Tyranny

Many Americans were suspicious that any government they made could jeopardize their freedom just like what happened to the British.  A new plan of government was drawn up in 1787 after the Articles of Confederation had failed.  The United States adopted the Constitution as its new system. Although the new government was stronger than the Articles, it was set up so that it could never become too powerful and abuse its power. The Constitution was set up to protect the Americans from tyranny. Three characteristics of the United States constitution that protect Americans from tyranny are Federalism, Separation of Powers, and the Bill of Rights.

One characteristic of the United States constitution that protects Americans from tyranny is Federalism.  Federalism divides the power evenly between the National and State government. One example is the national government has the power to regulate interstate and foreign trade while the state government can regulate trade within the states. Each of the 2 governments has their own reserved powers but they also have powers that they share, like collecting taxes and borrowing money. The Constitution divides the power between the Federal Government and the State Government so nobody can have too much power therefore preventing tyranny. (doc. 1)

Another characteristic of the United States constitution that protects Americans from tyranny is Separation of Powers. The government was divided into 3 branches, the executive branch, the judicial branch, and the legislative branch and each of these branches has their own powers. With these powers comes checks and balances. Checks and balances was created so none of the branches got too much power. The branches can “check” each other.  As an example, congress (legislative branch) can make a law but as a check the president (executive branch) can veto it. The judicial branch decides whether these laws are constitutional or unconstitutional. Separation of powers and checks and balances protects the Americans from tyranny by balancing out the government’s power. (doc. 2)

One more characteristic of the United States constitution that protects Americans from tyranny is the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was made in 1791 after the constitution was created to spell out people’s rights to protect them from the government. These rights are your rights that cannot be violated. Anti-federalists were against the constitution because they were afraid that it would take jeopardize the people’s rights, which is why the bill of rights was created. The people felt more protected knowing that they had rights that could not be violated. The bill of rights is the first 10 amendments of the constitution. An example of one of these rights is Freedom of speech. The bill of rights protects the Americans from tyranny by giving people rights that cannot be taken away or violated and spelled them out so they can protect themselves if something is unconstitutional.

The government did not want what happened to the British to happen to the Americans where one person had the power. All of those are characteristics of the United States constitution that protect Americans from tyranny.