How Did The Constitution Guard Against Tyranny

Liberty: The Preservation Then and Now I. Preface “If men were angels, no government would be necessary” (Madison, 1). Madison uses this example to express that men need a strong government. The previous governing document of The United States, The Articles of Confederation, emphasized the freedom from national authority but ultimately failed. People, mostly the Antifederalists, were scared for a document that put such a great amount of power back into a national government; the last thing they wanted was a tyranny.

Tyranny is when a person or a group of people have absolute power. The idea of the Constitution came when some believed the Articles of Confederation were weak. The Article of Confederation were weak in ways such as weak central government, no money so they could not tax, boundary disputes, states are fighting and arguing and no respect for small nations and states. While framing a new Constitution James Madison was worried that this Constitution, that was meant to guard against tyranny would possibly lead to some form of tyranny. With the careful writing from our founding fathers the Constitution guards against tyranny by using a system of Checks and Balances and the system of Separation of Powers.

In document C, it states “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 Branches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” In conclusion, the constitution protected us from tyranny using the three methods,Equal Representation from all the States, Federalism, and the system of checks and balances. The framers succeeded in creating a well built constitution because all three methods have created security that no tyrant, or tyranny would

This document (the Federalist) will provide all the reasons to support the new plan of government described in the U.S. Constitution, and responses to each of the criticisms of the plan. Opponents to the new plan criticize it most on it creating a strong central government that will be abusive to individual liberty. However, an energetic government is crucial to the protection of individual liberty. The plan of government under the Articles of Confederation was unable to effectively protect individual liberties because it did not act directly upon the people, and had no authority to enforce its laws. One of the biggest problems resulting from the Articles of Confederation was that there was no means to enforce unity amongst the states.

Following the American Revolution, colonists faced the issue of creating a new form of government and order for their newly created country. Delegates from each state, excluding Rhode Island, met in Philidelphia in 1787 to draft the document that would come to be known as the Constitution. Representatives made it their purpose to create a government that would be fair for everyone; the North and South, the educated and uneducated, the rich and poor. After a closer examination of the Articles of Confederation, delegates disregarded the Articles, following the failure of their original form of government. The Articles of Confederation was thought of as a failure after Shay’s Rebellion; an act of dissent by Daniel Shay in which farmers lost their

The first government of the United States was outlined in the Articles of Confederation written in 1871. Under this system, the states operated as sovereign nations. The weak national government, which consisted of nothing more than a unicameral legislature, did not have the authority to tax the states, settle interstate disputes or effectively support a military. Following the Revolutionary War, the inadequacies of the national government became apparent. This led to the drafting of the Constitution in 1787.

The Articles of Confederation also outlined the role of Congress. Congress had no role in executive functions, and they had extreme constraints on gaining power over the thirteenth colonies, as well as, making amendments to the Constitution. The Articles of Confederation had it’s share or failures and successes when it was first adopted by the governments. In the next part of my essay, I will discuss said failures and successes. The failure in the Articles of Confederation begins with the failure to solidify the Peace Treaty from Great Britain and Spain in 1784.

The Ratification of the Constitution The United States Constitution has been operative since 1789. Today, many question the relevancy of a document 222 years old to our society. The Founders created a government farmworker, guaranteed rights of people, and separated the powers. There was great controversy of whether the Constitution should be ratified. The “Federalists”, supporters of the Constitution, were up against a loosely organized group know as “Antifederalist.” “Antifederalists” believe that there is no one to protect the rights of the people.

The Constitution is better than the Articles of Confederation because the Articles of Confederation had many weaknesses. The Articles did not give Congress the power to place tariffs on foreign goods, hurting American businesses that could not compete with cheaper British goods. The U.S. government had no chief executive so there was no one to enforce the laws that were passed. The new Constitution addressed many of the problems created by the Articles by creating a federal system of government with a much more powerful national government. The Constitution made a stronger Federal government that could unite the States, taking many of the powers held by the States: the right to tax, the right to raise armies, the right to regulate trade and

The Fathers that created the Constitution so the people of the United States would never be ruled by a tyrant. The idea of Federalism separates the power of the government into states issues, and federal issues. The three branches of government keeps from one group/person in the government from getting too much power and having it go to their head. The three branches it makes it impossible to get more power, and also some states are more populated than other, which means that the bigger states will have more representatives and the others. When writing the Constitution the founding father really tried hard to guard against tyranny by using Federalism, three branches, their powers, and that all states have a say in congress.