Framers Of The Constitution Dbq Essay

While developing the constitution the framers had to take precautions to prevent the people's rights from being stripped away by an oppressive government. Since the constitution was constructed I believe it is self-evident that the people wanted to avoid tyranny in their new nation. That is exactly what the framers of the Constitution did in the summer of 1787 when delegates from twelve states met together to create a new government. The delegates discussed how to make the constitution strong enough to defend its citizens but yet structured enough so that tyranny would not take place. Concepts such as the Bill of Rights, Checks and Balances, and Separation of Powers would be what helped the constitution reach its goal of being tyranny free.
The Bill of Rights was

written in 1789 and ratified in 1791, and was implemented in the Constitution as a way to protect the natural rights of every citizen. This Bill presented the first ten amendments to the Constitution and included various rights like the freedom of religion and press. This is shown throughout pages 240-242 in our US History handbook. The delegates believed that by adding these Bills, the rights of the people could not be compromised. This turned out to be very true because to this day the Bill of Rights is applied to both Federal and State government. This is just one of the ways in which the Constitution guarded against the unfair treatment that is tyranny.
Another way the Constitution guarded our rights was by applying a system known as the Separation of Powers.

This system proposed that power is separated into three branches thus allowing each branch to guard the rights of a citizen. Document B explains this Separation by specifically detailing the jobs of the three branches. One of these branches is Executive Branch, which Branch consists of the President of the United States. When the President takes office he is bestowed with new powers like being able to deal with foreign policies and becoming the Chief of all of the United States Armed Forces. The Judicial Branch is vested with the power of deciding court cases and declaring laws unconstitutional. The Supreme Court also has obsolete authority over all other inferior courts; this is mentioned in document B Article 3, Section 1. Lastly, the Legislative branch has the power to propose and pass laws. But even the Legislative Branch goes through a rigorous process to enact laws. This is because before laws are presented the public they must go through two chambers known as the Senate and the House of Representatives. This ensures that only laws that best benefit the nation shall be included in the

system.
The last way that the Constitution guards against tyranny is by using the Check and Balances. The Check and Balances system provides a way for each branch to breach the other when the rights of the people are being compromised. One way the Checks and Balance System protects against tyranny is by forcing Congress to seek the President's acceptance towards a law. Congress, in turn, can protect themselves by overriding a presidential veto. But even if Congress overrides a veto their law can still be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. By being able to watch over each other, the Checks and Balance system ensures that no branch can become too powerful. This is seen in Document C’s graph which shows how each Branch has control over the other.
Since the birth of the United States of America, its government and people have worked in coherence to provide the utmost sense of serenity throughout the nation. To provide this sense of protection delegates from twelve states proposed the Constitution. The Constitution would use principles such as the Bill of Rights, The Separation of Powers, and The Check and Balance system to stay true to its intentions of protecting the people's rights. Each Principle prevents our government from diminishing our natural rights. By using the Constitution, the United States of America has managed to by tyrant free since 1787!