How Did The Constitution Shape The Structure Of Government

The United States of America declared its independence from England because the king was abusing his powers like a tyrant. For example, the king set taxes without consent, unfair laws, and set soldiers in times of peace. According to James Madison, “The accumulation of all powers...in the same hands whether at one, a few, or many is the very definition of tyranny.” In 1781, the United States’ first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was approved. The Articles of Confederation gave most of the power to the states but unfortunately failed because there was no leader, no court system, and no power to tax. Because of this, a new constitution had to be made. The Constitution was written in the city of Philadelphia, in May 1787, by 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states. The Constitution guarded against tyranny through federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and the Great Compromise.

In Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”, he said it’s absurd for an island to rule over a continent. This is especially true when Great Britain imposed tyrannic and restrictive laws on the colonies, so the founding fathers of the new independent country created the new constitution in a way the would prevent tyranny in the newly independent United States. The Articles of Confederation was the first plan of government for the newly formed U.S. The Articles were to weak to support a nation properly, so the new constitution began to form. How does the Constitution , a plan of government, guard against the government abusing its power.

After America declared independence from England the colonies were not under the rule of a Central Government. The Revolution formed a government without a monarchy also referred to as a Republic, there were several attempts at government that included The Articles of Confederation, The Virginia Plan, The New Jersey Plan and The Great Compromise.

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

One of the ways that the United States guarded against cruel and oppressive government or rule was that they made the three branches of government. These three branches were the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch. This helped guard against cruel and oppressive government or rule because “they were separate and distinct powers.” (Doc B) This would help to guard against cruel and oppressive government or rule because all of these powers were separated so there wasn’t one overpowering government.

The Articles of Confederation were the first set of guidelines for the government in America that was ratified in 1781. The Articles of Confederation limited the powers of the government, gave most of the control to each individual state, did not require a president, and was quickly found to be ineffective. It left America at risk to be invaded by other countries or to suffer from economic problems. If another country wanted to conduct business in America, they had to deal with each state individually. Any amendment required unanimous approval (Evans & Michaud, 2015).

“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands… may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” (Document B) The Madison quote shows that no person or persons should acquire all powers of the government otherwise it will become a tyranny. Hence our government is split into three branches, all with different powers, so that we may have a separation of powers to protect against tyranny. This separation of powers helps prevent one group from taking over the other two so that our country shall not be ruled by a tyrant

The first guard against tyranny was federalism. Federalism is a system of government which calls for a strong national government, but still leaves power in the hands of the individual states. In Document A James Madison states, “in the compound republic of America, the power surrendered

Role of each Branch of Government Power separation is one of the fundamental principal that the US Constitution is founded on. The functions of power separation technique are to maker sure that each arm of government has an active role in the creation, vetoing and reviewing of the statute. The structure of the legislative arm comprises of the senate and the house of representative that the framers of the constitution collectively referred to the Congress. The Congress is the primary body that makes the laws. The Constitution extensively explains its powers and roles.

[the three branches] should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” (James Madison, Federalist Paper #51, 1788). This quote by James Madison shows that the Constitution basically separates powers of each branch, and gives each the right to stop the other if they feel that something isn’t fair or equal without creating a ruler or making one branch the strongest. With the concept of checks and balances, the founding fathers were able to stop soft tyranny, and keep government in a balanced and equal

Therefore, power has been justly distributed between each division of government. Checks and balances are yet another form of separation of powers in the government. As the Constitution was initially written, there were checks and balances preventing any one branch of becoming too powerful. Since we still follow the same Constitution (with a few amendments) those checks and balances are still used.

How come no one could ever take over the government? Well, we have the writers of the constitution to thank for this. WIthout the constitution, there would be a tyranny. The constitution was written in 1787. Its main purpose is to give our government a solid direction, and to describe the roles of the three branches in our government: The judicial, legislative, and executive branches. 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 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.

The reason that the Articles of Confederation established such a weak government was because the colonists were afraid that a strong central government would become tyrannical and oppressive like the British were towards the colonists. However, instead of leading to the downfall of America, the deficiencies that were evident in the Articles of Confederation furthered the definition of the principles of America because the insufficient government of that time voiced a need for a stronger government. To answer this need, the colonists passed the Constitution of the United States. The founding fathers ratified the Constitution in 1787, and it established a much stronger government than the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution founded the laws that would govern America for centuries; it was a crucial factor in the development of the identity of America.

At a time many thought that the effects of a revolution would cause another one. The Articles of Confederation was the center of attention for this problem. After the fight for Independence the new America had to have a type of government. The Congress of this newly established nation created the Articles of Confederation. Of course problems would arise due to the ability of them knowing what they didn’t want when they should’ve known what the should have.