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Religion in america
First amendment in modern law
Religion in america
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More handpicked essays just for you.
Religion in america
First amendment in modern law
Religion in america
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Constitution used the concept of a two house legislature made to satisfy both the smaller and larger states. The two chambers were the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate benefited smaller states and guaranteed that each would receive equal representation by having two representatives serve their state. The House of Representatives benefited the larger states and guaranteed representation of the state based on population. The Articles applied a unicameral legislature to their government that had one legislative chamber and left the central government with no separation of power.
In the late 1700’s, it was America’s goal to create a republic that had a representative government that was based upon the approval of the people. Unfortunately, the people feared a strong central government because of the previous trouble the colonies had when they were ruled by Britain. They were always being unfairly taxed and had very few rights. In order to avoid this, a very weak government was developed that seemed to satisfy the people, but would not satisfy the well being of the country. It wasn’t until Shay’s rebellion which brought light to the fact that the Articles of Confederation were not going to cut it, so the Constitutional Convention was created and convened to find an alternative solution which was the creation of the Constitution.
Considered one of the most important documents in United States history, the Constitution was the basis of a government still functioning today. In the summer of 1787, 55 delegates from eleven of the thirteen states gathered in Philadelphia to fix the first attempt at a constitution, the Acts of Confederation. The government set up by this functioned so poorly that the entire document was scrapped thus making way for the Constitution. This provided a functioning government organized in a way that would eliminate any chance of a single party or person becoming a tyrant. The Constitution created an outline for a government with powers fairly distributed between the federal government, state governments, three branches of government and small
Perhaps the most famous Federalist paper, Federalist 10, starts off by saying that one of the biggest arguments that favors the Constitution is that it creates a government suited to minimize the harm caused by factions. Faction, in this case, is defined as a group of people whether a minority or majority based on class, race, and profession that all share a common interest. It was inevitable that factions would occur and perhaps the defining characteristic was the unequal distribution of property. This would ultimately lead the poor without property to become the majority in a “tyranny of the masses.” Madison believed that there were two solutions in preventing majority factions, 1) Remover the causes, and 2) Control the effects.
These authorities that the national government should have, were all up to the states to decide under the Articles. With the taking away some of the states rights in the Constitution, Anti-federalists feared that this would leave the states too weak, resulting in more problems. Under the new Constitution, many powers that were now in the government 's hands are: the power to levy and collect taxes, the power to regulate interstate commerce, the government set up a national court system consisting of district, circuit, and a supreme court, the government could enforce laws, there was now a house based on population, and a senate based on equal representation (two votes per state), to amend the Constitution, a ⅔ vote of Congress was needed, and a ¾ vote of the states were needed, and a majority rule was needed to pass bills. These new powers and abilities of the national government helped to create a strong, new
“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.
James Madison directly explains the purpose of dividing the powers among the three branches to protect 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...” By separating the powers and creating a system of checks and balances to guard against tyranny, the framers of the United States constitution directly aimed to protect the constitutional rights and liberties of individual citizens and the future of the nation. Just as the creators of the constitution sought to protect the citizens of the United States against tyranny with the separation of powers and checks and balances, the framers of the constitution also protected the rights of states with larger and smaller populations. To protect the rights of larger states and smaller states, the framers created a bicameral legislature system with the house of representatives and the senate. The members of the house of representatives are determined based on each states population, while the senate has 2 members per state, allowing for both large and small states to have equal
Finally, the Small State-Large State Compromise is a framer of the constitution that helps guard against tyranny. “Representatives shall be appointed according to the population.” “The Senate of the the United States shall be composed to two senators from each state.” (Constitution of the United States of America, 1787) (Doc D) Each state had equal representation, yet the larger states had the representation the amount of people living in the state.
The major goals of the Framers of the U.S. Constitution was to instill a system that that would be for the entire nation while forming more “perfect balance between liberty and order”. They didn’t want to repeat the same type of dictatorial government that was used in the past and thus they created a system where “each branch would be used to check the powers of the other two branches”. This provided a system that checks and balances itself and provided a separation of powers among the branches. The next goal was to setup a system between the federal government and the state which is no known as federalism. According to ushistory.org the “federal system was meant to correct the chaos of the country during the Articles of Confederation”.
After the countless debates, the Great Compromise was what the convention would come into agreement with representation by population in the House of Representatives “The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each state shall have at least one Representative. ”(add footnote) The smaller states were pleased with equal representation in the Senate “The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senates from each state and each Senator shall have one vote.”(add
After fighting for so long and hard to secure independence from the British rule, the young United States of America needed to come together to form a strong nation. Having literally sacrificed blood, sweat, and tears to free themselves from the tyrannical oppression of an over-powered central government, the people wanted to ensure that they would not be trading one for another. There needed to exist a means to effect a measure of equality and security for the newly founded country. The Constitution aimed to do just that.
The Framers introduced three different devices into the Constitution for keeping each other in check. The first of these advantages were an element in maintaining a sense of order against a popular uprising or majority ruling. If in a state, a faction were to arise and take complete control of the state by force, it could absolutely happen and be allowed, but if the states were bound in a federation, the central government could prevent the faction from uprising and taking over. However, if the “ political society were very extensive and embrace a large number and variety of local interests, the citizens who shared a common majority interest” must be rendered by their local situation. The second of these advantages of good constitutional government was based on the mechanism of representation itself.
Compromises were crucial not only to the structure of the legislature, but also to determining the electoral process, such as who could vote and how the president would be elected. The decision on the right to vote expanded the electoral rights of some states and balanced the power dynamics between the states and the federal government. The Constitution was intended to encapsulate the democratic ideals that drove the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence." The Constitution was gradually expanded over time and expanded through amendments and judicial interpretations to better reflect the ideals of liberty, equality, and justice. The Framers sought to create a document that would govern a new nation while accommodating the diverse interests and ideals of its constituents.
The Constitution represented a chance for a new government created by the Framers. After the Articles of Confederation failed, the Constitution represented a new chance for a representative government. However, most Americans recognize this isn’t demonstrated by the creators and the Constitution itself. The Framers were known to be wealthy, property-owning white men. On top of this, of the fifty five creators of the Constitution, twenty five of them enslaved African Americans and exploited Black labor.
The United States has the house of representatives, who represent the people and the senate who represent the state. The purpose of the United States government is to protect the people’s natural rights. The founding fathers created the constitution so that the american government wouldn't