dbq: colonial wethersfield

A new and struggling nation, America battled for democracy as they fought for independence and after they received independence and release of Britain’s tight and strong grip. The question of how to become more democratic, equal opportunity for all people, was prevalent in American society in the 1700’s. Wethersfield, Connecticut was a symbol of American society in the late 1700’s as they struggled with the balance of property, role of religion, and equality for all people. Between the 1750’s and 1780’s, Wethersfield, Connecticut was becoming more democratic in the means of social structure, politics, and religion and less democratic regarding property distribution.
People came to America for the opportunity to own land, however it was difficult to do so because of the unequal land distribution. Almost 100 years after Wethersfield was started, there were more people without land than people with land in 1773. Earlier, in 1756, the majority of people owned 10-49 acres of land, while in 1773, the majority of people owned no land. The prices of land rose drastically between 1756 and 1773 which discouraged the poor community from buying land. This contributed to a large gap between the wealthy and poor people and made it difficult for the poorer community to buy land. According to Document B, taxes on property increased which also contributed to the poorer people not being able to purchase land. This economic inequality and unequal land distribution conveyed in both document C and D, doesn’t support democracy. With the Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting colonists from settling past the Appalachian Mountains, the people of Wethersfield were limited to where they could settle, which provided less opportunity. According to Document A, there was about a 50% increase in people in Wethersfield from 1756 to 1774, but there was not a parallel increase in land. This meant that there were more people, but less land available, so the value of land increased. Even though