On July 4, 1776, the United States of America declared independence from England because England’s king, King George III, was a tyrant who was abusing his power. Tyranny is brutal and repressive power by one person or few people in charge such as a king or queen. The Articles of Confederation represented the first written constitution for the United States of America. A new constitution was needed because with the Articles of Confederation, each state was independent and not united. The states ruled like individual countries instead of one united country. In Philadelphia 1787, a gathering called the Constitutional Convention was held where 55 delegates from 12 out of the 13 states (Rhode Island was not there) met discussed and wrote our constitution that we know and love today. The constitution guarded against tyranny through federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and The Great Compromise.
The Constitution guarded against tyranny through federalism. Federalism is a system of government where
…show more content…
In Document C, Federalist Paper #51 written by James Madison in 1788, it talks about the job of checks and balances and how it prevents one branch from having too much power. “...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.” What Document C is explaining is that no one branch can become too powerful, for the three branches are always in check of each other. Because the branches are always checking with each other, this ensures that if one branch is growing to be too powerful, the other two branches can notify the power-ridden branch. For example, if the president (executive branch) was ruling similar to a dictator, the other branches could vote to overthrow him, which ensures that we safe from any sort of
In 1781, John Dickinson and the Second Continental Congress worked together to create the Articles of Confederation. This document was written to establish the United States of America’s governmental functions after the country declared their independence from Great Britain. Although the Articles of Confederation were a good start, there were many weaknesses present in the document; therefore, the United States Constitution was ratified in 1788 in replacement of the Articles of Confederation. The U.S. Constitution was a response to the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation as it allowed for an increase in Congressional power in order to place more taxes on foreign countries.
“The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it,” (Albert Einstein). Just as Einstein said, United States citizens needed to decide whether or not they should uphold the Constitution with the "determination" Einstein illustrated. After the Revolutionary War, colonists tried to find new means of national government. Subsequently, they settled with the Articles of Confederation. Realizing that the central government was given barely any power, a variety of political leaders came up with a solution which was soon released to the public: the United States Constitution. Federalists and Anti-federalists took sides and set off into a fierce debate, determining whether they should support the ratification
The United States of America had a rough time when it was still the thirteen colonies. They had many struggles with the British King ruling over them. So they decided to write the Declaration of Independence to declare independence from Great Britain. After independence, they wrote the Bill of Rights, or the first ten amendments of the Constitution. The Constitution was influenced by Declaration to prevent the same things that the king did to them from happening to them again. For example, the King send troops over to America and they lived in the colonists houses, and the king didn’t let the colonist to have jurial by jury.
In Federalist Paper No. 51 James Madison argues the concept of Checks and Balances. Madison’s reason for constructing this paper was to encourage anti-federalist to form a better understanding of the principles and structure of the government. Madison was promoting the system of Checks and Balances, which was designed to protect America from a majority tyranny and to protect liberty. Madison begins his paper by claiming that it is necessary for the supreme branches of government to check on one another in order for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches to stay in their appropriate places. But Madison also expresses the importance of each branch having “a will of its own” (Bianco & Canon, 2015, p. A17) by saying that it is “essential for the preservation of liberty” (Bianco & Canon, 2015, p. A17) that each branch of
When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution in 1787, the United States just had 13 states. The Founding Fathers believed that more states would want to join the Union in the future. They saw that it would be significant for new states to have the same form of government as the original states had. Since then there are now over 50 states that have similar characteristics which were developed centuries ago; although, resembling the creation of new ideas and inventions, current state government had many problems from being the way it is today, it also has many important features that benefit many people, as well as plays an important role in how American democracy and government works.
