Articles Of Confederation Dbq Analysis

It was May 1787 in the city of Philadelphia. Congress had gathered to discuss an alarmingly important matter. The nation's current constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was flawed. The Articles gave too much power to the states and not enough to the central government. The states could not be forced to pay taxes and the country acted more like a mixture of individual countries rather than a union of collective states. This had to be changed immediately, thus a congressional convention was called in to put forward a new constitution. However, one challenge that came forward with creating a new constitution was finding a way to prevent tyranny. Tyranny is the possession of too much power by a single individual or group. This would have

Federalism is the division of powers between the state and federal governments. This idea was developed by future president James Madison, who believed that the two governments should control each other as well as themselves in order to provide the people with double security to their rights and freedoms (Doc A). Both governments had the power to tax the people, loan money, set up courts, make laws, and enforce laws (Doc A). However, the federal government would have power over issues regarding the state as a whole such as military and foreign relations, while the state governments would have power over local issues such as establishing schools and deciding personal rights. Neither government would have a say in matters under the other government’s jurisdiction. This way neither the state nor federal government would have more power than the other, thus safeguarding against

Checks and balances are the constitutional powers each branch has over the other two. Madison’s decision to divide the government was to allow each group to keep each other in check (Doc C). To insure this, each branch would need power over the other. The President has the power to veto legislation passed by congress and appoint judges to the Supreme Court. However, Congress can override the President’s veto with a majority vote. Congress also has to approve the President’s nominations to the Supreme Court and has the power to impeach judges and the President and remove them from office. The Supreme Court has the power to declare laws and executive actions as unconstitutional. These checks and balances prevents tyranny by allowing one branch to prevent the other two from abusing or overextending their