William Samuel Johnson Research Paper

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

After winning the Revolutionary War, the states faced the strenuous task of creating a national government that balanced federal powers with individual and state rights. The first endeavor resulted in the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation gave too much power to the states and not enough power to the federal government. The imbalance of power resulted in a weak national government. The Constitution replaced the feeble Articles with a powerful federal government that incorporated republican ideals. Under this new system of government George Washington and Thomas Jefferson established new procedures, laws, and policies that set the standards and structured the new government. The laws, policies, and actions of both George

Federalism was the first guard against tyranny. The central government and states both had their own powers but also shared a few. They had trading, conducting foreign relations, declaring war, making immigration laws etc. Local state governments got elections, establishing schools, passing marriage and divorce laws, and regulating in-state business. “The different governments will control each other and at the same time it will be controlled by itself,” said James Madison in the federalist paper #51.

Federalism and the checks and balances of the three branches of government prevented any abuse of power to rise in the new government. The division of responsibilities and the flexibility in the Constitution allowed for an effective and efficient way of regulating the system. The Constitution gave the people what they wanted in the first place from breaking away from Great Britain through a Bills of Rights and amendable Constitution, a system that served the best interest of the people. Because the Constitution provided a barrier against power abuse, was effective and efficient, and served the best interest of the people, it should be

In order to protect against tyranny, a system of checks and balances was designed to keep any one of the three branches from gaining more power than another branch. According to James Madison, “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…(The three braches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” (Doc C) He thought each of the three braches could watch one another and keep them in check. They have the ability to control portions of the other branches. If one branch does something unacceptable, another branch can step in and overrule the branch in question. An example of this is that the President has the ability to veto legislation if Congress passes a law that is too extreme. At the same time, the Legislative branch has the power to override a veto by the President or even impeach the President. (Doc C) Without a system of checks and balances, one of the three branches could gain control over the others allowing tyranny. This structure framed into the constitution gave assurance that the powers would oversee each other and not allow major shifts among

The Constitution guarded against tyranny by giving the states individual freedom. To become a new nation the colonists needed some form of government, so they formed the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was the first plan of government for the United States beginning during the Revolutionary War, but it had many weaknesses and just wasn't working for the people. One weakness the Articles of Confederation had was that there was no court system.   Another weakness was that the central government could not force a state to pay taxes.

However, the most important power was that Congress had the right to obtain territory and control development of the western territories, which was previously controlled by their mother country, Great Britain. (Doc D) With the Articles of Confederation, the United States was able to break away from their mother country and become a free nation, setting up their own government. Although the articles set the United States free, it was unable to provide them with a solid government. Leaders like John Jay and James Madison criticized the Articles of Confederation because of the weak government. (Doc G) There were several problems between the states and the central government. For instance, sometimes the states refused to give the government the money it needed, and they engaged in tariff wars with one another, bringing interstate trading to a halt. The government could not pay off the debts it had incurred during the revolution, including paying soldiers who had fought in the war and citizens who had provided supplies to the cause. (Doc C) In addition, the new nation was unable to defend its borders from British and Spanish encroachment because it could not pay for an army when the states would not contribute the necessary funds. Another serious problem was that Congress could not pass needed measures because they lacked nine-state majority required to become laws. The states

The Constitution guarded against tyranny since 1790. They did this by separating the powers of the three branches of the federal government in a way that the branches can check with each other, and giving each state 2 senators. In Federalist Paper #47 by James Madison, it says, “(L)iberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.” This quote conveys that James Madison think that the three branches of the federal government, legislative, executive, and judicial, should be divided, but each will have equal power. The separation of power guards against tyranny, so one branch could not become too powerful than the other two. From the Federalist Paper #51 by James Madison, it states,

America’s power was first split into two separate governments between a central government and a state government. These two governments each had powers of their own, as well as powers that they shared. The state was given the power of setting up local governments, holding elections, establishing schools, passing marriage and divorce laws, and regulating in-state businesses. The central government was given the power of regulating

The Federal government needed more power in order for the United States to function successfully. In the letter from James Madison to George Washington, “the national government should be armed with positive and complete authority in all cases which require uniformity; such as the regulation of trade” (Document 1). This letter is explaining how the government was not working when there was fourteen (thirteen states, national government) different ways of life between the states. For example trade was difficult because there were fourteen ways of trading. Since the states were given more power than the Federal government in the Articles of Confederation, the

James Madison’s words in the Federalist Papers were “The different governments will each control each other, at the same time will be controlled by itself.” (Doc. A). By separating the central and state government, it created a security to the rights of each group, both forms of government had a separate job, but they also both watched over one another. This way guards from tyranny because it keeps the power completely separated between central and state government but also keeping the power balanced at the same time. Some powers given to the central government include: conducting foreign relations, providing an army and navy, and printing money, Meanwhile, some powers given to the states include: the setup of local governments, ability to hold elections, and regulating in-state business (Doc. A). Federalism was the framers’ first way to prevent tyranny in the constitution, while keeping the two groups of central and state government from obtaining to much

John Hancock was born on January 23, 1737 in Braintree, Massachusetts. John was married to Dorothy Quincy in 1775. They had two kids a girl and a boy neither of them lived into adulthood. John’s parents were Mary Hawke and senior John Hancock. John’s father died and his mother gave him and his siblings to their aunt and uncle, Lydia and Thomas Hancock. Thomas was a wealthy merchant who had enough money to live in a mansion.

Why did the Framers of the United States Constitution ultimately decided to give more power to the Federal government rather than the state governments? One topic that will be presented in this essay is the problems with the Articles of Confederation. Another topic that will be discussed is what a Federal government is, and why the Framers chose it. Also it will talk about what a State government is, and why the Framers didn’t choose it. Did the Framers do the right thing by handing over their power to the Federal government or should they have chosen the State government?

During the Revolutionary War, Congress formed our first written Constitution as a way to help strengthen our nation and provide a way for our country to be run. The Articles of Confederation had a few basic strengths in place. However, there were also some weaknesses in it as well. The Articles of Confederation had a few basic strengths. It was instrumental in uniting the original thirteen colonies under one cause.

Sir Walter Raleigh was an explorer, soldier, and traveled on many oversea adventures and played a large part in the overseas expansions. He was born into a very connected family at Hayes Barton in Devon around the year 1552 and died in the year of 1618. He had four siblings Humphrey, John, and Adrian Gilbert were his half sibling and Carew Raleigh his full-blood sibling. He married Elizabeth Raleigh (Throgmorton) and they had three children named Carew, Damerei, and Walter Raleigh. Elizabeth died in the year 1647, twenty-nine years after Sir Walter Raleigh had been executed. Raleigh attended Oxford University for a short period of time before enrolling and fighting in the Huguenots in France. He later went to study law in London.