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.
Constitution, there was the first form of government the colonist created, the Articles of Confederation, which focused on a weak central government and power in the states. The problem with this type of government was the states where too powerful, it was to the point where it was one state for itself. If there was a situation where a decision of one state benefited itself but could potentially hurt another, that one state would rather choose to help itself. After seeing this glitch, the framers came up with a compromise, the small and large state compromise. The Virginia compromise and New Jersey compromise where two plans that where the foundation of the overall idea of how each state had representation.
An effective legislature that the Constitution designed assisted with the issues of representation and making decisions, powers which the Articles of Confederation lacked proper ability to perform. The Articles of Confederation gave each state one vote, regardless of its size. This caused unequal and limited representation, with only 13 votes in total. To fix this, the Constitution added a bicameral congress, with a House of Representatives and a Senate. The Senate would have equal state representation, and the House of Representatives would have members based on state population.
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.
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.
When writing the constitution, the delegates at the Philadelphia convention leaned towards a stronger government than was in place under the Articles of Confederation. However, they kept the government limited to prevent tyranny from occurring. The Constitution was set in place to provide limits for government powers. The simplest way that the Constitution protected against tyranny was by establishing a republican form of government. This means that the people of the nation are represented by electing the officials that they believe are the best candidates to serve in the government.
