The constitution existing before 1787 was not working for many people. There was no chief executive, no court system and not even a way for the central government to force the state government to pay taxes. The challenge for James Madison and his colleagues was to write a constitution that guards against tyranny. Tyranny is when a person or a group of people seizes all the power in a very harsh manner. What aspects did James Madison consider when writing the new constitution in Philadelphia? The constitution guards against tyranny in the following ways, it deals with tyranny with federalism, separation and distinction of power, and checks and balances. Federalism is one of the ways that Constitution proposed to remove tyranny in 1788. Federalism is another word for the compound government where it separates powers between the central and state governments. Some powers are shared between the central and state governments. The central and state governments are divided into separate departments. Part of the power in each government both federal and state is given to these departments. Since the power is now divided among these multiple central and state departments, none has all the power. Examples of central government powers are trade …show more content…
regulations, foreign relations, declare war, print money, and setup immigration laws whereas examples of state powers are to set up local governments, hold elections, establish schools and regulate in state businesses. Examples of shared powers are tax, borrow money, set up court, and make and enforce laws.(Document A) Separation and distinction of power between the departments is the next phase in preventing tyranny.
The goal is to divide and individualize the powers to the three separate branches of Legislation, Execution and Judicial branches. Legislative powers belong to the Congress, which is formed by the Senate, and House of Representatives. Executive powers belong to the President and Vice President who will serve for 4 years. Judicial Powers are designated to the Supreme Court and and inferior courts that Congress establishes (Document B). The judges of both courts can hold their position as long as they have good behavior. All the powers of branches are unique and so no branch can suppress the other. This guards against
tyranny. Checks and Balances are the next aspect for prevent tyranny. The objective is to arrange several offices so they can check the other and balance each other meaning the Legislation, Execution and Judicial branches should not be separated so much that they don’t have any control over each other. Congress can approve presidential nominations but the President can veto the congressional legislation. Similarly, the president can nominate judges and the court judges can declare the presidential act as unconstitutional and the court can declare the laws made by the legislative branch as unconstitutional while the senate can impeach the judges and remove them from office (Document C). No single branch of power has the absolute power because another branch can object their decisions preventing tyranny. The next objective is to appoint representatives representing all the people. The number of representatives are selected depending upon the population of the state as one for every 30,000 people but at least one representative will be selected for each state even if the population is below 30,000. Two senators are selected from each state and they serve for 6 years (Document D). Highly populated states will have more number of representatives protecting their interests guarding against tyranny. The challenge for Madison was to write a constitution that serves all people without disappointing anyone. Federalism, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances and Equal representation in congress all helps in writing such a constitution. Federalism prevents any department from having all the power. Separation of powers gives unique powers to all the three branches so no branch can dominate the other. Checks and Balances gives a branch the power to disagree with other branches. Equal representation of the population will help making sure that no section of people can be represented more or less. All these components help prevent tyranny.
The Constitution guarded against tyranny by creating federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and Large states vs. Small states. It was written in May of 1787 to create a basic framework of government. How did the constitution guard against tyranny? Tyranny means rule by dictator, king, or small group. The constitution guards against tyranny in four ways, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and Large states vs. small states.
The constitution is our very best defense against tyranny. Tyranny is when one person or group of people is in total control. The constitution is a written set of rules that everyone has to live by. Our constitution was written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in May of 1787. How does the constitution guard against tyranny? It guards against tyranny with Federalism, the separation of powers, checks and balances, and with the Big State Little State Compromise.
You may be thinking how did the constitution stop tyranny? Well we have the answer. Let's start of with what tyranny means, that a leader or king abuses their power. How did the constitution guard against tyranny? Well they abuse their power bad deeds. The constitution guard against tyranny in these four ways. Federalism, separation of power, checks and balances, and small states vs. large states.
