Our Nation's Future

“The accumulation of all power... in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.”  James Madison believed tyranny could be exhibited in many ways. In May of 1787 our founding fathers assembled to Philadelphia to discuss the Articles of Confederation which was the United States current constitution. After much debate, the decision was to obliterate the Articles of Confederation and adopt a completely different constitution which is our current United State’s Constitution. The United State’s current Constitution was officially ratified ten months after the meeting. Consisting of; Federalism, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, and Balancing Power between the Large and Small States.

The Constitution was created so one person or group wasn’t able to get too much power. At first, the Articles of Confederation was made. The Articles of Confederation was not working because the central government didn’t have enough power to protect the nation. The Constitution was made in order to hold the states together and the people together, and make sure the government doesn’t gain too much power. The Constitution guards against tyranny. Tyranny is “The accumulation of all powers…in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many” (Federalism Paper #47). The Constitution guards against tyranny by separation of powers, creating federalism, and having checks and balances.

The Articles have brought the United States to the point of humiliation. The vast majority of the people believe the state of the nation is in turmoil. A list of issues has been compiled such as large accumulation of debt, territories possessed by foreign powers, lack of a military, lack of money, decrease in property value, no credit available, lack of commerce, and over all lack of respect as a nation. Hamilton’s first and most important complaint is how the “principle of legislation in a collective manner creates multiple authorities” (Hamilton 2009, 15); therefore, the laws under the national government become merely suggestions to the states, and any changes that should be necessary have to come with the approval of all 13 states, essentially limiting any change. Secondly, congress has no army, and cannot enforce taxation laws over individuals. In Federalist 23, Hamilton argues for what powers the national government should have in order to provide for the nations defense, preserve peace, and regulate commerce, but in order to accomplish these, the government should be able to, with limitless goals, raise an army and a navy, and “the person charged with attaining the end, ought to possess the

Significance: This type of government allows the federal government to hopefully become more efficient and effective at solving government financial problems. The federal government has the power to properly distribute income and to make the economy stable because it is more “flexible”.

Federalism helped prevent tyranny and corruption. Federalism took the power surrendered by the people and shared it upon the states’ and the central government, while

The ratification of the U.S Constitution was a labor-intensive and stressful procedure. The reason for this is because the 13 states split into two different groups based on how they felt about the issue: the federalists and the anti-federalists. The Federalists supported the ratification of the U.S Constitution whereas the Anti-Federalists opposed it. The debate over this topic included reasons about power and political stances. The major arguments used by each side in the debates over the ratification for the U.S. Constitution were whether or not the central government should have more power, whether or not the country would be disunited after its approval, and whether or not natural rights will be in jeopardy.

    The states feared a strong, central government which is the reason the Articles of Confederation were so weak. In order to appease the fear of the states, the Constitution divided the power between the central government and the states. This division of power is known as Federalism (Doc A). With Federalism the central and state governments can “control each other” but also “be controlled by [themselves].” This prevented one government from gaining too much power. For instance, a state cannot ignore a federal tax law because the central government has the power to enforce the law. This safeguard is important because it not only prevents the central government from gaining too much power but it also allows the states to set policies specific for their inhabitants.

The Articles of Confederation fall short in many regards and this nation cannot thrive under them. The first reason is that our Congress cannot collect taxes, but instead the state’s tax the citizens and have to turn it over to Congress. However, if the state does not give Congress the

The advantages for the federal government is that it can wield the constitutional rights to the people and able to create laws without the need of the approval of their citizens. Here in act allow the citizens to create their own environment without the interference of the government only when it is deemed necessary. However, the only drawback that the clause has is that it cannot really create more of an authority than it already has in its possession or rights. In which it indicates that it does not allow for the creation of new powers or any new type of order. The necessary and proper clause assures that the entire federal government has the ability to practice the power they are vested in from the constitution itself.

The central government has Delegated powers (section 8 of Article I of the U.S. Constitution) and the states have reserved powers (Killian). The Supremacy clause which made the Constitution the supreme law of the land also reinforced the power of the central government. Finally, to appease the fears of the central government having too much power the Constitution established the separation of powers which gave each branch (legislative, executive, judicial) the power to check the other. This limits the power given to the central government to the powers stated in the

the states to give them power over the Government. It gave the states individual power to pass

Federalism guards against tyranny by distributing the power. In the federalist paper #51 “Madison states his idea that the division of power between central and state governments are known as federalism.” Powers were given to the central government and some to the states. Some powers given to the central government are that they can declare war, print and coin money, make immigration laws and regulate trade. Some powers given to the states are they can hold elections, establish schools and set up local governments. They also share powers like taxes, courts, and making laws. Federalism is important because it doesn’t let the government take control for example giving states and people the power to vote and elect our government.

Although the constitution separates powers in the government, doesn’t mean that the country and the states individually have their own sets of laws and power. The government has to distinct compound powers, one is powers given to the states, and the other is power given central government. Consequently, some powers given to the state are setting up local governments, holding elections and establishing schools, some powers that the

The founders of the Constitution had to make a document that would give powers to the people yet also protect against one or more person getting too powerful. This is called tyranny, or a government with absolute power. They protected against it by creating Federalism, Separation of powers, Checks and balances, and Bicameral legislative. This allowed us to have a constitution that guards against suppressive tyrants. One of the guards against tyranny is Federalism.

However, one can contend that with the Constitution came its own adversities, leading to a federal government which possesses too much power, rather than the balance that it promised. The Constitution was written and expounded by federalist James Madison, and it became our nation's basic law. With the constitution, Congress was given the right to levy taxes, regulate trade between states and other countries, and there was the creation of a federal court system, an executive branch with power of checks and balances, and amendments were easier by being ratified if 2/3 of congress and 3/4 of the house passed it. However, the constitution does not restrict the central government enough, and states' rights are not sufficiently