Why do some Americans consider themselves the most democratic people in History?
According to Article IV, Section 4 of the US Constitution, the US has a republican form of government. A republican form of government is a subset of democratic forms of government, emphasizing liberty, rule by the people, and civic virtue. The US is not the first, nor the only, form of democracy. In fact, India – who is more populated than the US – is also a democracy. As with any government type, there are those who prosper and those who fail. If quality of life, family purchasing power, and size of the middle class can be good indicators of how well a people are thriving, then most people generally agree that the US ranks high amongst all nations.
We weren’t at first; but we are now. If we had direct elections for president, we would have a more democratic government. We aren’t even a pure democracy, we have a representative democracy or republic. The Federalist is wrong about slavery. The Civil War was fought to stop the South from seceding. The South seceded because they thought their economy was being unfairly taxed and they couldn’t compromise on much with northern states. The U.S. never threatened to abolish slavery until during the war as a strategical action to hurt the southern economy. Most of Europe had already abolished slavery before the U.S. without any wars.
