Tyranny Dbq

Instead of editing, however, the 55 delegates rewrote the whole thing into the Constitution, which is still used today. The delegates wrote this Constitution with tyranny in mind; how could the Constitution guard against one person or group from gaining too much power? The Constitution protects against tyranny because the 55 delegates established: federalism, separation of powers, checks & balances, and equal representation. Federalism helps guard against tyranny by making sure not one government has too much power. In Document A, it is clearly stated that James Madison, a main contributor to the Constitution, wanted “[a] compound republic of America” to provide a “double security” for our rights.

“...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.” (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

Constitution DBQ What is tyranny and how do you guard against it? Tyranny is most often defined as harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual - like a king or a dictator. The constitution was created May of 1787, in Philadelphia. “The accumulation of all powers … in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” It was made to replace the old constitution, the Articles of Confederation (Background Essay). How did the constitution guard tyranny?

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.

As such, they split the power between the state and central government, federalism, so that one government does not have more power than the other. Also, the three branches were made to spread power and to check each other so that one branch cannot rule the other. The Constitution also protects the chance of tyranny in congress, by determining the number of representatives in the House of Representatives by the state’s population and each state shall have 2 senators representing them in Senate. The constitution made laws guarding against one power having more than another, guarding against tyranny. Federalism splits power between the state and federal government, protecting each government to not gain more power than another.

The phrase "tyranny of the majority" was first used by John Adams in 1788. The phrase gained notice after its appearance in 1835 in Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville, "tyranny of the majority/masses" mean? It it when the majority places their power over a single person or group, and is most often used in the topic of democracy. The Founding Fathers of the United States gave significant attention and concern about the probability of a tyranny led by a majority, and tried prevent it 's possibility, such as, establishing a system of checks and balances that kept the government from gaining too much power in a short amount of time. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political thinker and historian gave attention and wrote about the

So as the wise James Madison once said, “...Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.”, we divided up the power fairly to keep a balanced triangle of power. In America, we have three branches of power, the Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch. The Executive Branch is the President and Vice-President, their job is to enforce and carry out the laws made by the Legislative Branch. The Legislative Branch is the Congress, they make laws for the whole country. The Legislative Branch is made up of two sections, the House of Representatives and the Senate, each chosen by each state.

Federalist V. Anti-Federalist Federalist and Anti-Federalist were two factions most commonly known for debating during the transition from the Articles of Confederation of the United States Constitution. Both sides debated many things, including the liberties of a citizen in the United States. I believe that the Anti-Federalist 's ideals best preserved the liberties of Americans. The Anti-Federalists believed that there were three defects of a large republic. First, only a small republic can enjoy a voluntary attachment of the people to the government and a voluntary obedience to the laws (Storing, 16).

The first constitution of the unites states that was ever written was called the Articles of Confederation drafted by congress on 1777. The Articles of Confederation were created to balance the need for national coordination of the war of independence. The articles made sure that each state no matter how big or populated it was only casted one vote to make it fair for everyone. The only power the articles gave the government was regarding its independence, this included declaring war, conducting foreign affairs, as well as making treaties with other governments. The main advantage of the Articles of Confederation was that it aided to maintain the independence and sovereignty of each state.

Ultimately it allowed the founding fathers to recognized the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and fix the shortage of this prestigious paper. As the Constitution was ratified it offered solutions to all the problems the nation was facing and brought all thirteen colonies into one. The Constitution created a system that divided Congress into two houses, first the House of Representatives then the Senate. This helped give people from the smaller states a voice against the bigger states and its people, which lead for equal representation. The ratification also gave the central government more power while Congress gained the power to enforce good interstate relations and regulate trade being made.

The final way the Cconstitution protected against tyranny was through the system of checks and balances. They system of checks and balances was made so that one branch wouldn’t become more powerful than another as most of the branches actions could be checked by another branch. For example the legislative branch can impeach a president from office and the congress approves presidential nominations and can override a presidential veto. The judicial branch can declare presidential acts unconstitutional and the president nominates the judges from the judicial branch. This system provided an equal balance amongst the three branches and every detail was necessary for equality here, as James madison explained in one of his federalist papers.

The Democratic-Republicans followed a strict interpretation of the constitution, where Federalists believed that the document was up for interpretation, and followed a loose construction. The Federalists believed that there should be a strong central government and that elected officials should not be directly influenced by the people. Essentially, they believed that the people would make poor decisions, if left to their own devices. They represented the elite and well off of society. The Democratic-Republicans thought that there should be a small central government, meaning that the power stayed with the states.