DBQ Summary: Federalism And The Constitution

The separation of power also prevents the United State from "consolidating into one". Another example that supported the Jeffersonian view of a strict understanding of the constitution is a letter written by him in the 1800th to, Samuel Miller, a Presbyterian minister. In it he stated that, according to the Constitution, the federal government has no authority to regulate

Federalism guards against tyranny, so does the separation of powers, checks and balances, and the House of Representatives and the Senate. Each guard in different, unique ways. All of them do the same job to guard against tyranny. Federalism divides the government into the state and central governments. The division of powers gives each branch of government equal power, while checks and balances allows each branch to check each other.

Hence Federalists came up with the Bill of Rights as a way to get the Constitution ratified and for people to really see a needed change. The Bill Of Rights which lists specific prohibitions on governmental power, lead the Anti-Federalists to be less fearful of the new Constitution . This guaranteed that the people would still remain to have rights, but the strong central government that the country needed would have to be approved. The 1804 Map of the nation shows that even after the ratification of the United States Constitution there still continued to be “commotion” and dispute in the country.(Document 8) George Washington stated that the people should have a say in the nation and government and everything should not be left to the government to decide.(Document 3) Although George Washington was a Federalist many believed he showed a point of view that seemed to be Anti-Federalists. Many believed that The Bill of Rights needed to be changed and modified and a new document’s time to come into place.

When the United States first gained their independence from Britain they needed to create a strong government for their colonies. The United States created their first government called the Articles of Confederation. The Articles came with many problems like no power to tax, no power to enforce the law, or regulate commerce. 10 years after having a weak government, they believed that a new type of government need to be created in order to become a strong government. They came up with the Constitution.

The Articles of Confederation was written when the United States was a fairly new country, and from the people wanting to create a different government from the king of England. Although this document respected individual rights, it was too loose of a document that could drive the country to success. After revising what they had created, the founding father of the us the created the us constitution. It was more strict, but still valued peoples rights.

When the states were first independent, they needed a government to run the country, thus creating the Articles of Confederation. Under The Articles of Confederation, the government was feeble and the country was failing. America was in major debt due to The Revolutionary War, states weren’t paying their federal duties, and Congress was unable to tax the states, which led to the government having no money. The image depicted was Shays Rebellion. Shays Rebellion was an army of Massachusetts farmers, led by Daniel Shays, who had created a rebellion against government, angered by taxes forced upon them.

The papers that they would write detailed how the Constitution would provide “a remedy for the diseases most incident to Republican Government” and to “secure the public good and private rights” (Fed #10) arguing over concepts that they felt were key to providing this security. One of their main objections against the Articles of Confederation was that the “Separation of Powers” maintained in the Articles was not an effective way to protect the public against potential abuses. The Federalist argues that each department should have a will of its own and have as little as possible to do with the appointment of members of the other branches; that each department should have enough power to carry out its mission an them limit its power so that it cannot become to tyrannical. The Federalist, argues that payments attached to the offices of each branch should be as independent as possible and that a system of checks and balances were necessary to thwart encroachments by other

The Articles of Confederation created a confederation in the United States. A confederation is a government in which the state government, not national, has dominant power. The leaders of the new nation feared that a strong, centralized government would lead to tyrannical monarchy like the British government. So the Founding Fathers established a confederation where there was no president nor Supreme court, and a Congress with limited power. But the existence of a weak congress led to an ineffective national government.

Even though Hamilton wasn’t one of our presidents, he showed great leadership throughout his terms in the secretary of treasury, he practiced law after the wars, and he also showed leadership being one of our Founding Fathers (who were responsible winning our wars against England.) After Hamilton was drafted for the Constitutional Convention by New Year, Hamilton got to attend a meeting in Philadelphia. While Alexander was in Philadelphia he had little to no impact on the convention because he didn’t fully represent New York. Even though Hamilton didn’t represent the Federalist (who strongly opponents to sign the new constitution), Hamilton signed the new constitution as an individual. Then after Hamilton signed the for the new constitution, he got to write “at least two-thirds of the essays” that included some of the most important ones that would explain the powers of each of the branches.

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.

The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and under these articles, the states remained sovereign, free, and independent. While each state has their freedom, Congress served as a last resort to appeal all disputes and differences that may arise between two or more states. In addition, Congress had the authority to make treaties and alliances, declare war, regulate money, appoint a committee, appoint military officers and manage affairs with the Indians. While it seems Congress had a fair share of powers, these articles caused problems due to a weak government.

The Anti Federalists didn’t want what we have now,they didn’t want the federal government to have and influence over citizens’ lives, they didn’t want the govt to in any way resemble a monarchy because they had just escaped from the corrupt monarchy. They believed that if the power in the country occupied in the people of the various states, then their vision would have a chance of success. Likewise, the Anti Federalist thought there was no bill of rights, so they disliked the constitution. Every constitution should have one for the people, and the government shouldn’t refuse to give on, as shown on Document E. The Letter to James Madison, Objections to the Constitution was written by Thomas Jefferson to explain what he disliked about the constitution to one of the writings, after the constitution was drafted and were awaiting ratification. Thomas Jefferson also asserts that he doesn’t like the fact that there is no rules and regulations in regard to office terms, and how the officers could get re-elected and serve for like, thus, will result with corruption

In other words, Madison wanted federalism in our country. Because both state and local governments check each other due to their separate

Tyranny is everywhere, the only way it’s not is if we can prevent it ourselves. One of America’s first governments was the Articles of confederation. The Articles of Confederation was shown to be corrupt and couldn’t get the job done, the government didn’t consist of any sort of chief executive, no court system and a weak central government, due to the inability of the government to enforce taxes. The people decided it needed to go. James Madison and a group of men decided to come together in an event known as the Cconstitutional Cconvention, in order to create a new system of government.

Tyranny has been exhibited in many cruel ways. In the words of James Madison, tyranny can be defined as the accumulation of powers in the hands of one, a few or many. In 1787 our founding fathers gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss the problem regarding the fact that The Articles of Confederation were not working. They were greatly challenged to create a document which not only provided a strong central government but also ensured that no person or people got a hold of too much power. So after a long debate, they finally made a decision; to throw out the old and make amends with a new.