Tyranny comes in many shapes and sizes. It can come in the shape of a king, or a group of nobles, or a committee of military leaders. Whatever the shape or the size, tyranny is a problem because it means too much power in the hands of one person or group. In the summer of 1787, the writers of the constitution met in Philadelphia to frame a new government. One of their biggest jobs was to protect against different kinds of tyranny. The framers did this in four ways: federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and finally, by balancing out power between small states and large states.
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.
The U.S constitution guards against tyranny through the separations of powers. This claim is true because the constitution was made in order to avert another tyrannical form of government from ever taking place again through the allocation of governmental powers. An example of the division of powers is seen in the Federalist #51 as the document states, “... the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, & the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments” (Doc. A). These direct words from the Federalist #51 basically state that the power of the government which is given by the people is divided into national and state powers and then furthermore divided into smaller sub powers.
The first method the Constitution protects against tyranny is federalism. This principle has the power to govern divided into two levels being the national government and the state government (Doc. A). Each level has power over the other. The national government deals with issues that affect all Americans or issues that deal with the whole country while the state government covers more local and social issues such education and marriage laws (Doc. A). Some of their powers overlap such as making and enforcing laws, taxing and setting up courts (Doc. A). This evidence helps to explain why the Constitution guards against tyranny because neither level of government has all the power and they protect the citizens from the other level.
David O. Stewart, by profession, is a lawyer with a resume that includes everything from arguing appeals at the Supreme Court level to serving as a law court to the acclaimed Junior Powell. But in writing The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution (specifically, I read the First Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition May 2008, copyrighted in 2007), he uses that experience in law to prove himself a gifted storyteller. Two hundred sixty-four pages long, this United States history nonfiction book does indeed have the substance to engage the reader throughout. It has special features that include two appendices featuring the elector system and the actual constitution of 1787, author’s notes, suggested further reading, acknowledgments and an index (which escalate the total length of the book to three hundred forty-nine pages long).
The first way the Constitution guards against tyranny is by creating checks over the branches. In Document D, it states, “‘ … 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.’” In another part of Document D, it states, “The Court can declare laws unconstitutional … The
The first way in which the constitution guarded against tyranny is federalism. Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between the federal government and state governments, which you learned in document A. Federalism helps make sure that the federal government doesn’t get too much power. If the federal government were to get too much power they could have too much control over what happens to the country which could
Tyranny, a word that many have mistaken the definition of, but even though the perception of tyranny was astray to the American people, they still feared it’s principles. In 1787, the American States sent representatives to Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention in order to fix the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation were very flawed, the central government had less power than the state governments in many ways such as: not being able to tax, no court system was intact, and there were no ways to enforce laws. At their meeting, the men struggled to fix the Articles of Confederation so, it was decided that a new constitution needed to be written. The question on American’s minds was “How would the Constitution protect
After escaping a tyrannical government, 13 colonies wish to guard against tyranny. In the year 1787, 55 delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies met in Philadelphia to write and amend a document called the Constitution. Now the question is How did the Constitution guard against abuse of power. In this essay I will state 4 possible reasons the Constitution guarded against tyranny; Federalism, Small states vs. Big states, Checks and Balances, and Framers.
When the founding fathers realized that the Articles of Confederation just were not working for their country, they gathered in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a new constitution. The Americans feared tyranny in the government like what they had seen under the rule of King George III. The Constitution was written with specific protections against tyranny as described by James Madison: tyranny is “the accumulation of all powers… in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many”. The Constitution guarded against tyranny by separating powers, allowing the branches to check the other branches, and giving states both equal representation and representation based on population.
The Constitution was written in such a way that it provided a framework for the government and the laws that it passed. In order to guard against tyranny, the Constitution instituted the ideas of Federalism, Checks and Balances, and separation of powers even between the states. The first way in which the Constitution guarded against tyranny was Separation of Powers. The powers of the government were split into three separate branches: the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches.
Tyranny is not restricted to the present, nor is it restricted to certain areas of the world. In fact, over three centuries ago, America to be under the control of King George lll who was supposedly a harsh and cruel leader that did not care about his subjects. As a result, when the framers of the Constitution of 1878 met together, they agreed that something needed to be included in the Constitution to make sure it may never occur again in the future. How does the new plan of government, or constitution, protect against tyranny, the abuse of power. The Constitution protects against tyranny by including Federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances.
“Tyranny is most often defined as harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual like a dictator” (Background Essay). The Articles Of Confederation just wasn’t working for the United states, there was no court system, no chief system and no way for the government to tax people. They had a chance to create a perfect government with no tyranny, which they succeeded in making a government without tyranny. The constitution protects us from tyranny because of checks and balances, federalism and the connecticut compromise.
Tyranny can be found in several forms, which is why we need several defenses against it. In 1787, our new country held a Constitutional Convention. Delegates from most of the states came together to fix the Articles of Confederation, our first constitution. In the end, they decided to make a whole new constitution, a written government plan, that could hold our states together and protect us from tyranny. As we had just recently freed ourselves from a situation of tyranny by one with King George III, it wasn't a scenario that we wanted to repeat itself. The job was to frame, or structure, a brand new plan that could do this. The Constitution still continues to protect us because it was a strong document with a strong plan. The Constitution
The constitution first started to provide protection over tyranny in the summer of 1787 where fifty-five delegates met in Philadelphia to help readjust the national government for the better. The task of each representative was to come together to create ideas without letting one person or any one group be in hold of too much power in order for the central government to grow stronger. The constitution had help led by the Articles of Confederation with their influence on not having a court system to make the state force a pay on taxes. The main challenge was to generate a Constitution that would be strong enough to retain possession of power for each state to a minimum so not a single person was the only one to have power or control. The guard on tyranny was supported in 4 ways federalism,separation of powers, checks and balances and small/large state compromises.
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