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James Madison, on the other hand, reasoned that the best government of the time, as it existed in Britain, and all of the colonies already practiced the same overlapping of powers that was found in the proposed constitution. In Federalist 48, Madison argues that it is this very overlapping of authority that preserves the separation of powers; “The conclusion which I am warranted in drawing from these observations is, that a mere demarcation on parchment of the constitutional limits of the several departments, is not a sufficient guard against those encroachments which lead to a tyrannical concentration of all the powers of government in the same hands” (Hammond, Hardwick, & Lubert, 2007, p. 494). He believed that his opponents had read Montesquieu but had not understood his notion of separation of powers clearly. According to Montesquieu, tyranny results when one branch of government simultaneously holds the powers of another branch. However, Madison argues that Montesquieu "did not mean that these departments ought to have no partial agency in, or no control over, the acts of each other” (Hammond, Hardwick, & Lubert, 2007, p. 490). Thus, the above claim enabled the Federalists to sufficiently settle the argument on this
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Nevertheless, they aided the constitution 's cause by giving the constitution 's adherents ideas with which to counter their opposition. The Anti-Federalist outcry was not without its effects. With the ratification of the Constitution state legislatures voted for the addition of the first ten amendments. The Bill of Rights, as it came to be known, became an essential part of the document and its legacy of liberty. The ratification of the Constitution not only changed the political culture but also the social. Soon after its approval, American experienced a social shift as well. Citizens no longer saw themselves as only Virginians or New Yorkers; instead they became something larger than that, they became American first and the rest as they say is
Nevertheless, they aided the constitution 's cause by giving the constitution 's adherents ideas with which to counter their opposition. The Anti-Federalist outcry was not without its effects. With the ratification of the Constitution state legislatures voted for the addition of the first ten amendments. The Bill of Rights, as it came to be known, became an essential part of the document and its legacy of liberty. The ratification of the Constitution not only changed the political culture but also the social. Soon after its approval, American experienced a social shift as well. Citizens no longer saw themselves as only Virginians or New Yorkers; instead they became something larger than that, they became American first and the rest as they say is