Dbq Democracy In Colonial America
DBQ - Democracy in Colonial America Essay
Colonial America played a major role in the way America is run today. In this particular time period, America was just beginning to be its own country. Now that America was finally free from British rule it needed a government of its own. Democracy seemed to be the best option for the new government, but it was a little hard to switch to all things democratic immediately. Democracy was a work in progress in colonial America with democratic and undemocratic features. There were many democratic features in America. One of the many being Rule of Law(#4). This Rule states that no one is above the law in a democracy. One of the ways this can be interpreted is that “If the governor neglects or refuses to
call the general court into session, the voters may do so”(The fundamental orders of Connecticut #3). This example shows that the governor is not above the law and the voters can take action if needed. There were also undemocratic features in the new country. Like “Slaves had no legal rights and were forbidden to read and write”(Plan of a slave ship #5). This is very undemocratic. According to the rule of equality(11), it says that all individuals should be valued equally and should be free from unreasonable discrimination. So our country was not always the best at carrying out all democratic laws. In colonial America, some things were just a work in progress.It started out as undemocratic, but it was in the process or it just eventually became democratic. The rule of Regular Free and Fair Elections says that “Most adult citizens should have the right to vote and run for office-regardless of their race,gender,ethnicity,and level of wealth. But voting qualifications (#2) has a chart that shows that every person who voted in this time period was Christian, white, and male. Then later things and mindsets started to change in this time and it was eventually democratic. Colonial America just had to find itself. America was a brand new country that had know idea how to run its own government. So America had to find what worked and what didn't work. The democratic features of the rule of law, equality, and regular free and fair elections are what made democracy a work in progress in colonial America.
Colonial America played a major role in the way America is run today. In this particular time period, America was just beginning to be its own country. Now that America was finally free from British rule it needed a government of its own. Democracy seemed to be the best option for the new government, but it was a little hard to switch to all things democratic immediately. Democracy was a work in progress in colonial America with democratic and undemocratic features. There were many democratic features in America. One of the many being Rule of Law(#4). This Rule states that no one is above the law in a democracy. One of the ways this can be interpreted is that “If the governor neglects or refuses to
call the general court into session, the voters may do so”(The fundamental orders of Connecticut #3). This example shows that the governor is not above the law and the voters can take action if needed. There were also undemocratic features in the new country. Like “Slaves had no legal rights and were forbidden to read and write”(Plan of a slave ship #5). This is very undemocratic. According to the rule of equality(11), it says that all individuals should be valued equally and should be free from unreasonable discrimination. So our country was not always the best at carrying out all democratic laws. In colonial America, some things were just a work in progress.It started out as undemocratic, but it was in the process or it just eventually became democratic. The rule of Regular Free and Fair Elections says that “Most adult citizens should have the right to vote and run for office-regardless of their race,gender,ethnicity,and level of wealth. But voting qualifications (#2) has a chart that shows that every person who voted in this time period was Christian, white, and male. Then later things and mindsets started to change in this time and it was eventually democratic. Colonial America just had to find itself. America was a brand new country that had know idea how to run its own government. So America had to find what worked and what didn't work. The democratic features of the rule of law, equality, and regular free and fair elections are what made democracy a work in progress in colonial America.