a separation of powers isn’t expressed specifically within the constitution ; it is rather the structure of the text separated in distinctive chapters titled with the names of each arm of government that identifies this framework. The first three of these chapters define each