The English Parliament in the 1760s decided to increase taxes to the American colonies, which was established by the colonies as unjust due to taxation without proper representation in the parliament. As a result, the 13th colonies decided to create their own government and in 1777, Congress drafted the Articles of Confederation. This was America’s first written constitution. After the Revolutionary War, the Federal government under the Articles did not have enough strength and power to deal with economic depression, military challenges, and political issues. As a result, the America’s Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia in 1787, to approve the first Constitution of United States of America. Even though the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution did have few similarities, they differed in many ways. Also, in ratifying the new Constitution, the Congress had to settle many compromises between states and political parties.
The US Constitution states “We The People of the United states in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for more common defense, promote the General Welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” The main purpose of the U.S Constitution is to establish the basic rights of all American Citizens. This follows that every United States Citizens have equal rights. Belonging to a minority group because of culture, religion or race does not assert that one is unconstitutional. In times of war, evacuation of minority groups only in NOT constitutional; however, evacuation of ALL United
A constitution is a written document that sets forth the fundamental rules by which a society is governed. Throughout the course of history the United States has lived under two Constitutions since the British-American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776. First in line was the Articles of Confederation (1789-1789) followed by the Constitution of United States of America (1789-present). The Articles of Confederation was the first formal written Constitution of America that specified how the national government was to operate. Unfortunately, the Articles did not last long. Under the words of the Article’s power was limited; Congress could make decisions, but had no power to enforce them. Also the articles stated
A third way that the framers used the Constitution protects against tyranny was checks and balances. “...The constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they check on the other...” The main goal is to make sure that each of the three branches have control over each other but still separated. This protects against tyranny because each branch has powers the control one another. In document C it states how each level of government limits and balances each other out to keep the powers even, and how
In 1788, the U.S. Constitution established America’s national government and state government. The basic function of a Constitution is to recognized basic rights and protection for the citizens. The three branches were created judicial, executive, and legislative also the check and balances was practiced too. The key was there’s no powerful government just like King. After declaration of independence from Britain was made, the people wanted a country far aside from Britain. Unity of the fourteen colonies. The fear of the Shay’s Rebellion outbreak, the central government needed to be strengthen. From this rebellion from farmers, was the formation of the Constitution. Delegates made sure the government wasn’t too strong, the Bill of Right came to play too. The same constitution made from couple hundreds ago still governs the United States.
issues of all kind. The country I was born in did not guarantee freedom of
The Constitution was first written in 1787, during the Philadelphia Convention or known as the“Constitutional Convention”, and was signed on September 17th, that same year. The Articles of Confederation on the other hand was actually staged from 1776-1777, but was then ratified in 1781. The articles were made to establish the first official system of the U.S. Government, but it failed to respect the system of today's popular rules and young americans with safety and security. But the Constitution was what made the U.S. Government existent, these two were a set of rules to our country to establish peace and punishment. Now the United States Constitution was to even out the power of all the nation governments, This had the Separation of Power, Federalism, Republicanism, and the Amendments.
The Constitution had many important purposes and ideas. One of those ideas was establishing justice: the act of the government creating fair laws, establishing freedom, liberty, and equality. It is very evident throughout the Constitution that this goal has been met. For example, Full Faith and Credit explains that states cannot discriminate against other citizens. The Constitution states, “Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each state to the public, Acts, Records, and Judicial Proceedings of every other state” (Article 4 Section 1 Clause 1). This is an example of a fair law because it explains states have to respect the judicial ruling of other states. A common example of Full Faith and Credit is a driver’s license. If a random teenager gets a driver’s license in Illinois, Wisconsin has to respect that license, even though one has to be older to obtain a driver’s license. This is fair because Illinois ruled that this citizen is eligible for the right to drive. Another example of the Constitution establishing justice occurs in the first amendment in the Bill of Rights. According to the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” This amendment is
What is the role of government and how should it fulfill its role? Does the Constitution reflect this?
(Thomas Jefferson 59) He means by this that if too much power is given to one branch of government that they will abuse the power and they will be corrupt with the power if given too much. The checks and balances are set in place to prevent this from happening and keep the people safe from a dictatorship being formed by the