Constitution Dbq

DBQ: How Did the Constitution Guard Against Tyranny? Americans desperately fought against tyranny with the best weapon they had, the Constitution. During the colonial times, King George III demanded many things from the colonists that were living in the Americas. This was caused by the aftermath of the French and Indian War. This caused increasing debts for the King and England; therefore the King was forced to raise the taxes of America and England. This increase in tax made the Americans angry which caused more events to unravel. After many different battles between King George III and America, America declared its independence on July 4, 1776. After this declaration, many things began to heat up over the representation in government. Tyranny was mentioned many times during the course of these events, causing the creation of the Constitution. The Constitution guarded against tyranny in four ways: federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and big states versus small states/The Great Compromise.
One part of the Constitution that helped the Americas was federalism. Document A shows that the first step the framers of the Constitution took to protect the Americas from tyranny was using a form of government called Federalism. James Madison’s idea for division of power between central and state governments is known as Federalism. (Doc A). From the chart in Document A, you will notice that this clearly prevents tyranny from happening. The powers that are needed to run a country are given to the federal government such as declaring war, coining money, and conducting foreign relations. (Doc A). Also, powers that are needed for a state are given, such as holding election and regulating in-state businesses. (Doc A). Powers that are needed by both state and federal law are shared. This prevents tyranny from happening because the states can’t take control of federal powers, and the federal government can’t take control of state powers. They can only take the