Over 200 years ago during the summer of 1787, our great American leaders discussed, argued and compromised to create the constitution that we have today. After the failed Articles of Confederation, a weak government that had no power to tax, a new form of government was in order. Congress decided instead of changing the Articles of Confederation, they would create a brand new government at the Constitutional Convention. In this ongoing meeting 55 delegates built a constitution from scratch Many compromises were created that strengthened the constitution including the Great Compromise, separation of powers, and the amendments, however it is argued that the 3/5 Compromise weakened the constitution (Appleby). One of the major compromises …show more content…
One of the crucial points when making the constitution was limiting the power of of the government. The solution was formed by creating three branches of government, therefore there was a separation of powers. One branch established was the legislative branch which included Congress with the two houses of representation and population. Their made job was to create laws and the executive branch, included the president and the vice president, would the enforce laws. Lastly the judicial branch which is made up of court, interprets the laws. These three branches are all equal and they have checks and balances to manage the other branches to restrict their power. This type of government strengthens the constitution because this way one branch doesn’t have to ability to abuse their power. John Adams once said, “It is by balancing each of these powers against the other two, that the efforts in human nature toward tyranny can alone be checked and restrained, and any degree of freedom preserved in the constitution” (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). The United States still fears tyranny because of Britain abusing their power on the colonies. The United States wants a strong government that can enforce laws without being too powerful. With the separation of powers, all three branches have a lot of power together, but split apart they can’t gain too much