Tyranny
is exhibited in many ways. In 1787 our founding fathers met in
Philadelphia to discuss a problem, The Articles of Confederation
were not working. So after a long debate, they made a decision, to
throw out the old and in with the new. Meaning, to dump the Articles
of Confederation and make the Constitution. How will another piece
of paper guard against tyranny? Well, the Constitution will start a
new era of government. Consisting of; Federalism, Separation of
Powers, Checks and Balances, and Balancing Power between the Large
and Small States.
One
way the Constitution guards against tyranny is Federalism. Federalism
is just a fancy word for the powers given to the states, to the
central government, and powers the two share. Document A states that
the central government can regulate trade, conduct foreign relations
and declare war. The states can set up local governments, hold
elections and establish schools. As James Madison said, “The
different governments will each control each other, at the same time
that each will be controlled by itself.” What James Madison is
trying to say is that the central and state governments have enough
power that they don’t control everything. The central
government has enough power to help some of the country’s major
needs and the state government has enough power to help the state’s
needs because the state’s needs may be more specific. From
this, you may conclude that dividing powers between the central and
state governments prevents tyranny.
Separation
of Powers guards us from tyranny by dividing the branches of
government. For example, in Document B it says, “Liberty
requires that the great departments of powers should be separate and
distinct.” This means that the Legislative Branch (Congress;
House of Representatives and Senate) should be completely different
from the Executive (President) or the Judicial Branch (Courts). The
different branches could have different viewpoints. This may prevent
tyranny by making people not want to try to take over the government
because they think the government is hard to take over, since there
are three separate branches. In conclusion, the Separation of Powers
protects us from tyranny in this way.
The
Constitution guards us against tyranny by using checks and balances.
In Document C, it says, “… 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…. (The Three Branches) should not be so
far separated as to have no constitutional control over each other.”
This basically means other branch checks on each other to make sure
they have all the same amount of power. They check by using their
equal power and approving or disapproving something that the other
branch has done, for example, the Executive Branch can veto a
congressional legislation, however, Legislative Branch can override
the presidential veto. If one branch becomes overpowered, then it may
consider tyranny, in which, one branch has absolute control over the
whole government. All in all, using checks and balances the
Constitution may help stop tyranny in the United States.
Constitution
guards us from tyranny by having equal representation from all the
states. In Document D, it states, “The number of
representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but
each state shall have at least one representative… The Senate
of the United States shall be composed by the legislatures thereof
for six years; and each senator shall have one vote.” These
laws in the Constitution are to make sure that all the states have
equal power. They must all have equal representation so that they can
have a say in the government. If the Constitution was not existent,
some states would have total control over other states because the
smaller states didn't have a say. The powers the people have, also
keep people who make laws from being in the government for too long
because they could gain too much power. This is the last way the
Constitution guards from tyranny.
There
are many forms of tyranny, and the many ways people have prevented
tyranny, ours being The Constitution. Just think of tyranny as a
burglar, it creeps up on a defenseless woman and snags her purse, and
The Constitution as the defender, who tackles tyranny down and
retrieves the purse, a.k.a the power. Federalism, Separation of
Powers, Checks and Balances, and Balancing the Power between Small
and Large States has defended America against tyranny for 228 years
and hopefully will for years to come.
Points: 323
Reviews: 18
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