Camila Ramos
9/27/14
US History
Ms. Soulberg
3rd Period

How Did The Constitution Guard Against Tyranny?

Have you ever wondered why The United States of America was never ruled by one or two very powerful people, the way some countries are still governed today? The 55 delegates that got together in Philadelphia in 1787 to try to fix the Articles of Confederation made it one of their priorities to make sure the new Constitution guarded against tyranny. James Madison said, “The accumulation of all powers in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many is the very definition of tyranny.” The Constitution guarded against tyranny in four ways: federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances and the compromise between big and small states in Congress.

Federalism guarded against tyranny because it divided the power between the central government and state government. Certain powers are exclusively held by the central government and other powers are held by the state government, and some are shared between the two. James Madison explains, “The central government has the power to regulate trade, conduct foreign relations, prive an army and navy, declare war, print and coin money, set up post offices and make immigration laws. The state government has the power to set up local governments, hold elections, establish schools, pass marriage and divorce laws and regulate in-state business.The central and state government both share the power to tax, borrow money, set up courts, make and enforce laws” (Document A). The central government controls everything that will affect everyone living in the country, while the state government has the power to deal with and make decisions on things that will only affect the people living in that state. Federalism guarded against tyranny by creating a double security to the rights of people and the governments will control themselves and at the same time control each other.

The separation of powers guarded against tyranny by dividing the power of the central government into three branches to ensure that no one branch got too powerful. The executive branch is headed by the President and his/her main role to carry out federal laws, direct national defense and foreign policy (Document B). The legislative branch is headed by Congress, which includes the House of Representatives and the Senate (Document B). Its main role is to make laws. The Judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court (Document B). Its main role is to interpret the Constitution, review cases, decided cases involving states’ rights, and to decide if a law is unconstitutional. The separation of powers guarded against tyranny by ensuring that no one branch of government got too much power over another. Checks and balances guarded against tyranny by making sure that no one branch could make a decision without being checked by another branch. The goal of this was, “to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that they may be a check on each other” (Document C). All three branches are connected and have some sort of power over each other. The president can veto a Congressional legislation and Congress can override a President’s veto and impeach the President and remove him/her from office. The Court can declare laws unconstitutional and Congress can impeach judges and remove them from office. The