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Colonial Assemblies


            Colonial assemblies were in many ways democratic, but those supposedly "democratic" ways shielded the true nature of the assemblies. Colonial assemblies were believed to be democratic because the officials on the assemblies were elected to their positions and many people had the chance to participate in elections that were of great importance. However, the people left their decisions up to the few people that were elected to the board. Colonial assemblies were ways to make people feel like they were involved in the decision making of their community.
             The colonial assemblies of the colonies were much like the House of Commons in Britain. The major difference was the greater size of the colonial assemblies compared to the House of Commons. In most colonies, adult white males who owned a small amount of land could vote in colony wide elections. Since the standards for the average person to vote were so low, the colonies were considered "middle-class democracies." There were also too many people in the assemblies for people to bribe others to vote for their side of the issue. .
             Compared to today, the colonial assemblies weren't democratic in the least. Unlike modern politics, these assemblies did not include the opinions of women or non-whites. However, many of the people who were on the assembly could be taken off it or killed by the people if they didn't follow their promises on a certain issue. Colonial assemblies would not be used today because they did not solve conflicts with the help of all of the people. .
             Many of the people elected to the assemblies believed that they had a specific duty to protect the colonial liberties, and they were prepared to do whatever it took to make sure of it. They believed that any assault on them by local printers was an attack on the rights of Americans. The elected officials threw many of the people in jail who criticized them. The colonial assemblies were also very aggressive in taking power of privileges, determining procedures, and controlling money bills that many of the colonists did not agree on.


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