Democracy Duel in the 19th Century

Democracy is a government run by the people. The people are the majority of the population. In a democracy, people vote in a free election that is held periodically to make decisions. The United States was not very democratic in the beginning of the 19^th century because voting conditions were unfair. In The County Election, Bingham explained through his painting the lousy voting routines in 1852. He showed that voters had to say what their vote was to another person so that that person could write it down. People could not know if the scriber wrote down their vote correctly. People in line to vote were drunk, which means that the election was not taken seriously. This painting shows how only a few people were able to vote by not including any women in the painting and by having the only black man as a bartender. Townshend explained that not enough people had the right to vote. He said, “The attempt to govern men without seeking their consent is usurpation and tyranny…” People were governed without consents. Governing without citizens’ consents is tranny, not democracy.

            However, overtime the United States become more of a democracy in the 19^th century. The Property and Taxpaying Requirements for Suffrage graph shows that the number of states with property requirements decreased, which allowed more people to vote. At first the number of states with taxpaying requirements increased, but by 1830, the number started to decrease. More people could vote with no taxpaying requirements. The Methods of Electing Presidential Electors graph shows that in 1816 all of the eight states had their president elected by legislature. This gave the people no say in who they wanted as president. By 1836, all twelve states except for one were elected by the people. Overtime, more people in the United States were able to vote, which enforced democracy.