Essay On How Did The Constitution Guard Against Tyranny

The Constitution, written in May 1787 in Philadelphia, was a new constitution that replaced the Articles of Confederation which was not working at that time because it does not have a court system and the central government could not even force a state to pay taxes. 55 delegates from eleven states were called for a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to create a stronger government that can hold the new nation together. They were thinking to write a new constitution to guard against tyranny. Tyranny is defined as one individual who controls all the power which was the thing that the colonists were trying to avoid. The ways that the Constitution guarded against tyranny were by separation of powers, checks and balances, and the equality between large and small states.

The first method that guarded against tyranny was the separation of powers which means divide the government

During the Constitutional Convention, the delegates came up two plans. One plan is called the Virginia Plan drafted by James Madison that the number of representatives are depend on the population of the state. Another Plan is called the New Jersey plan presented by William Paterson that every state should have two representatives. At last, they ended up with a new plan called the Hamilton Plan which was unsatisfied with the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. “The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand.” (Constitution of the United States of America, 1787). This is to make sure the small states have a fair vote on things and all the states have the same power. If there did not have the plan, the larger states definitely going to takeover the smaller states which may leads to tyranny. The equality between large and small states prevent the smaller states to get takeover by the larger