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Why Did The Constitution Guard Against Tyranny

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George Washington once said “Experience hath shewn that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted into tyranny. “ In 1784 the thirteen states tried to get rid of control by a king they did this because he was a tyrant. A tyrant was a leader who abused their powers by being cruel and tyranny is when a leader is power hungry. So how did the constitution guard against tyranny? The constitution guarded against tyranny in several ways such as federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and big states -v- small states. One way the constitution prevented tyranny was federalism. Federalism is the power given to the states or system of the government. Document A states that the central government can conduct foreign relations, regulate trade, and declare war. The central government and state governments have enough power that they don't get power hungry and want to take over. The central government covers the countries needs and the state government controls the state's needs. Therefore, tyranny isn't an issue because the powers are divided. …show more content…

Separation of powers is when each branch of the government is separated. Document B states, “ Liberty requires that the great department of powers should be separate and distinct.” This was saying that the legislative branch which is congress, should be separate from the executive branch which has to do with the president and the judicial branch which is the the court system because they have different ideas on things. Since there are three separate governments people won’t want to take over because the government would be hard to take over since there are three separate

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