The pathway to achieving a government of social equality in Greece was not without difficulties and deviations. Breaking aristocratic power and influence and giving power to the common people was a process full of many obstructions and difficulties. As J.M Roberts put it ¡¥democracy emerged out of Athens unexpectedly and at first almost unobserved¡¦ (Roberts, J.M, 2002 p. 196). The changes that took place in their politics were gradual and therefore it was influenced by many rulers, events and mistakes. Although steps were taken backward in the course of democracy, the people of Athens learnt from these mistakes and strived for a better way of ruling their state.
The road to democracy was a slow and plodding development. Early signs that a democracy could emerge in Athens came from them adopting egalitarian attitudes and ideas from the other city states, the colonies abroad and the hoplite phalanx. The Athenians embraced values from the city states around them. In Sparta, a citizen was a member of society who was automatically entitled to certain (even if few) rights. This mindset of equality was later adopted by the Athenians. They also took on some Spartan¡Vtype equality values concerning warfare. Colonisation also had important social and political repercussions on the Greek homeland. Colonisation softened the Greeks and opened their mind to different cultures, ideas and forms of Government. Some men must have returned to Greece after living in colonies, bringing with them new ideas and impressions on how to run a political government (Roberts J.M, 2002). The hoplite phalanx was also a great influence on the values and principles to which democracy came to be based on. Broader participation was introduced and ¡¥relying on each¡¦, ¡¥working together¡¦ and ¡¥fighting as one¡¦ were all concepts that were imperative to the hoplites (Roberts J.M, 2002). It was over about three centuries that these changes of growth and development were made. So although the Athenians were moving forward in establishing an innovative form of government called democracy, it was a slow and protracted process.
The road to democracy was not easy and straightforward, for many of the citizens were not accepting of the changes being made. Many good leaders such as Solon had started to weaken aristocratic privilege and give rich traders and manufacturers as much power as the nobles. Solon was the bringer of social justice; he allowed all citizens to prosecute wrongdoers in public lawsuits (JH Routledge, 2000).
The democratic ideals in ancient Athens are different from the imperialist actions and building the empire that the government and military did good on. The Athenian political body did not stand entirely unified in its support of imperialist action but most of the citizens supported them. The fact that most of the eligible voting people supported imperialist conquests allowed for limited tension between the democratic and imperialist ideas. Athenian democracy centered around the equality of citizens under the law, and freedom of speech, which meant that imperialist action mostly did contradict the principles of Athenian
In comparing the Ancient Athenian system of government, and the Modern Day American political system, there are many similarities. In Ancient Athens, democracy was developed in response to a long history of oppressive rulers who used their position of power for their own benefit. Ancient Athenians sought a government where all citizens were considered equal under the eyes of the law, and all had a fair say in the running of their country. Following a series
It is surprising indeed that Even today, tyrannies and dictatorships exist in the world when more than two and a half thousand years ago the ancient Athenians had developed a functional and direct form of democracy. What contributed to this remarkable achievement and how it changed the socio-political. scene in Athens is what will be considered in this paper. The paper will have three sections, each detailing the various stages. of political development from the kings of Attica to the time of Pericles when, in its golden age, Athens was at the height of its. imperial power.
The Ancient Greeks were nothing if not influential. Ever since it 's formation in the 8th century B.C., Greek civilization has impacted many of the world 's greatest thinkers and shaped the landscape of Western Civilization. Aside from their art and philosophy, the Ancient Greeks were particularly interested in politics and, in the case of Athens, a new system of government known as: democracy! Long before the American founding fathers declared their independence from Britain, Athenian citizens governed their own state and voted to solve political turmoil. However, ancient Athens was no perfect twin to American democracy, and being an upstanding Athenian citizen meant more than simply voting and going about one 's business. A standout Athenian
Hi April! After weighing the evidence presented in Chapter 3, I also came to the conclusion that the desire for wealth and power was a big cause of racial slavery - but I think you did a much better job explaining this theory than I did. However, in my post I mentioned that the monopolization of African slaves, as a result of the creation of the Royal African Company, played, in my opinion, the biggest role in the racial side of slavery. While I am sticking to this theory until disproven, I do think that you make a very good point when you say, "Each action handed down from England, combined with the laws established by Colonial America, propelled slavery more firmly into a situation based solely on race,". Although this is different than my
The following are 3 significant pieces of evidence I believe contributed to systems of oppression and privilege.
