Constitutional Convention Dbq Research Paper

How The Constitution Guards Against Tyranny The constitution, the american law. The constitution was made in Philadelphia in 1787 with the intent to replace the Articles of Confederation as the papers of american law. Because of the unfairness and the tyranny that the americans suffered at the hands of the british kings and rulers they set up the constitution in a way that certain writings would act as a guard against tyranny, an example of these guards are federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, bicameral. Tyranny is defined by James Madison as “ The accumulation of all powers … in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.”

How Did the Constitution Guard Against Tyranny? Tyranny is a cruel and oppressive government or rule. In the late 1780s in Philadelphia, 55 people met because the Articles of Confederation were not working. They decided to create the Constitution that would guard against tyranny. The three main decisions that I chose that they had to make that would guard against tyranny were making the three branches of government, how the branches of government could check each other, and also how they made the rule that you would have representation according to population.

James Madison’s Federalist 10 was written amid criticisms that a republican form of government had never been successful on a large scale. Madison’s argument was that a well-constructed union could control factions. He argued that in order to control factions from their causes, we would need to either give up liberty or free thought. Since we cannot infringe upon these two natural rights, we must move on to controlling the effects. A republic, Madison argues, would be able to do this because the people choose the representatives, and they choose representatives who they feel best represent their opinions.

Federalist paper #10 is called “The Utility of the Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection” I think the most significant point in Federalist paper #10 is that Madison wanted to do away with “Factions”, or political parties. He believes that factions are not the best idea for the country

Have you ever wondered how the founding father kept such a balanced government, blocking any tyranny trying to creep in? 55 delegates met in Philadelphia on September 17,1787 to create a brand new form of government that stopped tyranny, or “the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective” (James Madison Federalist Paper #47,1788). So how did the Constitution prevent tyranny from taking place in government? The Constitution guarded against tyranny in four ways: federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and balancing powers between large and small states. Federalism was the first guard of tyranny, which

James Madison wrote The Federalist 51 in order to state how the future government would make liberty possible in society. Madison believed that each branch should be, for the most part, independent. Montesquieu previously thought of this idea of separation of power. He then goes on to explain that to ensure that each branch is independent, it would mean that the citizens would select the president, legislators, and the judges. However, framers found great difficulty in making the correct decision when it came to an election.

There are 3 ways the constitution has guarded us from tyranny: Equal Representation from all the States, Federalism, and the system of checks and balances. The first guard against tyranny was Equal Representation from all of the states. This means that each state will have certain amounts of senator’s. The bigger the state, the more senators.

How did the constitution guard tyranny? The constitution guards against tyranny by the powers of the government, the 3 branches of the government, checks and balances, and the House of Representatives and the Senate. All of the powers of the government guarded against tyranny. There were two different governments to balance the powers. The two governments were the state government and central government.

James Madison wrote Federalist 51 over 200 years ago, yet its words still impact today’s government in 2016. When writing Federalist 51, Madison had two main objectives in mind; he wanted a government with a separation of powers, and he also wanted minorities to be protected. Both of his objectives have been accomplished and continue to be present in today’s American government with the latter objective being more present in today’s government even more so than in the past. To begin with, power is separated in today’s government, preventing a single person or group from having absolute power since, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” according to John Dalberg-Acton. The American government is composed of three branches which power is separated amongst.

“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.

How did the Constitution Guard Against Tyranny? The Constitution guarded against tyranny through checks and balances. [Checks and Balances is where the three branches work together to make sure no one branch has too much power. Each branch receives control over the other branches.

In the Federalist Paper number 51, Madison writes to the people of New York to explain that it is necessary for a separation of powers between the departments of the government. Madison, with the help of Hamilton, wrote the Federalist Papers to explain sections of the Constitution. In Federalist Paper number 51, Madison explains that the government does not have a strong structure on the outside, but creating a firm structure within the government could be a solution. The firmer structure would be the separation of powers. In order for the people to get a better idea and make a more accurate judgement about the separation of powers, Madison shares observations and puts them into simpler terms.

The first method the Constitution protects against tyranny is Federalism. Federalism is the division of power between state and national government. In Document A it interprets that the governments will each have a portion of power and not be able to have all the power. This evidence helps explain why the Constitution guards against tyranny because Federalism will allow both governments to have limited powers. Another method the Constitution protects against tyranny is Separation of Powers.

In Federalist 51, he focuses on how the Constitution divides the power of the government into three branches and so no one branch would have too much power. This was done by using the checks and balances system. Madison believes that each branch should be, for the most part, independent, but, to avoid any branches from abusing its power, no branch should have too much power in choosing the members of another. He says that to follow this rule strictly, the people of the United States would choose all members of all branches, but difficulties would arise as the people may not be aware of the best qualifications for each position. So, the branches check one another and the people elect the members other than in the judicial branch, whose members are chosen by the executive branch.

The Constitution is still relevant today because it separates the power each branch of government has in the United States. The separation of powers serves several purposes. The separation prevents concentration of power, seen as the form of tyranny, and provides each branch with weapons to fight off encroachment by the other two branches. As argued by James Madison in the Federalist Papers (No. 51), "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition."