The Constitution’s Limitations on the Federal Government We all need a strong government to protect us, but how do we make sure it’s not too powerful? When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783 and the thirteen colonies finally received their freedom, they had to think of a new form of government that would not lead to another monarchy. They started easy by writing the “Articles of Confederation” which was ratified in 1781. On the other hand, it did not go so well since Shay’s Rebellion in 1786 proved to everyone that the “Articles of Confederation” made the national government too weak to even help them in times of crisis. Once again, delegates like George Washington, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, etc gathered in Philadelphia to revise the “Articles of Confederation”. There were 55 delegates, all white males who disagreed on three issues; …show more content…
All these disagreements lead to compromises, like the ⅗ Compromise, the Great Compromise, the Electoral College and the Bill of Rights. Finally, the Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1788. The constitution was ratified, even though people were still scared to think it was going to become a monarchy like King George III government. That's why the constitution limits the power of the Federal Government by dividing power between the government. The Constitution limits the power of the federal government, so it won't become a monarchy again. As seen in the illustration “Federal Government”, the government is divided in three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial branch (Document 3). They all have different roles in the government, but they all have the same amount of power. The Executive Branch is made up of the President
James Madison once said,” All men having power ought to be distrusted.” Through these words, Madison made the statement that not all government officials use their authority for good; some abuse that power and use it to gain more for themselves rather than vesting it within the people. This issue may lead to tyranny. Tyranny is when all powers belong to only one person or group. In May of 1787, the Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia to draft a better constitution. One of the topics that concerned many was how the constitution would guard against tyranny. Madison and the other delegates wanted a Constitution that would be strong enough to unite the states and the people together without letting there be one person or group gain too much power. They achieved this in several ways. Today, the U.S. Constitution guards against tyranny by including a separation of powers, federalism, and the fair representation of states.
The year of 1776 was a time of revolution, independence, and patriotism. American colonists had severed their umbilical cord to the Mother Country and declared themselves “Free and Independent States”.1 The chains of monarchy had been thrown off and a new government was formed. Shying away from a totalitarian government, the Second Continental Congress drafted a document called the Articles of Confederation which established a loose union of the states. It was an attempt at self-government that ended in failure. The Articles of Confederation had many defects which included a weak central government that lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, required equal representation and a unanimous vote to amend the Articles, and had only a legislative branch. As a result the United States lacked respect from foreign countries. These flaws were so severe that a new government had to be drafted and as a result the Constitution was born. This document remedied the weak points of the federal government and created one that was strong and fair, yet still governed by the people.
In 1789, the Confederation of the United States, faced with the very real threat of dissolution, found a renewed future with the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. This document created a structure upon which the citizens could build a future free of the unwanted pitfalls and hazards of tyrannies, dictatorship, or monarchies, while securing the best possible prospects for a good life. However, before the establishment of the new United States government, there was a period of dissent over the need for a strong centralized government. Furthermore, there was some belief that the new constitution failed to provide adequate protection for small businessmen and farmers and even less clear protection for fundamental human rights.
During and after the turmoil of the American Revolution, the people of America, both the rich and the poor, the powerful and the meek, strove to create a new system of government that would guide them during their unsure beginning. This first structure was called the Articles of Confederation, but it was ineffective, restricted, and weak. It was decided to create a new structure to guide the country. However, before a new constitution could be agreed upon, many aspects of life in America would have to be considered. The foremost apprehensions many Americans had concerning this new federal system included fear of the government limiting or endangering their inalienable rights, concern that the government’s power would be unbalanced, both within its branches and in comparison to the public, and trepidation that the voice of the people would not be heard within the government.
The Constitution had to be ratified by the states before it went into full effect; however, states had different ideas and hopes for their new government, so a national debate over ratifying the constitution sparked. In general, there were two big parties that had opposing ideas; the federalists supported the constitution, and the anti-federalists did not support this fairly new document. Additionally, the constitution needed 9 out of 13 states to sign off the Constitution before it became official, but in order for the Articles of Confederation to be amended there had to be a united consent within the nation. The major fears produced by the writing and ratification of the United States constitution stemmed from the difference between classes; for instance, the “common man” had different views and opinions compared to the “elite man.”
Following the failure of the Articles of Confederation, a debate arose discussing how a centralized government ought to be organized. The prevailing opinion ultimately belonged to the Federalists, whose philosophy was famously outlined in The Federalist Papers. Recognizing that in a free nation, man would naturally divide himself into factions, they chose not to remedy this problem by stopping it at its source; instead, they would limit its effects by placing strict structural safeguards within the government's framework. The Federalists defined a facti...
During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, delegates had to come to many compromises to satisfy all states. For this reason, many historians say that the constitution is a document of compromises. There were many states represented during the Constitution, both small and large.
On March 4th, 1789, was the date that began operating a new government under the Constitution. Commonly mistaken as the “Constitutional Convention”, the Constitution was written during the Philadelphia Convention beginning on May 25th throughout September 17th. Originally written in 1787, the Constitution was signed in September on the 17th. However, until 1788, it was not ratified by the necessary nine states. Many of the original framers and delegates were troubled by ratifying conventions and the original constitution lacked a description of individual rights.
