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Democratic Characteristics - Assignment PDF

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Added on  2021-10-29

Democratic Characteristics - Assignment PDF

   Added on 2021-10-29

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Essay Topic: “From The Beginning, The English Colonies Had Democratic
Characteristics.”
Student by (Name)
Democratic Characteristics - Assignment PDF_1
Topic: “From The Beginning, The English Colonies Had Democratic Characteristics.”
Introduction
The English colonies such as Virginia and Massachusetts had democratic characteristics
from the beginning. Virginia and Massachusetts were the first colonies to be formed under the
English rule. The English had 13 colonies in America, and each over the thirteen colonies
practised democracy differently. Even though Britain practised a monarchical government at the
time of colonisation, the colonial states practised democracy. Virginia House of Burgesses had
almost complete democracy to that of the current United States of America. The democratic
practice was also evident in Virginia Massachusetts where there was the rule of assembly and
majority rule. The content of this paper based on historical evidence of Virginia and
Massachusetts validates the statement which claims that “from the beginning, the English
colonies had democratic characteristics.”
The English colonies had democratic characteristics where each of the 13 colonies before
the revolution practised varieties of democracy. According to historians, the current democratic
system of government originated from the colonial states. Even though the English did not
practice democracy, it existed from the first colonies the Plymouth and Jamestown known as
Virginia and Massachusetts respectively1. Even though democratic practices then were different
from the current democracy based on limited suffrage, slave trade and varying levels of freedom,
they had democratic characteristics.
1 De Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in america. Vol. 10. Regnery Publishing, 2013.
Democratic Characteristics - Assignment PDF_2
Virginia which was the first English colony practised democracy where the people of the
colony were represented by the legislature. The colony had the first democratic model known as
the Jamestown compact model. The colonial state of Virginia held the primary election ever and
elected the house of representative called the House of Burgesses. The house of Burgess was also
called the house of representatives of assembly2. Just as in the current democratic practices the
members of the assembly were elected after a given period. The election was held on a yearly
basis by propertied citizens. The election held in the English colonies such as Virginia to elect
members of the assembly indicates the existence of democracy in the then colonies. However,
Virginia was still under the king of England who appointed the governor of Virginia. The
governor had powers to reconvene assembly session as well as close the assembly a role which
has been given to the speaker of the house in the current democracy but not to the president nor
the state governors.
The same case was evident in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but the practice was more
advanced compared to Virginia. The democracy of representatives increased and improved with
the arrival of the Pilgrims at the Plymouth (Massachusetts) located at the northern part of
Virginia3. Since the pilgrims were freemen out of the royal authorities purview, these Pilgrims
came up with more democratic and stronger self-government under a democratic model which
was known as Mayflower compact. The sense of democracy in Plymouth was a fully democratic
state with both the governors and councils elected by the members of the colony. However, the
2 De Tocqueville, Alexis. Democracy in america. Vol. 10. Regnery Publishing, 2013.
3 Kammen, Michael G. Politics and society in colonial America: democracy or deference?.
Krieger Publishing Company, 2008.
Democratic Characteristics - Assignment PDF_3

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