Luther+Martin

=Alison Sousa=

Introduction:
The Constitution of the United States is the longest written constitution of any country in the world! The Constitutional Conventions were a series of meetings for the purpose of writing a new constitution. In the Philadelphia Convention of September 17, 1787, Delegates met to revise The Articles of Confederation. George Washington was elected president of this meeting. Washington may be the most well known delegate, but there were many more that helped create a new working set of rules for our country.

Background Information:
Luther Martin was a Politician and one of the United States Founding Fathers. He was born on February 9th, 1748 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He attended the College of New Jersey, which is now known as Princeton. He moved to Maryland after recieving his degree and he taught there for three years. He began to study Law in Samuel Wilson's office and he became Maryland's attorney general during 1778-1805 and 1818-1822. Martin was selected to attend the Constitutional Convention. In his later years, Martin became a heavy drinker, he was struck by illness and poverty. He also became paralyzed in 1819. This forced him to retire as attorny general in 1822.

Role:
Luther Martin refused to sign the constitution because he felt that it violated states' rights. He was a leader of the Anti-Federalists, along with Patrick Henry and George Mason. He always sided with the small states and he was against the Virginia Plan. Martin believed that the Virginia Plan would give the large states too much power and it would allow them to dominate over the smaller states. He also owned six slaves and opposed of including slaves in determining representation. He opposed of the 3/5 Clause.

DBQ:
**__The Constitution’s Guard Against Tyranny__**

Their challenge was to make sure that one group in the government would not gain too much power and take over. In 1787, fifty five delegates representing twelve of the thirteen states met in Philadelphia to create a strong central government. Their reasons for creating the Constitution were that they needed to replace The Articles of Confederation, which gave not enough power to the federal government. Also, they wanted to protect the natural rights of life and liberty of the people. The question is: //How did the constitution guard against tyranny?// Tyranny is one or a group of powerful people ruling over a government in dictatorship. The constitution guarded against tyranny in several ways; by the use of Federalism, the separation of powers, the checks and balance system and the power of the small states being equal to the power of large states.

The first guard against tyranny was the use of Federalism which is the compound of state and central government. In Document A, there is a chart that shows what powers are given to the central government, what powers are given to the state government and what powers are shared by both. Central government controls regular trade, conducts foreign relations, provides army and navy, declares war, prints money, sets up post office, and makes immigration laws. State government has control over local government, can hold elections, establish schools, pass marriage and divorce laws, and regulate in-state businesses. Powers shared by both are ability to tax, borrow money, set up courts, make laws, and enforce laws. This protects against tyranny because it gives a double security. The double security is the division of state and central government to make sure that one does not gain too much power and take over the other.

The second guard against tyranny is the separation of power which means that all three branches should have separate and distinct power. If the three branches shared powers, then they could gain too much power and take over the US in tyranny. According to Document B, James Madison thought that the accumulation of powers of the legislative, executive and judicial branches would be the definition of tyranny. This is why the legislative branch makes up laws, the judicial branch interprets the laws, and the executive branch carries out the laws. Separation of powers prevents tyranny because if the branches shared powers, then one branch could take over the other two.

The third guard against tyranny is the system of checks and balances which means that each branch checks each other for power. Document C explains that one branch should have some control over the other two. Examples of this are that the president can veto Congressional legislation and the Court can declare laws unconstitutional. The President nominates judges, the court can declare laws as unconstitutional and the Senate can impeach judges and remove them from office. Also, the congress can approve Presidential nominations, override a President’s veto and impeach the President and remove him/her from office. The checks and balances system protects the US from tyranny because it makes sure that the branches have equal power.

The fourth guard against tyranny is the equal power of small states and large state. This means that small states should have as much say in the government as large states even though they have less people. According to Document D, the House of Representatives is set up according to population, while the Senate has 2 Senators for each state. This means that each state has equal representation in the Senate. The Senate makes the final decision for laws and bills, so it is important that each state is equal in the Senate. Also, each state has at least one person in the House of Representatives and there is voting for Reps. Every 2 years to cope with population change. This protects against tyranny because it keeps the large states from having too much power and dominating over the smaller states.

Although the American Constitution isn’t perfect, it does guard against tyranny very well. It guards against tyranny with the use of Federalism, the separation of powers, the checks and balance system and the power of the small states being equal to the power of large states. This question is significant because it helps us realize how much the delegates of our states thought this over. It is important to understand how the constitution guarded against tyranny because this is the basis of our American government. This question is important today because it is still what prevents tyranny in our country now.

__Luther Martin's Views on the Safeguards of Tyranny:__
Luther Martin was against Federalism. He was one of the leaders of the Antifederalist group along with Patrick Henry and George Mason. Luther Martin was concerned about giving too much power to the central government. He was also concerned about its lack of Bill of Rights. This is why he left the convention and refused to sign the Constitution. He also opposed ratification at the Maryland ratifying convention. After they adopted the Bill of Rights, then Luther Martin favored the direction of the new government. His opposition lead to him being called the "federal bull dog" by Thomas Jefferson, his antagonist. Also, Luther Martin agreed with equal power of small states an large states. He did not like the idea of the Virginia plan, based on population, that allowed large states more power than small states.

Attendance Record:
====== Luther Martin attended about 70% of all the meetings (including probably there dates). He started going to meetings almost regularly on June 9th, 1787. He attended 76% of the meetings after this date. From August 7-11, Martin was absent because he had recently departed from New York. He had not arrived in Philadelphia yet. Martin permanently departed and left the Constitutional Convention September 4th, 1787.

Luther Martin's Attendance Record Table:


 * || Present || Absent || Do Not Know || Probably Present || Probably Abset ||
 * Act 1 || 3 || 13 || 0 || 6 || 0 ||
 * Act 2 || 21 || 0 || 0 || 9 || 0 ||
 * Act 3 || 16 || 5 || 0 || 2 || 0 ||
 * Act 4 || 0 || 12 || 0 || 2 || 0 ||
 * Total || 40 || 30 || 0 || 19 || 0 ||
 * Percentage || 45% || 33.7% || 0% || 21.3% || 0% ||

Primary Sources:
My delegate, Luther Martin,woud not agree with Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. He strongly believed in the New Jersey Plan, which stated that one vote would be given per state for equal representation under one legslative body. Luther Martin still disapproved of the Virginia Plan even after they made revisions that would give equal representatives in the senate and representation based on population in the House of Representatives. He did not agree with reps by population in the House of Representatives.

Primary Source Used: The Constitution PDF

Bill of Rights:
Luther Martin would approve of the 17th amendment because it states that there will be equal representation in the senate. It says that there will be two senators per each state and it also says that senators will have the last say in voting. This makes it so that larger states do not have more say in government than smaller states and that larger states do not dominate over smaller states.

[[image:http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/images/martin_l-s.jpg align="right" caption="A painting of Luther Martin in his older years."]]Work Cited
Vile, John. "Luther Martin." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. <[|http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com]>. "Constitutional Convention." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. <[|http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com]>. "Constitution (1787)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2010. <[|http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com]>. vote, popular, and the upper as well as the president would be chosen. "National Park Service - Signers of the Constitution (Introduction)." //History & Culture: National Park Service Cultural Resources//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. . "Luther Martin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2010. <[]> "Delegates to the Constitutional Convention:Luther Martin." //TeachingAmericanHistory.org -- Free Seminars and Summer Institutes for Social Studies Teachers//. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2010.  "Luther Martin." Hall of North and South Americans. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2010. <[]> "Luther Martin." Hall of North and South Americans. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2010. <[]>