What is democracy?
Think about your classroom.who makes the rules? Does your teacher sometimes ask you to help make decisions! Imagine you had to find a way to make decisions with thousands of others people! This is what happens in many countries around the world.A democracy is when the people living in a decide on things together. The united state of America is a type of democracy.
A democracy allows people to vote for officials who will run their country and help make decisions.
The American Revolution At
At one time in history,there were not fifty states as there are today.Instead, there were thirteen colonies
.A colony is a proof settlers ruled by another country. The American Colonies were ruled by Great Britain. Great Britain helped to protect
The thirteen Colonies. The Colonists got tea,cloth,and other supplies from Great British. In return, the colonists had to follow British rules and play tax money to Britain.
Colonists,angry about taxes, threw tea into the harbor during the Boston Tea Party. The Colonists did not did not like paying money to Britain, but they had no say in the matter. They decided they wanted to be free from Britain rule.They wanted to make their own decisions. They wanted to have their own government.
In 1775,war broke out between the colonists and the Britain soldiers. The war was call the American Revolution. Through this war,American won its independence. American because free to make their own rules and decisions.
The American Colonies were ruled by by the Britain k8ng,George lll. The original thirteen colonies were on the east coast. A plantation is a large farm.Creating a Government To build a strong country, the people had to agree to create a new government and work together. In those days,it was hard to travel.Mail was very slow. Working together was tough! Greating a new government was not easy. American living in different parts of the country had different needs. In the northeast colonists, people were interested in fishing and building ships. In the central colonists, people ran small farms,in the south, people ran large farms,called plantations.
In ancient Roman people elected officials to represent them.How could all the states make decisions together? What kind of government would be
fair to everyone? American wanted to create the best government possible. They looked at the democracy of ancient Greece, where every person could take part in government. They talked about the republic of Rome, a kind of democracy where people elected officials to represent them in government. They thought about the way some Native American groups made decisions. They also talked about the many good laws of England. The united state constitution
A group of men from the different states met together. Today we call these men our Founding Fathers. The Founding Fathers wrote the united states Constitution. In it they explained how people would choose a president to lead the country. The explained how people choose lawmaker to make the laws. They also explained how courts would be set up to make sure the laws were followed Every few years, the people would choose new leaders.
George Washington and other Founding Fathers in 1787
All of this happened more then two hundred years ago. Today we still follow the Constitution, and the united state is still a democracy. A democracy is not run by just one person , such as a king or an emperor. In a democracy many people work together to make decisions. Everyone living in a democracy has rights and freedoms.The united state Capitol is in Washington, D.C. This is where our leaders make our nation 's laws. Rights and Freedoms
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States. In a famous speech in 1863,he reminded American that their government was " of the people, by the people, and for the people. " this means the people are in charge. The people can choose their leaders and the lawmakers.The present is not allowed to make all the rules and decisions by himself. Part of the president 's job is to listen to the idea of people from all over the country. Martin Luther king.jr.was a famous African American leader who worked hard to obtain rights and freedoms for all Americans. The Bill of Rights
The Founding Fathers decided to add a list of freedoms to Constitution. The list is called the Bill of Rights. New laws cannot take away these freedoms.one of our freedoms is freedom of speech. Freedom of speech means people can give their opinion about almost anything. They can even disagree with the president. Freedom of religion is another important freedom. This freedom
means people have the right to believe what they wish. They can worship where they want.A lot of early settlers came to American because they did not have this freedom in their own countries. Even today , some people move to the united state to gain these rights.
There early pilgrims moved to American so that they could practice freedom of religion. Symbol of Freedom
Liberal is another word for freedom. The statue of Liberal in New York City is an important symbol of freedom. The people of Freedom gave the Statue of Liberal to the people of America as a gift more than one hundred years ago. The Statue of Liberal shows a woman holding a torch. The torch stands for the light of freedom. The woman also wears a crown with seven rays coming out of the top.the rays stand for the seven continents of the world. These people their votes at voting booths.
Fair Elections
In a democracy all people can vote on important decisions. It is important that voting happens fairly .This is why voting is open to all citizens. If some people were not allowed to vote, their ideas would not be heard. In a democracy each person's vote is kept secret. People cannot be forced to tell others people how they voted .This way, everyone can feel safe and can vote exactly as they think is right. Everyone Needs to Take Part
For a democracy to work, everyone needs to participate. Some people participate by running for election .Other help by writing letters telling government leaders about their opinions. All citizens can help by reading and learning a lot about what is going on in their country. Even kids can take part.Right now ,you are already helping by learning all about democracy!
