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The Role Of The Constitution Dbq Essay

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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

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