Was the U.S Truly Considered a Democracy at Its Birth
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American democracy meant equal rights and equality of opportunity reword. It was not created in a heartbeat. In a world where people were ruled by monarchs from above, the idea of self-government is entirely alien. Democracy takes practice and wisdom from experience. From its beginning Today, America is known as a democratic country though in its past it has been faced with many troubles so it didnt qualify as a democracy. These struggles such as voting requirements,how slaves were treated and the justices of a woman all have shaped the country proudly called America.
First, religious freedom served as a major motivation for Europeans to venture to the American colonies. Puritans and Pilgrims in Massachusetts, Quakers in Pennsylvania, and Catholics in Maryland represented the growing religious diversity in the colonies.The Christian faith covered a huge percentage of the country,thus making it the dominant religion. According to the Voting Qualifications of 1763, in order to vote it is required that you must be of the male gender have a belief in the Christian faith and be of the white race.The only difference between the qualification for each colony they must own land at a certain value. For example,those who are black, female, agnostic and do not own land cannot partake on voting. This
Second, American women of the 1600s were an exceptionally oppressed group. For the most part, puritan faith, a form of Christianity practiced many settlements of the new world, dictated that their lives be ruled by faith and men. According to the Treatise of Feme Coberts,“VII. Of what the Wife is Entitled to of the Husbands, and things Belonging to the Wife, the Husband gains Possessions of in Marriage.” Women were in the woe of their fathers and men who married them. After marriage “colonial woman could not own property or collect wages (The Lady’s Law)”. This was undemocratic because women were viewed inferior to men and had unequal rights.
Thirdly, slavery was ongoing in the southern states. In the 1800s many white slave owners believed that the African Americans were inferior to them despite the fact that “”all men are created equal.” They were forced into labor and treated like property. The slave owners justified their behavior and believed they acted caring and conscientious to their slaves. Truthfully, however, the slaves were mostly treated very badly, many of which this reason ran away as an effort to become free. As the advertisement from Latin American Studies clearly states an effort of a white slave owner to retract its slave quote/reference advertisement
Although America has had several mishaps in its birth that did not represent a democracy, there were points during this time period that were significantly beneficial to the growth of one. As depicted in the Virginias House of Burgesses, “This