America has changed throughout its existence to try to become a more just society. In the eras of the early 1800s, early 1900s, and 1960s, America created laws to show they are indeed “with & for the people” of all types. In America’s history, there has been major barriers from letting people be thable to fully express their rights. America declared independence from Britain and the rest of the world that they would be the best country to ever exist. The Declaration includes words that state that the American people have equal rights (“all men are created equal”), natural rights (“we have certain unalienable rights”), and the freedom to have “Life, Liberty, & the pursuit of Happiness”. Over time, we have seen these rights be evaluated thoroughly
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This new country that declared itself a democratic country, but didn’t give everyone the right to vote. In order to vote, you had to be a rich, white, land owning, American born, man. With these voters, they now had more of a voice in electing the U.S. president. Instead of caucuses electing and voting for presidents, the people who could vote not got to elect and vote for who they wanted as president (popular vote). Soon after parties were created and the first national party conventions were held. The first two political parties were the Anti- Federalist and the Federalists. These two parties revolutionized the way to vote as people could. As Jill LePore put it in her article, “Rock, Paper, Scissors: How We Used to Vote”, men voted at bars, barber shops, and public squares where they would hand out ballots to others to cast their votes. People were more excited to vote and it showed. By the late 1800s, America reached its highest voting participation with over four-fifths of the American people showing up to vote. As time would tell, this kind of voting would not last long. By the end of this era, Richard Bensel article, “The American Ballot Box in the Mid- 19th Century”, tells us that America moves to the Australian Ballot and make voting less exciting and more
This new country that declared itself a democratic country, but didn’t give everyone the right to vote. In order to vote, you had to be a rich, white, land owning, American born, man. With these voters, they now had more of a voice in electing the U.S. president. Instead of caucuses electing and voting for presidents, the people who could vote not got to elect and vote for who they wanted as president (popular vote). Soon after parties were created and the first national party conventions were held. The first two political parties were the Anti- Federalist and the Federalists. These two parties revolutionized the way to vote as people could. As Jill LePore put it in her article, “Rock, Paper, Scissors: How We Used to Vote”, men voted at bars, barber shops, and public squares where they would hand out ballots to others to cast their votes. People were more excited to vote and it showed. By the late 1800s, America reached its highest voting participation with over four-fifths of the American people showing up to vote. As time would tell, this kind of voting would not last long. By the end of this era, Richard Bensel article, “The American Ballot Box in the Mid- 19th Century”, tells us that America moves to the Australian Ballot and make voting less exciting and more