Quote of James Madison. Men are not angels.

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Quote of James Madison: Men are not Angels
The early stages in the foundation of a nation are vital in structuring the political and economic systems of the future. The United States founding fathers played a significant role in various measures that define the constitution and laws governing living today. These measures in the form of the article of confederation, checks and balances and federalism had various effects on restricting the powers of the government.
The end of the revolutionary war saw the introduction of the Articles of Confederation which granted fewer powers to the weak central government. This affected the system of monitoring states with the national government unable to guarantee compliance by states in activities such as tax. This prompted the Philadelphia convection in 1787 to amend the Articles. However, discussion on a new constitution emerged with the final draft including the “separation of powers, checks, and balances as well as a federal form of government. The constitution created a federal system of government based on the sovereignty of power between the national and state governments” (Schmidt et al. 51).
Most Anti-federalists attempted to maintain the Articles of Confederation that existed since 1781. The argument was that the Constitution gave excessive power to the national government. Virginian James Madison identified the need for a less powerful government through his quote where he identifies men as not angels to be granted ‘an atom of power’ (Grant et al.

54). Madison developed the Madisonian Model or the separation of powers in the Constitution that proposed a three-armed structure of government. This included the executive, judiciary, and legislature eliminating the potential for tyranny. The model required every branch of the government having independence but checking the actions of the other through a system of checks and balances (Schmidt et al. 50).

Works Cited
Grant, Alan R, and Edward Ashbee. The Politics Today Companion to American Government. Manchester [u.a.: Manchester Univ. Press, 2002. Print.
Schmidt, Steffen W, Mack C. Shelley, and Barbara A. Bardes. American Government and Politics Today, 2009-2010 Edition. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.