Term Paper Rough Draft

Describe the parallels between early democracy and current democracy. Note that even through centuries of evolution, core principles of democracy have remained the same. Describe reasons why these core principles of democracy have withstood the test of time.

Democracy in the United States have evolved since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Leaders have struggled to maintain the freedom and independence of its citizens while maintaining the core values of democracy written by our forefathers in the Declaration. Technological, social, cultural and political progression has forced modifications to what our forefathers envisioned democracy to be. Despite the evolution of democracy, its main principles of equality and freedom for all has remained unchanged. When the 13 colonies decided to establish independence from England it is important to note that democracy was a relatively ground breaking idea. Monarchies and oligarchies were predominant it would be important for the forefathers not to be influenced by these political systems. In democratic system we still find areas where power is concentrated for example the presidency, speaker of the house or Supreme Court Justices but the implementation of checks and balances has proven vital to maintaining order. The major ideological flaw with democracy is that it tends to favor the majority. It has been said that democracy can be described as two wolves and a sheep deciding on what to have for dinner. This inherent flaw with democracy was quickly addressed by the fore fathers by creating a balance of powers so no one majority faction had power over the minority. Allowing for a democracy ruled by the people to be instituted like a republic which is governed by one or many was another way our fore fathers compensated for this inherent flaw.
All men are created equally despite race, ethnicity, religious background, economic status or political affiliation is the basis of democracy. This idea was in direct opposition to the practice of slavery being practiced at the inception of democracy. Slavery at this time was an economic necessity in areas of the United States especially the South where slave labor was deemed essential to maintain economic prosperity in the largely agricultural environment. It took civil war and years of rebuilding to arrive at this goal of equality, though some would argue that the country is still rebuilding and is far from reaching this goal of equality. Early democracy, despite it mantra of by the people for the people, did not apply to everyone. Early democracy typically only applied to white men in most states. "After 1815 Americans transformed the republic of the Founding Fathers into a democracy. State after state revoked property qualifications for voting and holding officethus transforming Jefferson's republic of property holders into Andrew Jackson's mass democracy. Democracy, however, was not for everyone. While states extended political rights to all white men, they often withdrew or limited such rights for blacks. As part of the same trend, the state of New Jersey took the vote away from propertied women, who formerly had possessed that right. Thus the democratization of citizenship applied exclusively to white men. In the mid19th century, these men went to the polls in record numbers. The election of 1828

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