“The Constitution is the guide that I will never abandon.”- George Washington. George Washington believed in the Constitution because it structured a country without tyranny and it is guide for a successful country. After winning the war against England, the United States was beginning to structure their country. The founding fathers originally wrote the Articles of Confederation which favored a weak national government and put many people into debt. Rebellions caused the the government to relook the Articles of Confederation and eventually write the Constitution. Upon first hearing about the new Constitution many Americans were distraught. They were split between Federalists and Antifederalists who either supported or were against the document. Some believed that it was time for a change, but others believed that a new Constitution wasn’t necessary. Many states feared that the United States would end up like England- full of tyranny and a forceful king, but the Constitution worked extremely hard to guard against tyranny. Tyranny is where one person or group accumulates a lot more power than another person or group. The Constitution guards against tyranny three different ways. It contains federalism, checks and balances, and the small state- large state compromise, which all kept tyranny from taking over America. Federalism is the part of the Constitution that shares powers between the state and central governments.
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This helps keep tyranny out of the country by not allowing one government to gain too much power. In Federalist Paper #51 (Document A), James Madison writes, “The different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” If one person or group has way too much power, such as what happened in England, tyranny arouses. Tyranny takes over a country and causes people to be unhappy. Madison, in the aforementioned quote, explains how he wants each government to keep the other governments from getting too much power, and in addition to being watched over by the other governments, each individual government will have to take care of themselves too. Checks and balances within the three branches of the government ensure that no part of the government will become too powerful and result in tyranny. Another quote by James Madison in Federalist Paper #51 (Document C), explains checks and balances. “-arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other…. [The three branches] should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” Madison is saying that the government should be positioned in a way that allows the …show more content…
In Article 1, Section 3, Senate, Constitution of the United States of America (Document D), it explains how the large and small states will each have a say in the government. “Representatives… shall be apportioned… according to… (population)…. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state…” The small state- large state compromise helped the states have equal power because in the House of Representatives the large states had more representatives since it was based on population and in the Senate the small states had more representatives because there was an equal number of senators, but more small states. This way each part of the Legislative Branch favored either the large or small states, but not giving one group more power than
This helps keep tyranny out of the country by not allowing one government to gain too much power. In Federalist Paper #51 (Document A), James Madison writes, “The different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” If one person or group has way too much power, such as what happened in England, tyranny arouses. Tyranny takes over a country and causes people to be unhappy. Madison, in the aforementioned quote, explains how he wants each government to keep the other governments from getting too much power, and in addition to being watched over by the other governments, each individual government will have to take care of themselves too. Checks and balances within the three branches of the government ensure that no part of the government will become too powerful and result in tyranny. Another quote by James Madison in Federalist Paper #51 (Document C), explains checks and balances. “-arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on the other…. [The three branches] should not be so far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.” Madison is saying that the government should be positioned in a way that allows the …show more content…
In Article 1, Section 3, Senate, Constitution of the United States of America (Document D), it explains how the large and small states will each have a say in the government. “Representatives… shall be apportioned… according to… (population)…. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two senators from each state…” The small state- large state compromise helped the states have equal power because in the House of Representatives the large states had more representatives since it was based on population and in the Senate the small states had more representatives because there was an equal number of senators, but more small states. This way each part of the Legislative Branch favored either the large or small states, but not giving one group more power than