Defining Democracy

 How should we define democracy? How democratic was the US in the early 1800s?

To find the answers to the questions above, my class divided into groups and we analyzed the documents given to us. We looked at the images and charts and noticed how the requirements (mostly of property) for voting right decreased over the years and that instead of legislature being the method of voting, the people were the ones voting. Also the painting we looked at below shows people of different ages and occupations all coming together and all voting. This shows how voting was becoming a right that more people had.  We also read quotes and an article on the Dorr War. We learned form the quotes that even if a man is poor, he could be wiser than a man of wealth in which case he should be allowed to vote. Also, the Dorr War article shows how little violence was involved while trying to become a more democratic country.


 The image above is a picture of the poster my group put together with images of the documents we analyzed with captions we created. We came up with our own definition of democracy which is that democracy is a system of government where the power in vested in the people and through freely elected representatives. Also, we came to the conclusion that in the early 1800s, the US was not very democratic, but as the years progressed, it became a more and more democratic country.