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The Constitution Defends a Tyranny-free Government

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How much do you know about tyranny? In May of 1787, 55 men came together, confronted with the reality that their current Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was not working. The situation was the result of the desire to form a tyranny free government. Now they would have to create a new stronger government that could also protect against tyranny. Three ways the Constitution defends against tyranny are federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances.

Federalism is one of the ways that helps defend against tyranny. Federalism granted powers to the central government and to the state. They share a portion of the powers between them, as shown in the diagram, like the power to take and borrow money (Doc A). With overlapping powers, neither groups would have complete control, yet would retain enough power to subdue any uprising made by the other party. Also, with the certain rights given to the states, if one person dislikes certain laws made by the states, they could change their residence to another state with more favorable laws, if they prefer. James Madison himself wrote that "The different governments will control each other at the same time that each will be controlled by itself." (Doc A). The reason Madison brings this up is because under the Articles of Confederation, the central government had little control over the states. The states were not required to pay taxes under the Articles of Confederation. If this were in act today, then the government

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