Battle For Democracy: The Battle Of Democracy

The Constitution was a compromise. In order to accomplish some things, others had to be forfeited. No one person or state or party should be unwilling to compromise for the good of all

One of the changes made to the Constitution was that slaves, women, and more citizens have the right of suffrage. In document #2, it states, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged...on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude...on account of sex.” It also states, “The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged.” Both of these were added to the Constitution because although throughout history, citizens were angry that some of them didn’t have the right to vote. After the 13th amendment, blacks viewed themselves as citizens and they expected to have the right of suffrage. Women didn’t view themselves below men in the social class so they fought for the right to vote by protesting and creating female activist groups. To be able to fix this problem, the Constitution was

In Document 2: Voting Qualifications made white, christian, men who owned and/or rented property, were the only people allowed to vote during this time. Regular free and fair elections are where most adult citizens have the right to vote/run for office regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and level of wealth. This was a work in progress during colonial America because it discriminated against the other citizens who had a right to

The Fifteenth Amendment granted black men to vote. Put emphasis on men because at this time women still couldn't vote.This amendment would not be fully followed until almost a century. What the government did was that they made a literacy test so difficult that no slave could pass because they had no education. So no blacks could vote really for a long time. So to loop their loophole that made a rule called the Grandfather Clause. This made if your grandfather could vote you did not have to take the literacy test. So every white person's grandfather could vote since they lived in england. So this rule did not apply to blacks since their grandfathers were black and could not vote. One of the main reasons that they made this rule is because

An important bill passed during this time of political experimentation was the Bill of Rights, which protect rights like freedom of speech, trial by jury, and freedom from self-incrimination (Shi and Tindall, 173). Along with Americans’ rights being outlined, people started expanding their political involvement. After the Revolution, former militiamen and soldiers were excited and eager to take part in the newly formed government. With the creation of state government opened up many opportunities for ordinary people to take political offices. Also, the qualifications for voting were lowers, so more white men could vote. In addition, all tax paying men in Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina, and Georgia could now vote. So, when compared to Great Britain, more men in the late eighteen and early nineteenth century could vote in America (Shi and Tindall,

James Madison correctly postulated in Federalist 10 that with more factions involved in the political process, the infringement of rights on other citizens in less likely (Madison 4). Because women, minority groups, and poor whites were not guaranteed the right to vote in the Constitution of 1791, they were oppressed by the white, property-owning male minority

After the Declaration of Independence, state laws in the thirteen states stipulated that only white men with considerable property or those who paid high taxes were allowed to vote. These laws were still in effect after the War of 1812. Between 1816 and 1821, six new states that allowed all white men to vote without regard for property qualifications were admitted to the Union. With the addition of these new states, the eastern and southern states began to relax their voting restrictions; many men who had never shown an interest in politics began to participate in the elective process. For the first time, the "common" man had the opportunity of electing people to office who would encourage the federal government to adopt policies primarily beneficial to his sectional

The Constitution is a living, breathing document. It was recognized that each future generation would be facing new challenges that would have never occurred to the older ones, so it had the flexibility available by both interpretation and revisement to allow the newer generation to use the document as it was intended. As society and government grows, additions must be made to the Constitution to keep with the times. The Constitution is also governed by the thoughts of society at that time, seen in the implementation of the 18th amendment because of the urgings of religious and Women’s Suffrage movements. As it is also seen when the government grows weary of one president in office too long, seen in the creation of the 22nd amendment.

Because of the principles of direct democracy, the Arizona’s Constitution was created. With direct democracy citizens were responsible for governing themselves, not the elected representatives. America’s founders felt that direct democracy was impractical and unwise when they wrote the United Constitution in 1787. Although, the Progressive movement believed the government was no good and the only way to restore a fair government was to give power to the citizens. They struggle for the adoption of the initiative, citizens did not have to get permission from officials establish their own statues and constitutional measures; they needed 15% vote to get on ballot. Adoption of referendum, citizens could reject statues and constitutional measures adopted by official; they needed majority vote by Legislature to get on ballot, with the adoption of recall, official could be removed from office before the end of their term; they needed 25% to call a recall election. Finally, at the peak of the Progressive Movement Arizona became a state. The reasons the

When the constitution was written, the idea of universal suffrage was too radical for our founding fathers to address. They decided to leave the states with the authority to decide the requirements for voting. (Janda) By allowing the states to decide who voted, the authors had not intended for each state's discriminations to prevent the country from maintaining true democracy. However, by not setting up a nationwide regulation, the authors launched the country into a century and a half long fight for freedom and equality for all.

The United States Constitution is set up for democracy like the colonist wanted. The constitution prevents anarchy and protects your rights. As a citizen you are protected by the Bill of Rights. We are entitled to freedom of speech, religion, and have dual process. We have guaranteed rights, separated powers of government to prevent tyranny, and we elect our representatives under The United States Constitution. The United States Constitution is set up to keep up with changing times.

White males gained universal suffrage because of their numbers, breaking the aristocratic property-based tradition. In the earliest days of the United States, most state constitutions adopted the same voting eligibility as were established in the colonies and in Britain: ownership of property. The justification for this,

In the early years of the United States, voting laws were very strict and only a select few people were able to vote. In 1776, only people who owned land were permitted to vote. Most people in this category were white males over the age of 21. This continued for many decades: in 1790 the Naturalization Law passed. It explicitly stated that only “free white” immigrants can become naturalized citizens. This gave only free white people the right to vote- very little progress was being made.

We live in this country for the land, and the for the free as Americans we rely on many attributes in this world in order for us to live our lives. Our government has supplied us with many great things for us to be proud of. Our government is “the institutions and processes though which public policies are made for society.” (Edwards, Wattenberg, and Lineberry, p. 7). With all these institutions which includes the President, Congress, the courts and all the federal administrative agencies. These are the institutions that make up public policies for us, and to shape the way we live as Americans. The way this system has been operating through all the years has been

Initially, the United States constitutions had no provisions that defined who was eligible to vote. There were no national standards for voting rights and the criteria for eligibility was determined by individual