Question

What was the purpose of checks and balances in the US government? Why were these checks and balances needed? Give specific examples.
What was the purpose of the Bill of Rights? Do you think the Bill of Rights succeeded in protecting the rights of everyone? Explain why or why not.

Answer 1

Hello!

Checks and balances is the term that is used to describe the purpose for the separation of powers in the United States Government. The separation of powers means that the government is separated into three branches:
- Executive branch: includes the president and his workers. 
- Legislative branch: includes the Senate and House of Representatives
- Judicial branch: includes the courts
These branches all serve their own purposes in the government. Checks and balances mean that they each balance each other. Because the branches are separated, they each control the amount of power that the other branches have. This prevents one branch from gaining too much power and becoming destructive. 

The Bill of Rights is simply the first 10 Amendments in the U.S. Constitution. The Bill of Rights grants specific rights to all citizens, and nobody can be deprived of them regardless of race, gender, etc. I believe that the Bill of Rights has, in fact, protected the rights of everyone. Anybody who deprives another of his/her rights can be fined. All people have these constitutional rights and they are free to exercise them. 

I hope this helps you! Let me know if you have any additional questions. Have a fantastic day!

Answer 2

The separation of powers and system of checks and balances limit the power of the government. However, at the time of writing the Constitution, not everyone agreed that these limits were enough. For the Constitution to take effect, at least nine states had to ratify or approve, it. Each state held its own convention to vote on ratifying the Constitution.

Federalists were a group of people who supported the ratification of the Constitution and a strong national government. Anti-Federalists were a group of people who opposed the ratification of the Constitution. They argued over the structure of the Constitution during the Constitutional Convention and in the months that followed.

This map shows the support for the Constitution by areas within each state. Note that the borders of the states were not all the same as today. The label for each state also tells you the date that the state ratified the Constitution.

Look at New York. How is it possible for a state that appears mostly against the Constitution to ratify it? Focus on the section of New York that is blue. The population living in that area was much higher, so more votes came from there.