Tyranny Dbq

Tyranny is means ‘as harsh absolute power in the hands of one individual’; it has happened everywhere. Whatever the size or shape, tyranny is a problem because it means too much power in the hands of one person or group. In 1787, Representatives from almost all the states in the U.S, met in Philadelphia to fix the issue of tyranny. The House presents us to “The Articles of Confederation” to help guard against tyranny. The Constitution guarded against tyranny in ways such as having the federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and the large and small states both treated equally.

Have you ever wondered what the US would be like if our government was a tyranny? Well, thanks to our founding fathers for creating a strong constitution, we don’t have to worry about that. The constitution was written in 1787 in Philadelphia. The problem was that the existing government that was under the Articles Of Confederation wasn’t very successful. Therefore, the fifty-five delegates representing twelve out of the thirteen states came together to tweak our constitution to create a strong government without allowing one person, or group of people to have too much power. The framers used the Constitution to protect against Tyranny in three ways federalism, separation of powers, and

The House of Representatives consists of 435 elected members that are divided among the fifty states in proportion to their population. There are also six

small states. The larger states are not more powerful than the smaller states. All population appoints the House of Representatives. Each state at least has to have 1 senator some states get more the 1 and some states only have 1 senator. They all have the same amount of powers. According to the constitution article 1 section 2 “Representatives… shall not be apportioned … according … to (population) …… the number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one representative. “ Meaning the government makes them have the same amount of power so they can check one

Once long ago, many Americans especially those who were a part of the very formation of our government, were extremely fearful of the strength of a powerful, centralized government could have. Under the tyrannical rule of the British, Americans were forced to endure unfair taxation practices and abuse of their rights. This is what inspired the American Revolution, where Americans were able to free themselves from the British and aspired to start anew. Now with this fresh start, the fear of returning to a state of previous injustice fueled the creation of the Articles of Confederation; a government with such little power it barely was able to hold the nation together. This ultimately was labelled as a failure due to the fact that it was impossible for each state to stand together when they're so divided and issues were discussed during the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

In 1783, the thirteen colonies had just won a revolutionary war to free themselves from being controlled by a king. After the war the people wanted to write a constitution that was fair to everyone and was tyranny-free. Tyranny is harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual- like a king or dictator. King George III who ruled over the colonists before the colonies declared their independence was considered a tyrant. The constitution guarded against tyranny in many ways including federalism, the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances.

Not wanting to recreate similar oppressions imposed by the British, the Articles of Confederation left most of the power to the states. While able to end the war with Britain and declare autonomy, it soon became clear with Shay’s Rebellion, however, that this new government, defined as the Critical Period (1781-1789) was too weak and too flawed to endure a lasting nation.

The large states would be happier with the representation in the house, and the smaller states would be happier with the representation in the senate (Doc.D). The large states will get more representation due to their size. The small states will get 2 senators, which makes it even. The small state and large state compromise guards against tyranny by allowing each state to at least have one representative to help make improvements in their

In Document D also called Big States vs. Small States it is stated that all states have 2 senators for the Senate and the amount for the House of Representatives varies per state based on population. The amount per state for the House of Representatives is as follows: New Hampshire 3, Massachusetts 8, Rhode Island 1, Connecticut 5, New York 6, New Jersey 4, Pennsylvania 8, Delaware 1, Maryland 6, Virginia 10, North Carolina 5, South Carolina 5, Georgia 3. The reasoning behind this decision is so no one state can overlap

The constitution states “...Each state shall have at least one representative” (Doc D). This means that each state should get a say, and that each state deserves representatives on their side. Each state gets 2 senators in order to favor the smaller population states. Also each state gets representatives in the House Of Representatives based on population. “The accumulation of all powers.. In the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” (Background essay). This means that tyranny can be from one person or a group of people. If larger states had more power they could become a tyrant to the smaller states. If smaller states had more power they could be a tyrant to larger states. Since small states are favored in the Senate and larger states are favored in the House Of Representatives there should not be any

This allows all states, no matter the size, population or wealth to have equal power and vote in government. Congress has a bicameral Legislature meaning that it is separated by the House of Representatives and the Senate. Depending on population, ever state will get a set numbers of representatives in the House but is assigned two senators who have one vote each. According to Article 1, Section 2 of the constitution, “Representatives. . . Shall be . . .

This worked out to satisfaction of the smaller states and for the larger states they were given a House of Representatives that would consist of a larger body of representatives for each state in proportion to the amount of the people in that state.

The Framers of the Constitution created the Virginia Plan, made by James Madison, to state the concerns of the large states. This plan created a legislature that was based on population. So, the bigger the population the more members were elected for the House of Representatives. The members would then elect two senators for each state.

In print, the Constitution says, “representatives… shall be apportioned... according to (population),” (A1) and “the Senate...shall be composed of two senators from each state” (A2). In the House, representatives are based on population. This means that smaller states don’t have as much of a say as the larger states that have a bigger population. If smaller states do not have a say, laws could be made that does not help that particular state.

The Articles of Confederation, a written agreement that ensured each state’s sovereignty, freedom and independence, led America to victory over the British centralized government. During the late eighteenth century, the empowered government terrified the Americans, hence the thirteen colonies decided to spread governance powers equally to all functional states. The states had absolute dominance over the Congress due to the Articles of Confederation. While the localized power of states seemed to be promising, the system posed great threat to the major components of a democratic government, which are coercion, revenue, and legitimacy (Lecture 1 - The Roots of Government). The system of localized power did not ensure legitimacy, which referred to people’s recognition of national government. Congress’s lack of power to control each state’s actions caused great chaos. Eventually, national government’s lack of power and inability to unify the states exposed multiple flaws in the Articles of Confederation; consequently, a new supreme law, the Constitution was established by the founding fathers. The new supreme law successfully altered the imbalanced system into a novel democratic government.