The Constitution vs. Tyranny
How the Constituton prevented tyranny
The Problems:
The Articles of Confederation were not working out for the states. The government did not have enough power over the people and couldn't force anyone to pay taxes. So they needed a new government, it was the constitution. The constitution would be the 13 state's government that was very strong and secure, but the people were afraid of a possible tyranny.
Federalism, state and national governments
Federalism is one place controlled by more than one government. There are two governments in the U.S., the national government and the state's governments. The delagates created these governments. This prevented tyranny because one government could not have complete control over all of the people with out the other one stepping in.
Separating powers
The power in the government couldn't be all in one place. So it was split up into 3 branches: Executive, Judicial, Legislative. Legislative is in charge of making laws, Executive is in charge of enforcing laws to people, and Judicial is in charge of interpreting laws unconstitutionary. This way, each branch will have only there responsibilities and not have all power.
checks and balances
Checks and balances were the ways that the three branches of government could check each others decisions. If one branch tries to enforce something that only they feel is right, they won't be able to do anything with out the other branches of government agreeing. This protects against tyranny because one group of people or branch of government can't have complete power with out the other branches.
The Great Compromise
The larger states wanted representation in government based on population, but the smaller states wanted representation to be equal in all states. So they came up with the great compromise. In the house, representation was based on population. In the senate, representation was equal. Now the bigger states don't have so much more power than smaller states.