How the Constitution Guards Against Tyranny

Tyranny is an harsh and absolute power in hands of one individual like king or dictator, it

is still possible to have tyranny of the few, when several generals or strong religious leaders

seize control or tyranny of the many, when the majority denies rights of the minority. In 1787 fifty five delegates representing the thirteen states established a meeting in Philadelphia in an attempt to fix the national government, which at the time was the Articles of Confederation. One problem with the Articles of Confederation was that it had no chief executive, which was a problem because the role of the president holds a lot of power and responsibility and without it there’d be no control over the executive branch, no representative of the nation, and no leader in other major aspects of government. Another problem with the state representation before the constitution was that there was no way of collecting taxes, which was a problem because it limited the money which could be used as a resource for improving public communities, schools, parks, libraries etc., it also was a problem because it limited the salary in some jobs.The three main ways the Constitution protects against tyranny are by using Federalism to make the state government more powerful and balance it with the central government, equally dividing the power of government between the three branches and making it possible for the three branches of government to check each other and preventing one of the branches from gaining too much power.

Federalism is included in the Constitution to protect the United States from tyranny.

Document A suggests that “the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two

distinct governments - state and federal” and “Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people.The different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself”. These quotes show the reader that the Constitution protects against tyranny because it divides government into state and central, this type of government is also called Federalism. This type of compound government protects against tyranny by preventing central government from gaining too much power and gives the states some power too. For example the states are able to set up local governments, hold elections, establish schools regulate in-state businesses and pass marriage and divorce laws while the central government can regulate trade, conduct foreign relations, provide army and navy, declare wars print and coin money etc. This shows that the states have power to control anything inside their state and the central government is responsible for international transactions.

A second way Constitution protects against tyranny is that it divides the government into three subsections, branches, which are - Legislative, Executive and Judicial. According to the document B “Liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct”. This quote is significant to show the Constitution protects against tyranny because it prevents one branch from becoming too powerful and validating our rights or the rights of other branches.