With the Continental Army's victory at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, the American Revolution ends with a British withdrawal. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 grants the new nation a significant claim to territories in the Americas. Governing this large nation is a real challenge with not many models to follow.
The First Nations' empire of the Iroquois will be the first model that the new nation looks to and that Confederation style of government is attempted by the United States.
The key issue is of course is not replacing British Rule with something that is just as oppressive.
Answer this question in the comments and is our practice, reply to two others:
What is the easiest way to guarantee that a new national government can never become oppressive? What choices can be made in its design? (Name One and defend your point)
I think that a way in which a national government can keep from becoming oppressive is to divide it into certain groups. Similarly to the three branches of governments in the United States, this alternative makes it much harder for an entire government to become corrupt as there are different branches with different ideas.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Splitting the government into 3 groups doesn't allow corruption because there is other people who can take them out of power.
DeleteAllowing each sect of the government to ensure the other does not become oppressive is a great way to keep balance. Each sect keeps tabs on the other and keeps the other in balance.
DeleteI agree, dividing up the government into three branches is a good way to maintain a balance of power so that the power is not just gathered in one place.
DeleteI agree because if the power is split it up it is harder to consolidate it completely.
Deletei agree just having separate groups would help avoiding corruption in the government as a whole.
Deletei agree, spreading the power is key to a non-oppressive government.
DeleteThe easiest way to guarantee that a new national government can never become oppressive is to give some power to the people. With the people having some say in what goes on they can prevent themselves from being taken advantage of and the nation will be run with everyone or at least most people being okay with the way its ruler and policies. Power in the people would of course not be way too much because then there would be no point of someone such as the president but making it so they have some say to defend themselves and have some say in decisions sounds like a good idea.
ReplyDeleteIf the power is given to the people they will have much more faith in their government. the British relentlessly taxed and took from them without allowing them a say in parliament. This led them to a thirst for power. By giving them the right to vote it will quench the majority of that thirst and ensure that the government doesn't abusive their power like the British. The government is now held accountable and therefore will be less oppressive.
DeleteI agree that giving the people some power will help them trust the government more because they feel like they have some control over what happens in the country.
DeleteI agree that by giving power to the people they can prevent the government from doing bad things. If only one person has power I think there would be a much higher chance of it becoming oppressive.
DeleteI agree. Allowing a balance of power between the government and its people is idea to prevent corruption.
Deleteif you give p[owe to the people they might have more trust in their government because they would know their voice is heard.
DeleteA way in which a national government can restrain itself from becoming oppressive is not devolving into the thing their revolted against. By this I mean that if the government begins to tax the pooper and more rural people to pay for their own federalist structure they become the very thing they were just fighting against. Furthermore they should avoid the flaunting of these facts by not erecting liberty polls in rural areas. This is because when a farmer sees a celebration of the liberty that they are not fully enjoying they will feel swindled as they are continuing to be taxed. However, the majority of this can be avoided by allowing everyone to vote. This ensures that even though the people are continuing to be taxed they will have a say in the government. This is a step up from the British and restrains them from being oppressive. Taxation with representation ensures that the people control the lawmakers and who gets to make laws, and thereby feel ore secure in there government even if they are continuously being taxed.
ReplyDeleteI agree that everyone should be allowed to vote, so people feel that they are taxed but with representation.
DeleteThis is a good point -- governments need to learn and adapt from other governments' failures, lest they become the power they once sought to destroy. History does tend to repeat itself, so if governments can grow from past governments' mistakes, they can achieve a lot.
DeleteThe people in the area plays a big role in making a non-oppressive society. They are the literal foundations of a good and civil place.
DeleteI agree. Voting is definitely essential.
DeleteI think that the easiest way to guarantee that a new national government can never become oppressive is to delegate power to the population while also keeping the countries best intrest in mind. For one, by allowing people to have a choice and voice in the way their nation is run will give them less reason to revolt. In the governments design it should be easily seen that people had a say in the representatives who made big decisions for the nation. As well as this, opposed to the former British governments way, of waiting until the last minute to fix an issue that citizens have expressed; there should be concrete actions taken place when large scale protests are heard. Overall, this would allow for a less oppressive and more peaceful society without small revolts of oppression turning into large scale revolutions.
