democracy in colonial america

In a democracy, people choose their leaders by voting, and everyone is treated equally. Democracy revolves around rule by the majority. In my opinion, colonial America was on its way to democracy, but far from being a true democratic society. Only a small portion of the people were able to make the decisions, so government did not revolve around the majority. By the 1720s in most colonies, eligible voters were defined as white Christian males who owned land and were over the age of 21. In other colonies, only Protestants or members of a particular church could vote. All voters had to own land because colonial leaders believed that only property owners could know what was best for a colony. This automatically excludes women, slaves, and men without enough money to own land (which made up more than half of the population) from electing representatives. Since democracy is based on the idea that the majority of the people should hold power in government, this proves that the colonies were not truly democratic. The majority of the population was excluded from the election process, making democracy impossible to achieve. Moreover, it was only in two colonies, Rhode Island and Connecticut, that the actual government was elected by the people. In the other colonies, the governor was appointed by the king or by the colony’s proprietor.
Colonial America cannot be described as democratic because the colonists were racist and slave owners. Slaves made up the majority of the population in South Carolina and Georgia, where plantations relied on slave labor. Under the slave codes, African American slaves were not considered human beings, but property. The English colonists did not question the justice of owning slaves. It was believed that white Europeans were superior to black Africans.