Electoral College Case Study

1) Hamilton argues that the electoral college was created specifically to elect the president and was voted on by the people so that such an important decision was being made my official that the represent the people. He also asserts that this small group of educated electors would better able to analyze the necessary factors to determine if a candidate would make a good president. Basically he is saying that the electors are more educated then the masses and the masses trust them to make decisions because they voted on them. The electors are also unbiased because they were selected purely for the purpose of selecting the next president which prevents their votes from being bought beforehand. Furthermore, members cannot be close to the …show more content…
From what we learned in class and what I understood of Hamilton’s arguments it is an outdated and frankly somewhat elitist system. First Hamilton makes the point that the electors are more educated and therefore more qualified to elect the president. I have two issues with this. One, as whole our population is more educated than they were when the constitution was written. Second, this argument gives me the impression that we are discriminating against people because of their education level. Don’t get me wrong, there are some very uneducated people out there who maybe shouldn’t be allowed to vote, but that does not justify discrimination. If people are paying taxes and citizens of this country, they should have the right to directly vote of their leader. Next, Hamilton writes in length about corruption and how the electoral system prevents a variety of corruption. However, I do not see one example that would not also be solved by a direct vote from the people. In our day and age, it is simple matter to count the popular vote but because of the Electoral College four of our presidents have lost the popular vote meaning that even if the electors do represent the people, the people are still not getting what they voted for. We are intelligent enough to vote for our own president, we do not need electors to make the choice for …show more content…
We are a country founded on greed. I knew about what we did to Natives populations. What I was really surprised by was the Revolutionary war and the early government of the United States. After learning about the war and declaring independence I truly believe that the states were being unreasonable and had no right to declare independence. This was an interesting realization to come to about my own country. The revolutions and the events leading up to it were a very intelligent movement on the part of the rich to keep their wealth. I was also surprised by much the colonies did not want freedom from Britain. Independence really was the last resort for them. After they gained independence the government they set up catered to rich white landowners. There really wasn’t that much equality at that time. I don’t think that everything about America is bad, but I think that we are taught a glorified version of our history and that does not do anybody and favors. How are we supposed to learn from our mistakes if we do not know what they are? After taking this course I feel like I have a more complete, in depth understanding of my countries history. I have also learned to look critically as history even if it was written or presented by a credible source because it’s important to understand that there are always