A point of synthesis is feudalism. Some colonists came over by the join stock companies, which a person was given a charter by the king to establish settlements to help bring wealth to Great Britain. Feudalism works in a similar way, the king owns the lands and people will work to gain wealth for the king. Both are a way to gain wealth for the king. The development over slavery grew slowly between 1607 and 1750. The main causes of an increased amount of slavery is because of indentured servants, cash crops, and religion.
The years 1750 to 1901, the movement of people between continents led to the break up of families, social conflict and the displacement of Indigenous people in the colonies. During the ancient time, (between 1750 to 1901) slavery was one of the results of a battle or war; whomever the victor, can take all the properties and other things in the area. Also, they can take the people who lost the battle as their slaves. The majority of the people, whom was moved out from their places, which was against their will causing this as a push factor for them.
How did the Atlantic Slave trade in 1760-1810 affect Africa? This question is significant because, the Atlantic Slave trade greatly impacted the lives of the African Americans who were sold or traded into someplace else, depending from whom the offer was made. Slaves were nobody. They had no voice or any rights. Nobody cared for what the African Americans thought or felt.
Athenian democracy includes participation of all adult, free, male, citizen, made possible for all. If at the beginning and during the thriving period of the Athens democracy the occupations of a state position was considered to be an worthy duty for the citizens, the taking in of ...
From 1775 to 1830, developments like that of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin in 1793, the 1803 Louisiana Purchase by the U.S., and the rise of the textile industry in England led to a great expansion of slavery. Concurrently, abolitionist reform movement rose in the north as anti-slavery sentiment increased, with a growing fear of slaves unbalancing the political landscape in representation for the South. During this time, freed African Americans were often imperative in helping those who were enslaved face their challenges through their efforts, while some of the challenges faced by freed slaves was because of the ideas stemming from slavery. In facing their challenges, freed blacks adopted strategies such as leaving America, and arguing their case for rights, while slaves looked to rebellion and disobedience, with the help of freed blacks, in order to advance. Without slavery, freed black would not have faced many of the challenges that they did, and so too, without the aid of freed blacks, many slaves couldn't have overcome their obstacles to emancipation.
Government and its different forms appears many times throughout Herodotus’s Histories, sometimes its positive and other times its negative, however in the readings Herodotus demonstrates that it is not the Athenian democratic values that makes freedom but rather the absence of tyranny along with equality among men. Herodotus’s assessment of Athenian democracy is overall a positive development to Greek cultural identity in the eyes of Herodotus.
Contemporary notions of democracy have undoubtedly evolved from their foundations in ancient Greece and Rome. However, despite noble intentions, democracy in Greece and Rome was neither fair, equal, nor representative. These civilizations practiced direct democracy, whereby all eligible citizens would actively engage in democratic processes and gather to debate state matters (Hirst 2012). Influential Greek historian Herodotus remarked that, under such a system, “there is, first, the most splendid of virtues, equality before the law” (Herodotus & Thucydides et.al 1955 p.223).
Although slavery was an important component of the growing Americas, many African Americans were emotionally, spiritually, and physically abused by the dehumanizing slavery. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, slavery was widely practiced in the American colonies. The production of the cotton gin in the early 1800s made slavery a very important aspect of Southern agriculture. Many slaves worked in harsh conditions to help maintain the fields, “sunup to sundown”. Although there were many arguments for and against slavery over the years, most of the information did not come directly from the African American slaves themselves. Through different anecdotes, stories, and songs, we learn how different slaves viewed slavery in America. What did
The march towards developing a democratic society is often obstructed with societal unrest due to the influence of the status quo on the instruments of power. Before the rule of Solon, Athens underwent this same rule, as there was much discontent among the social classes in Athens. The society suffered financial disparity that often was the trigger for the war among the rich and poor in the society. This was a major factor that forced Solon into power to institute policies that would see a reformed Athens. By so doing, the society was looking for an avenue that would guarantee democracy and a society that is fair for everyone. The city-state of Athens was the epicenter of the revolution for the Athenian democracy during the fifth century BC. In the Athenian democracy, the electorate voted for the legislation of bills instead of a direct democracy where the electorates are tasked with electing representatives who later developed the bill. Among the first people who made significant contributions to the development of the Athenian democracy were Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508/7 BC), Pericles (495 – 429 BC) and Ephialtes (462 BC). Pericles was the longest serving democratic leader who contributed much development in democracy in the city. This paper will give an account of the age of the Pericles.