So ask yourself, what did the constitution do to oppose cruelty? To define tyranny, it means cruel and oppressive government or rule. Another way to define tyranny is cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power or control. The Constitution guarded against tyranny in several ways which were: federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and lastly, small and large states. The first guard against tyranny was federalism which means that during the constitution meeting, the delegates decided to give certain powers to the Central Government and the States plus have powers shared between them.
This set into motion the forming of the Articles of Confederation which created a weak bond between states and a congress with essentially no power to put any law into motion. In 6 years it was realized that the Articles were failing and needed to be replaced at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Politicians from two groups were split into two groups: Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Federalists were in favor of a strong central government and a tight bond between states whereas the Anti-Federalists favored and weaker government with less power over individual states. At the Constitutional Convention the Federalists drew up plans for a new constitution while the Anti-Federalists complained and picked apart their plan, even though the Anti-Federalists had no plan of their own.
When the colonies became states, they began to act alone or in their own best interest. Thus a new governing document needed to take place for the states to act as one and become a nation. The results of the government were weak and efforts to make it stronger failed. In May 1787 a convention was called to re-write the Articles and draft the Constitution. The Constitution fixed the weaknesses of the Articles by allowing a central government certain powers and rights.
Without an enforced base tax, there was no way for the fledgling country to pay off state and national debts from the war years, except for requesting money from the states which seldom came. The Articles of Confederation did give the federal government control over many things. Foreign relations lied solely with the central government, but the weakness of the Articles was frustrating in conducting foreign policy. In 1789, Thomas Jefferson, concerned over the failure to fund an American naval force to confront the Barbary Pirates, wrote to James Monroe, “It will be said there is no money in the treasury. There never will be money in the
The opponents, however, named themselves the Anti-Federalists, and they argued that the new plan handed too much power to the central government. Ultimately, before it could go into effect, nine of the thirteen states needed to ratify the document. The Constitution should be ratified because it will it divides the government power appropriately, unites the states,
Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens. If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure. There are but two methods of providing against this evil: the one by creating a will in the community independent of the majority that is, of the society itself; the other, by comprehending in the society so many separate descriptions of citizens as will render an unjust combination of a majority of the whole very improbable, if not impracticable. The first method prevails in all governments possessing an hereditary or self-appointed authority. This, at best, is but a precarious security; because a power independent of the society may as well espouse the unjust views of the major, as the rightful interests of the minor party, and may possibly be turned against both parties.
A. Students will analyze historical documents to determine principles that served as precedents for the United States Constitution. • define individual and group values o What is a value? Ideas which groups/individual believe strongly and guide their behavior. o List and define the values and principles of democracy Limited government-the govt is limited in their power Change or abolish government-if the govt is not doing their job we can change it Individual right and freedom-everyone has their rights and freedom Consent of government-the power comes from the people Majority/Minority Rule-majority makes decision Equality-everyone is equal o Why are the values
“… it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from refection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitution on accident and force.” A question posed by Hamilton in Federalist 1, but in my opinion it has been answered by many others such as Tocqueville, Gilman, Lippman, and within the Federalist Papers, Civil War, and the conflicts of Washington and Jefferson, though each has done so with a unique and different approach. The foundations of a true democracy and its expectations were set with the first election. George Washington delivered his first inaugural address in April, 1789 in which he expressed his expectations of the American government. He desired a centralized government for America that would serve to be an example for other nations for its morality and principles. A government that treats all with
The Constitution Our Constitution is the supreme law of the United States. The Constitution is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens and all people within the United States. The Constitution is said to have many flaws that many can argue are relevant. The fundamental flaw in our system is not the absence of a big political majority. The problem might be structural rather than political.
The last thing that really stuck out to me was Article VII, which reads, “The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.”(Kilman, 2008). We have to keep in mind that a government existed before and authorized the convening of the Constitution convention. This article really showed how the Founders changed the rules so that they could overstep authority and remake our nation in ways that the Articles of Confederation was designed to prevent. They replaced the Articles’ rules, knowing that they couldn’t meet the full requirements they made up their own. They replaced the unanimous consent requirements set forth in the Articles’ with the rule that the new Constitution would take effect if nine states agreed on the subject (Morehoff, 2011).