By the late eighteenth century, America found itself independent from England; which was a welcomed change, but also brought with it, its own set of challenges. The newly formed National Government was acting under the Articles of Confederation, which established a “firm league of friendship” between the states, but did not give adequate power to run the country. To ensure the young nation could continue independently, Congress called for a Federal Convention to convene in Philadelphia to address the deficiencies in the Articles of Confederation. While the Congress only authorized the convention to revise and amend the Articles the delegates quickly set out to develop a whole new Constitution for the country. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, the new Constitution called for a national Executive, which was strongly debated by the delegates. There were forces on both sides of the issue trying to shape the office to meet their ideology. The Federalists, who sought a strong central government, favored a strong National Executive which they believed would ensure the country’s safety from both internal and external threats. The Anti Federalists preferred to have more power in the hands of the states, and therefore tried to weaken the national Executive. Throughout the convention and even after, during the ratification debates, there was a fear, by some, that the newly created office of the president would be too powerful and lean too much toward monarchy.
During the construction of the new Constitution, many of the most prominent and experienced political members of America’s society provided a framework on the future of the new country; they had in mind, because of the failures of the Articles of Confederation, a new kind of government where the national or Federal government would be the sovereign power, not the states. Because of the increased power of the national government over the individual states, many Americans feared it would hinder their ability to exercise their individual freedoms. Assuring the people, both Alexander Hamilton and James Madison insisted the new government under the constitution was “an expression of freedom, not its enemy,” declaring “the Constitution made political tyranny almost impossible.” (Foner, pg. 227) The checks and balances introduced under the new and more powerful national government would not allow the tyranny caused by a king under the Parliament system in Britain. They insisted that in order achieve a greater amount of freedom, a national government was needed to avoid the civil unrest during the system under the Articles of Confederation. Claiming that the new national government would be a “perfect balance between liberty and power,” it would avoid the disruption that liberty [civil unrest] and power [king’s abuse of power in England] caused. The “lackluster leadership” of the critics of the new constitution claimed that a large land area such as America could not work for such a diverse nation.
The American Revolution stirred political unity and motivated the need for change in the nation. Because many Americans fought for a more balanced government in the Revolutionary War, they initially created a weak national government that hampered the country's growth and expansion. In the Letter from Abigail Adams to Thomas Jefferson, Mrs. Adams complained about the inadequacy of power that the American government had to regulate domestic affairs. The Articles of Confederation was created to be weak because many had feared a similar governing experience that they had just eliminated with Britain. The alliance of states united the 13 local governments but lacked power to deal with important issues or to regulate diplomatic affairs. Congress did not have the power to tax, regulate trade, or draft people for war. This put the American citizens at stake because States had the power to refuse requests for taxes and troops (Document G). The weakened national government could not do anything about uprisings or small-scale protests because it did not have the power to put together an army. The deficiencies of the confederation government inspired the drafting of the American Constitution. The document itself embodied the principle of a national government prepared to deal with the nation's problems. In James Madison's Federalist Paper, he persuades the American public to adopt the Constitution so that the government can protect humans from their nature and keep them out of conflicts.
Between 1787 and 1791 the Framers of the US Constitution established a system of government upon principles that had been discussed and partially implemented in many countries over the course of several centuries, but never before in such a pure and complete design, which we call a constitutional republic. Since then, the design has often been imitated, but important principles have often been ignored in those imitations, with the result that their governments fall short of being true republics or truly constitutional. The Framers of the Constitution tried very hard to design a system that would not allow any one person or group within the government to gain too much power. Personally, I think they succeeded. In order to guard against what one of the Founding Fathers called an "excess of democracy," the Constitution was built with many ways to limit the government's power. Among these methods were separating the three branches, splitting the legislature so laws are carefully considered, and requiring members of Congress to meet certain criteria to qualify for office. The Founders did leave a few problems along with their system.
Eventually, we would have an tyranny without a strong trustworthy constitution. We do not want to recreate exactly what the colonists were trying to avoid and escape from, which was tyranny. Tyranny refers to when a person has a lot of power, and has a lot on their hands, having complete control, and total control. In 1787 a group of delegates from 12 of the 13 states goes together to try to better the country.The constitution was mainly written in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was made to make a guideline for the building of a federal government so that there wouldn’t be any tyranny.
Deciding how America's government would work during the creation of the constitution, also decided the future of America and its decisions. Our government derives from the creation of the American government after the revolutionary war in 1787. To get all of the state’s to agree on the constitution many compromises had to be made. The delegates from the thirteen states met to change America. Our government today is based on the solutions and compromises made at the constitutional convention. One of the biggest compromises that set the stage for the rest of the constitution's success was made from different parts proposed by different sections of America. The Great Compromise would not have been successful, if America was not willing to use different viewpoints, create small compromises in between large ones, and combine thoughts to form something that all states would be happy with.
The six delegates there decided meet the next year in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. Rather than making minor adjustments to the Articles, they decided to start fresh and create the constitution. A strong national government was the main purpose of creating the constitution. With three branches of government, (judicial, executive and legislative) the government would be protected from despotism by the people and the government itself. After the Connecticut Compromise last year in 1787, the ratification of the constitution seemed to be the clear choice. This great compromise will give us a house of representatives based on population, and a senate where each state will get two