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The Constitution Guarded Against Tyranny Dbq

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The United States of America declared its independence from England because the king was abusing his powers like a tyrant. For example, the king set taxes without consent, unfair laws, and set soldiers in times of peace. According to James Madison, “The accumulation of all powers...in the same hands whether at one, a few, or many is the very definition of tyranny.” In 1781, the United States’ first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was approved. The Articles of Confederation gave most of the power to the states but unfortunately failed because there was no leader, no court system, and no power to tax. Because of this, a new constitution had to be made. The Constitution was written in the city of Philadelphia, in May 1787, by 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states. The Constitution guarded against tyranny through federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and the Great Compromise. The Constitution guarded against tyranny through federalism. Federalism is a type of government in which the states and federal government share powers. [Doc A is an excerpt from Federalist Paper #51 written by James Madison in 1788. The 85 Federalist Papers were written by …show more content…

Checks and balances prevents any one branch from having too much power. [Doc C is an excerpt from Federalist Paper #51 written by James Madison in 1788. The Federalist Papers were papers written to convince people to ratify the Constitution.] According to Doc C, ”...the constant aim is to divide and arrange several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other…” In this quote, Madison is saying that *the Constitution made the three branches divided in a way that they can watch and check over each other. This system guards against tyranny because it ensures that the three branches won’t overpower one another.* This shows how the Constitution uses a system of checks and balances to guard against

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One of the ways that the United States guarded against cruel and oppressive government or rule was that they made the three branches of government. These three branches were the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch. This helped guard against cruel and oppressive government or rule because “they were separate and distinct powers.” (Doc B) This would help to guard against cruel and oppressive government or rule because all of these powers were separated so there wasn’t one overpowering government.

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Constitution DBQ What is tyranny and how do you guard against it? Tyranny is most often defined as harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual - like a king or a dictator. The constitution was created May of 1787, in Philadelphia. “The accumulation of all powers … in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” It was made to replace the old constitution, the Articles of Confederation (Background Essay).

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“The accumulation of all powers… in the same hands, whether one, a few, or many… may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny. ”-James Madison. Fifty-five delegates, from the thirteen states, met in Philadelphia in May of 1787 to discuss and revise the Articles of Confederation. The chief executive and the representatives worked to create a frame for what is now our Constitution. The Constitution guarded against tyranny in four ways; Federalism that creates a State and Federal government, Separation of Powers that gives equal power to the three branches, Checks and Balances that create balance in the three branches by checking each other and being checked and the Small States vs the Big States ensures an equal voice for all states no matter what their size.

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“The accumulation of all powers..in the same hands, whether of one or many (is) the very definition of tyranny.” (James Madison, Federalist Paper #47, 1788) ( Background Essay) This quote explains the reasoning for one of the framers, (B) Separation of Powers. The framers of the constitution were created to prevent tyranny and create a stronger government that would hold the nation together. Tyranny ultimately means harsh, absolute power in the hands of one individual-- like a king or dictator. The constitution guarded against tyranny in 4 ways: (A)Federalism, (B)Separation of Powers, (C)Checks & Balances, and (D)Small State-Large State.

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Before the U.S. Constitution there was the Articles of Confederation. The document could declare war, negotiate treaties, and control foreign affairs. It couldn’t enforce laws, tax, and raise its own army. What the Articles Of Confederation lacked was a strong central government. Alexander Hamilton called for a constitutional convention in 1786, and it took place in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787.

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Tyranny can come in many different forms. It could only be one person ruling everything, or it could be any group of people. Tyranny means a cruel or oppressive government rule, which is usually started by someone with too much power, and they become corrupt. For this reason, In Philadelphia, 1787, 55 men met up for the Constitutional Convention. This convention aimed to fix all problems with the Articles of Confederation.

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Which means not one branch of government cannot have more power than another. “The constant aim is to divide and arrange several offices in such manner as that they may be a check on the other”. The quote is saying the constitution main aim is to keep the power separated within the branches but also so the can keep each other on check. The legislative branch can override a presidential veto. The executive branch can select judges.

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United States is one of many countries that isn’t under a tyranny, but do you know how it remains like that? On the year of 1787 the people who wrote what now is the Constitution met in philadelphia to write a new Constitution because the Articles of Confederation were not successful. How does the Constitution guard against tyranny? The Constitution protects against tyranny because the principles of Federalism, Separation of Powers, and Check and Balances all divide powers.

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The idea of three branches was not originally for the Founding Fathers. A balance is struck between the rights of citizens and the need for government to maintain order. Checks and Balances is to make sure no one branch is able to have too much power. Separation of power is a defined characteristic that provides support for the creation of the first constitutional

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James Madison wrote the Constitution in Philadelphia in the year of 1787. The majority of the people attending were wealthy, white males. They were from eleven states. Although, Rhode Island didn't show up. This was written because there was no chief executive, no court system, and no central government to control the state taxes in the Articles of Confederation.

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Tyranny is cruel and dehumanizing to those who are being oppressed. Tyranny can be defined as an unrestrained exercise of power, which leads to an abuse of authority. The United States has always been characterized for having freedom as their main theme in order for their citizens to be able to achieve any dream they might want to pursuit. In 1987, delegates met up to make changed to the Articles of Confederation because they needed a stronger government that could prevent getting one person or group from attaining too much power. They achieved this by forming a new structure consisting of federalism, separation of power, checks and balances, and equality between big and small states.

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Slavery in the U.S. Constitution After the Unites States declared Independence from Great Britain in 1776, they greatly feared a strong national government that would be like a monarchy like the one Great Britain had. To prevent this tyrannical government from happening in the U.S., a convention of delegates from all thirteen states were brought together to create the U.S.’s first written constitution: the Articles of Confederation. This convention was called the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation focused on having a federal government, or a loose alliance of the states.

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The Checks and Balances are the ways that the three branches of government check each other to make sure each one doesn’t go crazy with power. Legislative Branch checks the Judicial Branch, Judicial Branch checks the Executive Branch, and the Executive Branch checks the Legislative Branch. (Document C). This helps guard against tyranny because each of the branches can check the other one to make sure the branches don’t get too much power. The final way that the constitution helped guard against tyranny was the Big States and Small States Compromise.

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229 Words | 1 Pages

The Constitution was written during the constitutional convention. There were 55 men who contributed in the writing and editing. The constitution was written because they needed a better form of government. The government needed to have more power in the national government than before. The first form of government that they tried had more power in the states but it didn’t work like they had planned.

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Therefore, power has been justly distributed between each division of government. Checks and balances are yet another form of separation of powers in the government. As the Constitution was initially written, there were checks and balances preventing any one branch of becoming too powerful. Since we still follow the same Constitution (with a few amendments) those checks and balances are still used.

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