Final answer:
Mercy Otis Warren considered the US constitution as 'aristocratic tyranny' due to her concern that it centralized too much power and could lead to 'uncontrolled despotism.' The Federalists and Anti-Federalists debated on the concentration of governmental power and how to design a balanced government that protected against tyranny with mechanisms like checks and balances.
Step-by-step explanation:
Mercy Otis Warren referred to the new US constitution and its government as "aristocratic tyranny" and feared it would bring "uncontrolled despotism" because she, along with other Anti-Federalists, was concerned that the new constitution centralized too much power in the hands of a national government. This centralization of power, they argued, could lead to the same sort of tyrannical dominance that the colonies had experienced under British rule. Warren's point of view reflects a broader tension within the period of American Constitutional formation, where there was a deep concern about the potential for corruption by power and a desire to avoid the pitfalls of monarchy, oligarchy, and mobocracy, which can be seen as tyrannical forms of government. The Anti-Federalists sought to limit the potential for governmental abuse by advocating for more explicit protections of individual rights and clearer definitions of government powers.
Debates on Government Power and the Prevention of Tyranny
James Madison discussed how a republican government can prevent the tyranny of the majority by serving as a check on the power of factions. The Founding Fathers aimed to create a balanced form of government that avoided the concentration of power through a system of checks and balances and by dividing power among branches to prevent despotism. The Anti-Federalists, however, feared that in constructing a national government that possessed significant authority, the constitutional framers might inadvertently create an aristocracy disguised as a republic, which would still be vulnerable to decay into some form of tyranny, such as despotism or oligarchy.