Unit 2 Essay: Checks and Balances

Post date: Jan 08, 2012 9:50:20 PM

Unit Essay: Checks and Balances

You must write an essay on the following topic in order to complete this project:

Checks and Balances

The United States as we know it was born on March 4th, 1789 after the US Constitution had been ratified, or voted in by all thirteen colonies. It had taken months to draft the constitution and the battle over whether to ratify or not had been fierce, but in 1789, a kind of miracle had happened: a confederation of fiercely independent colonies had by their own will abandoned their individual sovereignty and elected to become members of a single and unified nation. The colonies had done this only because the government the US constitution created creatively allowed individual states to share power with the national government, and this national government itself was designed to limit itself through a system of checks and balances on its power. In a five paragraph essay of 600 or more words, describe the responsibilities of the three branches of US government and explain how each branch checks and balances the other branches.

Helpful links for this essay:

Federal Government of the United States

Separation of Powers under the US Constitution