ReplyDeleteI agree that giving people a choice is very important
DeleteThe easiest way to guarantee that a new national government can never become oppressive is with checks and balances. This way, there isn't one tyrant and no one person will ruin the nation because other groups will make sure no one can have too much power. Those other groups would be elected regularly, but there could also be term limits. That way, if there ever were someone who did not have the success of their country at heart, they would only be able to rule for a limited time. Another important thing about checks and balances is splitting the groups up into specialties. For instance, with a judicial branch like in the Roman Republic and the United States, the branch is specifically in charge of the court.
ReplyDeleteI agree that in order to avoid corruption, there has to be balance so that no one person can destroy the entire government.
DeleteI agree that to avoid the government becoming oppressive there should be multiple people with power.
DeleteI agree that the checks and balances system is a good way to separate power so that the government does not become oppressive, so that power is divided between many people and not just controlled by one.
DeleteI agree that a system with many checks and balances could ensure a very even split of power within the government.
DeleteThe easiest way to guarantee that a new national government can never become oppressive is to give power to the citizens and distribute power into several groups. If they claim this country is for the people, then people should have say in what goes on. This means allowing people to do things like vote for government officials and voice their concerns about major issues. Power also must be divided equally amongst groups of people because giving one person the majority of power can lead to a corrupt government.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the distribution of power is very important.
DeleteI agree; if a few people have too much power, there is a high chance that they will seek even more power, which rapidly devolves into an oppressive system.
DeleteI agree that allowing people to vote is very important
DeleteI agree that people need to be able to vote because if it is not a direct democracy where citizens can vote for every single thing, people should still have the right to vote for their government officials. They need to feel that they have a say in the decisions being made in their country.
Deletei agree with your statement, because if the people have the power to state what they are not content with, then the government can work to fix these problems.
DeleteThe easiest way to guarantee that a new national government won't ever become oppressive is to distribute some power to the people. With the people having some power too it would be much more unlikely for the government to become oppressive. If the people have some say in who the government officials are and in some of the issues going on, the national government may not have enough power to become oppressive.
ReplyDeleteI agree as placing power in the people will allow them to trust their government more and have protection over themselves
DeleteI agree because the people need the power to remove bad leaders
Deleteso the leaders cannot take over.
The best way to guarantee that a new national government will not become oppressive is to give power to the people and to equally distribute power. If the people have some of the power, they have freedom and they can make their own decisions and have their voice heard. In addition, if the power is distributed evenly, if one branch grows too oppressive or starts doing things people don't like, the other two branches can put a stop to it. This way, many people share power and it is less easier for the citizens to become oppressed than when a King had all the power.
ReplyDeleteI agree, power can be important especially with the people because with the people they can be 100% sure that it will be equal and not oppressive to all of them.
DeleteThe best way to guarantee that a government will not become oppressive is to hand over a large amount of power to the public. People will have the most trust in their government and the government officials if they have control over these officials. People will also fight for their own freedom from oppression, and if they have political power, they will use said power to create the kind of country that they want to see.
ReplyDeletePower is really important, and having too much of it can lead to big problems. Making sure that the power is evenly distributed is a big factor in having a non-oppressive civilization.
DeleteThe best way for them to avoid such an oppressive government is to give more power and choice to the people, and have ensure built in checks and balances. They need to have some ways to ensure people wont get to power hungry.
ReplyDeleteThis is accurate, but I think that there should also be a set of rules to guarantee this as well.
DeleteA good way to guarantee that a new government won't become oppressive is by making rules and laws. Laws limit the amount of power a single individual could have, and could potentially solve many other problems that the government would be facing. Whenever a new problem is discovered, a law could be establishsed. Laws also limit the amount of power that either a high-ranking person, or a normal citizen could have. Laws help maintain a place under control, and help make a place peaceful, and even stop it from becoming too oppressive. The people could also vote on laws, which helps regulate the system.
ReplyDeleteI agree that a new national government needs laws so people know what is acceptable and not acceptable. The government needs to make and enforce these laws so all of the citizens are aware of them and agree to follow them.
DeleteI agree, since laws are what make a society, and an absence of suitable ones would regress the people rather than improve them.
DeleteI agree, laws and rules really helped with the government a lot and made everything better overall compared to before.
DeleteI think the way to avoid a government becoming oppresive is to have a strong separation of powers and also have a good set of laws and constitution. This makes sure that one person like the president cannot completely consolidate the government and have no remaining opposition to their rule.