In order to secure the protection of the people’s rights of freedom from the imprisonment of tyranny, a compound government was formed. Central and State government came together to form the compound government, which in other words means federalism. It is one of the many elements that make up the protection of freedom from tyranny, “Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people.” (Madison FP # 51) The states combined covered our need of protection, protection of the countries by the Central government and protection of the people by the States government. Also by joining themselves together, “The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” (Madison FP # 51)
The Constitution guarded against tyranny through Federalism, Separation of powers, Checks and Balances, and The Great Compromise. The constitution guarded against tyranny using federalism. [Federalism is the system where the states and central government share power.] [Document A was written by James
The separation of powers keeps any one branch from gaining too much power by creating 3 separate, distinct branches power can be shared equally among. According to Madison, “Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.”(Document B) In other words, to avoid tyranny and achieve liberty, the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) must be separate and diverse. The purpose of a separation of powers is to divide the powers of the government so there is not only one central source of power. The three branches must be as distinct as possible to avoid falling into the hands of one individual leader. There are also checks and balances between these three branches. Checks and balances are a system of each branch monitoring an...
After the Constitution was written, the new born nation was immediately split into two political sides, the federalists and the anti-federalists, over the ratification. Federalists, southern planters or people that tended to hold interest in trade, advocated a strong executive. On the other hand, anti-federalists, back country people or people involved in business but not in the mercantile economy, opposed the ratification of the constitution. The two sides, after much debate, were able to come to a compromise after the Bill of Rights was included into the Constitution.
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.
Federalism plays an integral part in the growth and development of the United States of America and is a key factor in determining the basis of power in this country. Clearly, the term federalism can be understood in many different ways pertaining to each person's view, but it can be more broadly defined in terms of the separation between the state and federal government. Thomas E. Patterson defines federalism as, “the division of sovereignty, or ultimate governing authority, between a national government and regional (that is, state) governments. Each directly governs the people and derives its authority from them” (Patterson 74). He then goes on to give a more basic definition with, “American Federalism is basically a system of divided powers” (Patterson 74). But federalism is more than just a word with a definition. It is hard wired into the constitution because the framers knew how important this division of power would be for the development of America and to ensure power would ultimately reside with the people.
Federalism is a system where a particular country has divided its government structure and power between a strong central government and a local government that forms constituent political units. Therefore the federal system forms an association between the two governments. The system came to existence as part of the solution to the problems that faced the federal government especially when it came to exercise of authority. The constitution only allowed for continental congress to sign treaties and call on war but in reality it had now enough resources to carry out the activities.
The first method the Constitution protects against tyranny is federalism(A system of government in which power is divided between the central government and states).Power is divided between the central and state governments each controlling one another to prevent tyranny.According to document A,the states had powers to regulate trade,declare war,set up post offices,and other powers while the states had the power to hold elections, establish schools,set up local governments and a few other powers.This evidence helps to explain why the Constitution guards against tyranny because the state and the government did not have too much power to lead to tyranny.
The legislative branch the first branch of the three, consist of two branches establishing Congress, the House and Senate. Each of these components elected by residents of each state has specific requirements that they must follow. The House objectives has several powers assigned exclusively to it, including the power to initiate revenue bills, impeach federal officials, and elect the President in the case of an electoral college tie (Quote GCU). The Senate objectives are managed by the Vice President of the country, known to be the President of there group. Under the President the Senate confirms appointments that requires consent and ratifies treaties (Quote GCU). This helps the entire branch with duties that are performed.
The principle of separation of powers is laid out in Articles I, II, and III, in effort to avoid tyranny. It is a part of a system called check and balances. The check and balances play the roles of the three branches of government. This system was made so that no one branch will over power the other. The three branches come together and help one another by being independent of the other. The legislative branch consists of the Congress, the judicial branch consists of the courts, and the executive branch consists of the president. For an example, when a bill is in progress and the chief executive (president or governor) does not approve of it, he can reject legislation and return it to the legislature with reasons for the rejection. This is a process called veto power.
Federalism, by definition, is the division of government authority between at least two levels of government. In the United States, authority is divided between the state and national government. “Advocates of a strong federal system believe that the state and local governments do not have the sophistication to deal with the major problems facing the country” (Encarta.com).
Federalism is a legal concept that is centered around the concept that law is best handled as a two layered responsibility. Federalism is also built on a belief that sharing power with the local government is key to a successful governance. According to the text book, “the United States was the first nation to adopt federalism as its governing framework” (pg83). The following are a few examples of some advantages, as well as disadvantages of Federalism.