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How Did The Constitution Guard Against Tyranny

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The Constitution, the foundation of American society. In May 1787, 55 delegates made their way to Philadelphia for a Constitutional Convention. At that time the Articles of Confederation were being used in the United States, however, they simply weren’t working. While under the Articles of Confederation, there was no court system, no chief executive, and not a single way to force the states to pay taxes. The nation needed an improved constitution, creating a stronger central government that would keep the nation together. The delegates agreed they wanted a new constitution that created a powerful government, but without any tyranny forming. How exactly did the Constitution guard against tyranny? Tyranny is a cruel and oppressive government. The Constitution guarded against this type of government in four ways, by having two separate governments, three different branches, checks and balances within the …show more content…

Which means there would be a legislative branch, executive branch, and judiciary branch within the federal government. Document B claims “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether one or few...may be justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny… Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct.” Having separate and distinct branches within the government limits the power accumulated so that it doesn’t become overpowered. Each branch is made up of different powers and duties. Since they all have equal amounts of power and can check one another, it allows for there not to be too much gain in a single branch. Furthermore, just like guard one, if a branch were to obtain too much power, the other two would be able to call attention to the problem and stop it before it gets out of hand. Ultimately, calling attention to the problem would stop the potential for tyranny in its

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