ReplyDeleteI agree, power held in one person hand will make many discontent, leading to what started the war in the first place.
DeleteI agree that power should be split between many branches of government, but I wonder if there could be a situation where one sect of the government could consolidate another part by bribery, corruption, or other means so that they could have absolute power.
DeleteI agree, because people are always going to be corrupted by absolute power, because if they have absolute power, why would they share, especially if it doesn't give them anything more
DeleteThe way to avoid an oppressive government would be to keep the people happy. In order to do this, no certain people should hold too much power, and everyone should be kept somewhat equal. Laws also must be made, but must be unbiased.
ReplyDeleteAlthough that is simple, that is very accurate. If everyone likes what the government is doing, then they're not being oppressed. (Maybe if they have Stockholm syndrome but let's not get into that. )
Deletethey easiest way to make sure that the new government not to become oppressively is by having a system where nobody even if extremely power hungry aren't able to be topple the government with a system of check and balances.
ReplyDeleteThough it isn't really mentioned in the prompt, it is worth considering that with too many checks and balances, the government can't really do anything, but with too few, power-hungry people can potentially topple it.
DeleteThe easiest way to guarantee that a new national government can never become oppressive is with the equal responsibilities and powers of the three branches of government, the checks and balances. With the equal powers that each branch has on the other helps there not to be a very dangerous, powerful leader. The people for positions are well looked upon and regularly changed. The ways of checks and balances are all about making everything fair and safe giving equal responsibilities to each one of them. Checks and balance help the government never get oppressive and never make any kind of bad equality to each of them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that checks and balances are important, but it's also important to have let the people have power as well.
DeleteThe most effective way to guarantee a national government does not become oppressive is to institute it in a very minimal fashion. If you create a government with minimal involvement except for the essential, it has a low chance of becoming a dictatorial or oppressive reign. Once we allow the government to expand beyond the essentials like policing, courts, fire, education, and protection from invasion, it starts becoming more and more oppressive. As it reaches into personal matters like what we do with our body and at what age we can do it to ourselves, it becomes more and more oppressive, even if we are accustomed to it. The best way to stop governmental oppression of that sort is to never let them near those privileges in the first place by instituting a minimal form of rule, so even if there is an oppressor in charge of the government, their government has no true control over the people and cannot oppress them.
ReplyDeleteWhile it isn't in the scope of the question, I wonder how a weak government could adequately protect the rights of the people it governs, and at what point it goes from not enough power to protect the people to too much power, meaning it can oppress the people. This is mostly a rhetorical question, as there isn't really a definitive, objective answer.
DeleteThe Articles of Confederation demonstrate how a weak central government cannot properly govern its people. It gave the states too much power, which cause problems with taxes and trade as the states issued their own money. Making sure there's a proper balance between the central government and the people would be ideal.
DeleteOne way to guarantee that a government never becomes oppressive is to give the most power to the people most likely to be oppressed, such as implementing voting. If people feel oppressed by the current people in power, they can vote them out. This means that a government that is unsuccessful (makes the people unhappy) will be voted out, while a hopefully better one is voted in.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but there will always be some who feel oppressed, leading to people like John Wilkes Booth assassinating Lincoln
DeleteThe best way to prevent corruption like previous rulers is to make different branches of the government controlled by different entities so they keep each other in check. Direct voting is also important because a nation founded on the "equality" like America requires the masses opinions to matter and shape the direction of the country
ReplyDeleteOne way to guarantee that the new government cannot be oppressive is to balance power between the people and the central government. This also involves dividing power among the central government as well. This allows for the people to have a voice in the government, gauging the opinion of the people. Dividing the power among the central government also means that one branch will not be too powerful. The people are able to keep these powers in check, and the powers are able to keep each other in check.
ReplyDeleteOne way to make sure the new government cannot be oppressive to its people is to spread the power so much that no one person has the majority of the power. If the countries' power is really spread out, then one person can't corrupt the entire government. If there are hundreds of people deciding on the countries important decisions, then the voices of the sensible will outweigh the voices of the foolish.
ReplyDeleteA way to gurantee a government not becoming oppresive is by giving power to the people, to let the people have a voice. To give the people the power to vote. Therefore if one is not content with the way the government is working, the person has a voice and could state out what is bothering the, and therefore the government can fix it. Spreading out the power, is key to a non oppressive government.
ReplyDelete