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What Are The Framers Concept Of Separation Of Power

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In 1787, over the course of four months 55 delegates gathered at the Philadelphia Convention to write the Constitution.(Wei par. 3) It was there the important concept of separation of powers was written into the Constitution, and little did they know what a lasting effect this system would have on American government. In the creation of the Constitution, the Framers intended to establish a government that would be free from tyranny, and would provide the necessary precautions to divide it’s powers fairly and equally. The Framers then determined the best course of action would be to divide and conquer, and by doing so limiting the chances of too much power falling into the hands of one person or institution. The philosophy of separation of powers was …show more content…

By instituting a system that distributes it’s power as fairly and equally as possible, the Framers sought to not only protect this nation from tyranny but to preserve it’s liberties. With the Articles of Confederation too weak to support this country, the Framers knew that this country was in desperate need of a change. Therefore, the Framers fashioned a more balanced structure of government through the doctrine of separation of powers. The division of the three branches of government and the federal and state powers finally created a dynamic of government that would prove to be effective and enduring. But, the Framers did not come to this solution alone, they utilized the various theories of political philosophers such as John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu. The pivotal aspect of this structure involves the checks and balances, which allows the branches to check for any abuses of power occurring in another branch. This organization has effectively stood the test of time for the reason that it takes preventative measures against corruption within government. The framers of the

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In the early years, after winning independence from Great Britain, the American colonies set up their government in accordance with their first constitution, the Articles of Confederation. This means that the majority of the power laid in the hands of the states and Congress, “the only institution of national authority” (Brinkley 151) at that time, had very little power. This distribution of authority was the manifestation of the American’s fear of a strong, central government. However, as time passed, more and more people came to agree that the national government was too weak and needed to be strengthened.

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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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What if there was a government that has one ruler making many unjust laws. For example, if someone was put into prison for years for only doing one small crime. Or maybe, if a particular religion or race did not have the same rights as others. This took place in the 1700s in an act called tyranny, or rule by a dictator or strong group that results when the ruler(s) have too much power. The existing government of the Articles Of Confederation was too weak, so the plan was to build a new government that prevented tyranny.

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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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When the colonists were still with Great Britain, King George III misused his power. As a result, colonists wrote the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, to the king, to state their separation from Great Britain, to form a new country, the United States of America. After creating a new country, Americans wrote the Articles of Confederation in the year 1777, which they purposely weakened central government, so the abuse of power, wouldn’t exist. This meant the states had all the power. Although this structure of government seemed great, the creators of the Articles quickly realized that with no central government, states weren’t united because they were busy on increasing the growth of only their state.

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Noah Stevens Professor James Maggio POS 1041 30 September 2016 Over three-hundred years ago The United States had to quickly make a constitution, and decided upon the Articles of Confederation. The United States started out like an experiment for the World. This experiment was what our Government will become, there was not a defined path on what our future will behold. The path to present day for The United States was a rough one, but the experiment turned out to be a success in the end.

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In times of struggle for an organized and protective government, fifty five delegates were called to ratify the amendments. The Unites States was a brand new, independent nation, but it was not at all prospering. War debt and the inability of congress to tax led to the realization that the government needed to be reformed. While it was not their original intention, these delegates ultimately created the Constitution of the United States of America. However, the constant fear of one man or group obtaining too much power still loomed.

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However, he is still convinced that change to this Separation of Powers should not be supported. (gradesaver.com) He argues that if the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch were too separated, they would not work together as a whole. As stated by James Madison, through the Separation of Powers ans well as the system of Checks and Balances to manage power, the three branches of government should be "so far connected and blended, as to give to each a constitutional control over the others." (The Federalist) Though they each have power over the others, through the Constitution,

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The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution to protect America, and give it a “support system”, so the government does not take over the country, or cause Tyranny. Tyranny can even happen today, with one government leader trying to control people, and tell the people what they could, and couldn't do. The separation of powers was used to protect the citizens of America and "to prevent anyone person from gaining too much power for fear that they will then abuse that power at the expense of the American people." (Peone). Many popular examples of rulers to abuse their power include Hitler, Kim Jong II, and even Richard Nixon.

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James Madison wrote Federalist 51 over 200 years ago, yet its words still impact today’s government in 2016. When writing Federalist 51, Madison had two main objectives in mind; he wanted a government with a separation of powers, and he also wanted minorities to be protected. Both of his objectives have been accomplished and continue to be present in today’s American government with the latter objective being more present in today’s government even more so than in the past. To begin with, power is separated in today’s government, preventing a single person or group from having absolute power since, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” according to John Dalberg-Acton. The American government is composed of three branches which power is separated amongst.

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(The Three Branches) should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” In conclusion, the constitution protected us from tyranny using the three methods,Equal Representation from all the States, Federalism, and the system of checks and balances. The framers succeeded in creating a well built constitution because all three methods have created security that no tyrant, or tyranny would

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The framers feared that there would be too much centralized power, the overall intent for the separation of powers is to provide for checks and balances. Charles Montesquieu came up with the

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The first origin of the doctrine of the separation of powers is traced back to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. The theory was also seen in 1690 when John Locke wrote a political manuscript titled Second Treatise of Civil Government where he defended the principle of the separation of the legislative power from the

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Separation of powers refers to the idea that the major body of a state should be functioned independently and that no individual of a state should have power separately. Therefore, separation of powers means that splitting up of responsibilities into different divisions to limit any one branch from expurgating the functions of another. The intention of the doctrine is to prevent the application of powers and provide for checks and balances of governing a state. It is a doctrine of constitutional law under which the three branches of government, executive power, legislative power, and judicial power are been kept separately to prevent abuse of power.

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