Constitution Guard Against Tyranny Essay
Tyranny is one word people would use to describe life before America was independent and free from England. In 1787, the Constitutional Congress met to fix the problems that the Articles of Confederation caused. 55 people gathered in Philadelphia to create a new constitution, or a written document about how you will rule your country. Some other vocab words you might want to know are frame, or to make/create, and the Articles of Confederation, which was the 1st constitution that was made. The Constitution guards against tyranny by using checks and balances, federalism and separation of powers. Federalism played one part in helping the Constitution guard against tyranny. “In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people
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is first divided between two distinct governments, and the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments,”(James Madison, Federalist Paper #51). The government talked about in this piece of evidence is called federalism, which is a compound government and consists of the central government and the state governments. It helps to guard tyranny because it shows how the governments and the people share the power, so everything is equal and nobody can take too much power. “Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself,”(James Madison, Federalist Papers #51). This evidence shows how having federalism helps protect the people because of the double security of both governments with equal power both being there. This guards against tyranny because they will both be in charge of each other, but control itself at the same time like it says in the quote. The Constitution doesn’t give either government too much power, keeping the country stable and balanced. Having a separation of powers was another way the Constitution helped guard against tyranny. “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives,”(Constitution of the USA, Article 1 Section 1). This quote also helps support the thesis because it shows that all legislative powers are to be shared by the Senate and House of Representatives, but nobody else has any legislative power or other branches would be more powerful. The Legislative Branch like all the other branches can only have one set of powers. “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States.He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, (serve) together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term…”(Constitution of the USA, Article 2 Section 1 Clause 1). This shows that the executive powers are to be shared between the President and the Vice-President, so the President can’t hog all the power and be too powerful. “The judicial power of the United States shall be invested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior,”(Constitution of USA, Article 3 Section 1). This shows that the judicial powers are for the judges of the Supreme Court and inferior courts as long as they have good behavior, but when the do something bad, they will be kicked out. A Separation of Powers guards against tyranny because they use checks and balances to make sure everyone has equal power. Checks and Balances was another one of the many ways the Constitution guarded against tyranny.
“..the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other…(The three branches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other,”(James Madison, Federalist Papers #51). This basically tells us that they use a system of checks and balances to divide the power to make it all equal. James Madison does believe that there can by tyranny in democracy if someone has more than one set of powers like if someone was in the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court. That one person would have too much power and could mess up the whole government system to get what he/she wants. The system of checks and balances keep each branch in order, so everybody has a say in what’s going on. One way the Legislative Branch checks the Executive Branch is by approving Presidential nominations and one way Legislative checks the Judicial is by impeaching and removing judges from office. One way Executive Branch checks Legislative Branch is the president vetoing Congressional legislation and one way they check Judicial Branch is by nominating the judges when there’s a spot open. Lastly, one way Judicial Branch checks Legislative Branch is by declaring laws unconstitutional and they check Executive Branch by declaring presidential acts unconstitutional. Using Checks and Balances, all three branches share equal
power. Federalism, Checks and Balances and Separation of Powers made sure that nobody had too much power and became a dictator/tyrant. The Constitution made sure that they were all equal and didn’t go back to the way it was when they were being controlled by England. It made sure there was no more tyranny and also corrected many problems of the Articles of Confederation. Tyranny was kept in check thanks to the Constitution because it made sure all power was equally spread. This new Constitution held our new nation together, kept everything in order and prevailed even when there were many challenges along the road. We the people are all equal with equal power and rights.
is first divided between two distinct governments, and the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments,”(James Madison, Federalist Paper #51). The government talked about in this piece of evidence is called federalism, which is a compound government and consists of the central government and the state governments. It helps to guard tyranny because it shows how the governments and the people share the power, so everything is equal and nobody can take too much power. “Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself,”(James Madison, Federalist Papers #51). This evidence shows how having federalism helps protect the people because of the double security of both governments with equal power both being there. This guards against tyranny because they will both be in charge of each other, but control itself at the same time like it says in the quote. The Constitution doesn’t give either government too much power, keeping the country stable and balanced. Having a separation of powers was another way the Constitution helped guard against tyranny. “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives,”(Constitution of the USA, Article 1 Section 1). This quote also helps support the thesis because it shows that all legislative powers are to be shared by the Senate and House of Representatives, but nobody else has any legislative power or other branches would be more powerful. The Legislative Branch like all the other branches can only have one set of powers. “The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States.He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, (serve) together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term…”(Constitution of the USA, Article 2 Section 1 Clause 1). This shows that the executive powers are to be shared between the President and the Vice-President, so the President can’t hog all the power and be too powerful. “The judicial power of the United States shall be invested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior,”(Constitution of USA, Article 3 Section 1). This shows that the judicial powers are for the judges of the Supreme Court and inferior courts as long as they have good behavior, but when the do something bad, they will be kicked out. A Separation of Powers guards against tyranny because they use checks and balances to make sure everyone has equal power. Checks and Balances was another one of the many ways the Constitution guarded against tyranny.
“..the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other…(The three branches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other,”(James Madison, Federalist Papers #51). This basically tells us that they use a system of checks and balances to divide the power to make it all equal. James Madison does believe that there can by tyranny in democracy if someone has more than one set of powers like if someone was in the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court. That one person would have too much power and could mess up the whole government system to get what he/she wants. The system of checks and balances keep each branch in order, so everybody has a say in what’s going on. One way the Legislative Branch checks the Executive Branch is by approving Presidential nominations and one way Legislative checks the Judicial is by impeaching and removing judges from office. One way Executive Branch checks Legislative Branch is the president vetoing Congressional legislation and one way they check Judicial Branch is by nominating the judges when there’s a spot open. Lastly, one way Judicial Branch checks Legislative Branch is by declaring laws unconstitutional and they check Executive Branch by declaring presidential acts unconstitutional. Using Checks and Balances, all three branches share equal
power. Federalism, Checks and Balances and Separation of Powers made sure that nobody had too much power and became a dictator/tyrant. The Constitution made sure that they were all equal and didn’t go back to the way it was when they were being controlled by England. It made sure there was no more tyranny and also corrected many problems of the Articles of Confederation. Tyranny was kept in check thanks to the Constitution because it made sure all power was equally spread. This new Constitution held our new nation together, kept everything in order and prevailed even when there were many challenges along the road. We the people are all equal with equal power and rights.