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WhowasthemostinfluentialAmericaninthehistoryoftheUnitedStates?
JenniferAlvarez
U.S.History&05
VictorMunoz
May15,2016
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and became the first 10 amendments. The purpose of the amendments is to preserve rights as
people of the United States and to know what kind ofrightsareprovidedforeachcitizen.Inthe
website,
How the Constitution Protects Our Rights it states, The Bill of Rights defines the
following rights: freedom of speech, press, religion and petition, right to keep and bear arms,
protection from quartering of soldiers, Protection from unreasonable search andseizure,rightto
due process of the law, right to trial by jury, speedy trial, public trial,counsel,righttociviltrial
by jury, prohibition of excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment,protectionofrightsnot
enumerated in the Constitution, protection of the powers of the states and the people. Other
amendments that play a huge role in peoples rights are the citizenship rights, voting rights,
womens voting rights and voting age. Over the years the Bill of Rights has had an important
impact on American values 5. The Constitution keeps protecting freedomsandrightsofcitizens
of the United States. The founding fathers of the Constitution have helped define the luck of
citizens livinginacountrywiththesetype ofrights.Although,thisis playahugepartintheU.S.
Constitutionthiswasnttheonlywayithasaccomplishedequality.
The accumulationof all powers,legislative,executiveandjudicial]inthesamehands,
whether ofone,afew,ormany,andwhetherhereditary,selfappointed,orelective,mayjustly
be pronounced the very definition oftyranny(JamesMadison,FederalistNo.51,1788). The
checks and balances is a system that allows each branch of the government to challengeeach
other in order tolimitthepowers sothatnobranchbecometoopowerful.Althoughtheideaof
checks and balances was not originally James Madisons he was the one to push this idea
forward. In
Separation of Powers with Checks and Balancesitstates,Madisontheorizedthat
as it is the Constitution that grants each branch it's power, honorable ambition thatultimately
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serves the highest interests of the people could work to maintain the separation 4. In other
words, since Congress is not dependent on the presidency or the courtsforeitheritsauthority
or its election to office, members will jealously guard its power from encroachments by the
other two branches and vice versa. This quote shows that for James Madison this
organization was the answer to limiting the power of each branch. In the article
The
Importance of of Separation of Powers & Checks and Balances it states, lets say that the
legislative branch had the power to create any law it so desired. Any legislation could be
passed, and there would not be a way to oppose it. However, there are two safeguards if the
executive branch disagreed with the law, it could be vetoed or, if a lawsuit was brought
against this law, the judicial branch could decide if the lawwasConstitutionalornot.Bothof
the two other branches ensure that the legislative branch cannot pass unconstitutional or
unethical legislation. This helps prove that without the Checks and Balances the branches
could take advantage of their power, however, the Checks and Balances prevents this from
happening and creates a government that is equal in power. Without James Madison pushing
the checks and balances to actually happen the government wouldnt be the way it is right
now.
James Madison being one of the founding fathers, who helped free the colonists from
the control of Great Britain. While the colonist went to the new world in the belief of
mercantilism. Mercantilism is an economic nationalismforthepurposeofbuildingawealthy
and powerful state like stated in
Mercantilism . This was the concept of providing for the
motherland, which was a strong ideal during the sixteenth century. While this was the
colonistoriginalgoalwasprovidingforthemotherland,GreatBritainabusedtheircontrol,and
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