Constitutional Convention Dbq Research Paper

“The accumulation of all powers..in the same hands, whether of one or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” (James Madison, Federalist Paper #47, 1788) ( Background Essay) This quote explains the reasoning for one of the framers, (B) Separation of Powers. The framers of the constitution were created to prevent tyranny and create a stronger government that would hold the nation together. Tyranny ultimately means harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual-- like a king or dictator. The constitution guarded against tyranny in 4 ways: (A)Federalism, (B)Separation of Powers, (C)Checks & Balances, and (D)Small State-Large State. First of all, Federalism in the constitution helps guard against tyranny.“The different governments will

Another key contrast for the president from a monarch was in the fact that the president was first not only “elected by fellow citizens, [but also] subject to potential impeachment” (Amar, p. 145). Through its Constitution America broke all traditions for previous important heads of government such as shown in “British law [which] had no regularized legal [way] for ousting a bad king” (Amar, p. 199). Amar goes on to implicitly state that “the monarch himself was immune from impeachment” (Amar, p. 199). The goal for America was to differ from the way that Europe passed power through heredity without the need for or basis of merit. One way Article II of the Constitution specifically aimed to prohibit the immediate passing from father to son was through an age requirement set at thirty-five, which also gave those voting for a candidate time to judge his worthiness.

The Constitution guarded against tyranny due to the principles of government and the Great Compromise. This argument will be proven by Federalism, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, and the NJ and VA plans. Federalism guarded against tyranny by making sure the state and central governments can check each other to ensure neither government has total control. In Federalist Papers #51, Madison states, “the different government will each control each other, that at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” Our government, being split into three branches, controls each other and makes sure that one branch won’t be able to gain more power. That keeps one from taking over the entire government and causing issues.

Final Exam Question 1 Back in 1787, the Constitutional Convention had to answer a very essential question that would determine the office of the presidency: Should the U.S. even have a president? The Founding Fathers feared executive power such as monarchies, yet they also knew that state governments weren’t strong enough to keep the republic afloat. They had to find a balance between a leader that was both strong and dependable, yet gave a healthy amount of power to the people. In the Constitution, the office of the presidency is vaguely mentioned, yet it mentions three types of powers given to the president: 1) Expressed Powers, which are explicitly granted from the Constitution itself 2) Delegated Powers, or powers granted by Congress, and 3) Inherent Powers, which are assumed by the president during times of crisis. The use of these powers determine if the president is going beyond the limits of the office.

The Articles of Confederation as a document provided very little power to the federal goverment. The nation that fought for it 's freedom was willing to throw it 's all away by giving the states far too much power for them to handle. The goal at the Constitutional Convention was to create a document that gave enough power to the goverment to run a prospouous nation. The Commerce Clause is Article I,Section 8, Clause 3 in the constitution it allows the federal goverment among states, internationaly and between Native American Tribes. It was made to protect the nations economy from outside interests and from interstate differances.

To paraphrase what James Madison said in Federalist Paper #47 , 1788 separation of powers is defined in the literal separation of the powers of the three branches of government consisting of the legislative, judicial and the executive branches. Separation of powers guards against tyranny because it does not allow a person or persons to he in more than one branch at the same time for example if someone is elected to be in the house of representatives than they cannot he elected for president at the same time so it stops someone for accumulation the powers or abilities of more than one government branch which guards against tyranny and keeps one from becoming a

The founders of our country believed these rights so important, that they wrote them into the Constitution to prevent the government from becoming too strong. The Judiciary has the responsibility (Supreme Court) to ensure laws do not violate the Constitution, Each court must take into account the Bill of Rights when determining if a law is unconstitutional. While each amendment is very important we will only focus on the three aforementioned amendments, the First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion, speech, press, the right to assemble and the right to petitioning the government for redress of grievances (Legal Information Institute 2015). The Fourth Amendment provides individuals with the right to be secure in their persons against unreasonable search and seizure (Legal Information Institute 2015). The Fifth Amendment stipulates that no person can be held for a crime unless indicted by a Grand Jury or be required to self-incriminate, and lastly cannot be deprived of life, liberty or property (Legal Information Institute 2015).

James Madison, founding father and fourth president of United States wrote the federalists paper number 10 in favor of the constitution. He believes that constitution is the only way to keep balance and control any problem this country faces. He uses faction as an example and talks about how it can cause problems but most importantly how to deal with the problems. He defines faction as groups of people who came together to promote their own interests and opinions. He said that these groups take advantage of the public and violate their rights.

“The doctrine of separation of powers is based on the idea of dividing government into three distinct parts—the executive, legislative, and judicial branches”(Separation of Powers, 2003). This separation of powers system was intended to keep any one office from becoming a monarchy or a tyrant. Each branch of government was assigned a unique task that they would work to accomplish

The U.S. Constitution The U.S. constitution established America’s fundamental laws, National Government, and guaranteed rights for the citizens. We needed this document because our national government was weak and the states where separated into independent countries. There was not a president and this gave congress the power to govern foreign affairs, conduct war and regulate currency. After the United States gained independence from Great Britain our country needed a stronger central government. The Articles of Confederation were the first written constitution of the Untied States.

In 1787 the delegates of America believed that the Articles of Confederation were not capable of making a nation strong and untied so they decided to make a new governing document. The Constitution became the body of fundamental principles and rights by which the United States is governed by. In which federalism, separation of power, checks and balances, and balancing power between big states and small states became crucial. How did these aspects help guard against tyranny? Well… Federalism is one of the ways the Constitution help guard against tyranny.

After the war against the British nearly all Americans agreed that their government must be a republic. Meaning that Americans did not want their country ran by a king, a queen, or any type of hereditary aristocracy. They wanted to have a government where their views and opinions would be heard and actually considered when laws and other serious documents were created. Americans wanted their new country to have a type of government where they could vote on certain things instead of being told what to do by a king or queen and punished if did not obey them. The first written constitution that the Untied States of America ever had was called the Articles of Confederation.

In a constitutional government, every citizen must follow a set of laws, even the king. Under an absolutist government, a bad king would have entirely unlimited power to cause harm to his subjects. According to James I a king would have power overwrite the laws so a constitutional government with a Parliament was unnecessary, but in actuality an ideal constitutional system would remove a rogue monarch from power or punish him accordingly. James I also wrote that kings did not require laws, because they would set an example for their subjects by behaving appropriately without laws. Writing from Duc de Saint-Simon disagreed with this statement by describing King Louis XIV and his many flaws as a leader despite his skill as host of the