Constitution Dbq

“'Tis done. We have become a nation.” said Benjamin Rush after the ratification of the Constitution on July 9, 1788. At this moment a new nation was born, with a basis that is at the heart of American history. The founding fathers wrote the Constitution after the failure of the Articles of Confederation. These articles were the first form of government after gaining freedom from Britain’s tyranny. They were written in a way which gave government absolutely no control, as the country wanted to avoid another tyrant for a leader. The Articles of Confederation proved not to be successful, as Shay’s rebellion had caused a lot of damage to the states. The founding fathers knew there was a need for change at met at the Constitutional Convention,

The Constitution was planned and written carefully by James Madison. He was the one to propose the way the government functions today. The biggest task thought, was to make a government that would not allow any way for a tyrant to come rule. Tyranny is when the a group or person become leaders of an oppressive government or cause, that can create problems for others. Why was tyranny so important that the Constitution needed to get rid of it? Well after being freed from King George III, they hoped to never let their government be able to have that much power or control. This is why the Constitution was written in a way to guard the nation from any other forms of tyranny. The documents guards against tyranny because of Federalism, separation of power, checks and balances.

“With power comes responsibility,” said Uncle Ben, this phrase really shows how with the power to run a motion they knew that the power needed to be divided so the Founding Fathers came up with Federalism in the Constitution. This idea was really important for tyranny to be avoided as it distributed power between the States and the Federal government. This meant that the power wouldn’t only be in the hands of a government it meant that when they were

The system of Checks and Balances allowed the three branches to have power over one another. They always allow one branch to be able to stop or prohibit a certain action of the other branch. This way there is a balance and one branch doesn’t become too powerful. James Madison did this as he said, “ All men having power ought to be distrusted...” he knew that when power is given to people it would get to their heads and they would misuse it. So Checks and Balances was the perfect solution. When Congress makes a law, the President can veto the law if it doesn’t seem to be reasonable, but in the same way the legislative branch can impeach a president if he is proven guilty for a crime. The president appoints the supreme court justices, and the judicial branch declares if the president's actions are unconstitutional. The Senate confirms the judges appointed in court, the Supreme court can say that laws are unconstitutional over legislative and executive. (Document C/ Constitution) This is a very important way to keep from tyranny as it controls the power. If one branch of government were to choose a wrong path their decisions could hurt the citizens if the other 2 branches had no say, but because of the system at least one branch has power over another in any decision made by the other branch. This would make it