System Of Government Vs American Democracy Essay

After the American War of Independence, America and its citizens declared their independence from Great Britain. The America that emerged from the war was a nation based on shared national values as well as ideas and principles protected by national documents. Defeating the British meant that every American citizen would have a chance for political independence. Under this new-found freedom, America would create a system of government (American Democracy) that would put the political power in the hands of its citizen. Even though American Democracy claimed to be a system of government that would give political power to all its citizens, in the late 18th century and into the early 19th century, most blacks living in America were not recognized by law as citizens.

The Constitution of the United States was written in 1787 and was the supreme law of the United States. The Constitution divided power between three branches of government—the judicial, executive, and the legislative branch. Each branch could check the

In the South, slaves were considered property and therefore were not allowed to vote and did not have any political influence in congress. Nonetheless, Southern states with their large number of slaves wanted their slaves to be counted. Including slaves would ensure more representation in congress for the South which also meant more political influence. The Northern states which had fewer slaves than the Southern states argued that slaves should not be counted if they were not considered citizens. The Northern states were in constant fear that the Southern states would import more slaves to increase their population numbers and increase their power in congress. The 3/5 Compromise resolved the controversial issue of whether slaves should be counted. According to the compromise, slaves would count as 3/5 of a person for representation in the House of