Democracy in new Nation DBQ The democratic state of America was in shambles in the 1800s. The women began to start rising up and speaking out. They wanted a say in what was happening to their new nation. Westward expansion would also be a problem. It was difficult to get a balance between free and slave states and with all the new land coming in from the Mexican-American War, there will be a big controversy on which territory will be what. As the country expands as a whole, the government will have to expand to keep up. Democracy will grow to become America’s current form of government. For a long period of time, wives of political men were kept out of the political field. If not doing housework, the women were in factories working or teaching in school, though uneducated themselves (Doc B). Only the landowning white folks were allowed at have say in the government. Elizabeth Cady Stanton decided that it was time for a change. Stanton, alongside Lucretia Mott, called for a women’s rights meeting. This meeting was called the Seneca Falls Convention. There, the Declaration of Sentiments, formed after the Declaration of Independence, was written.
This declaration stated that all men AND women are created equal (Doc A). Although this was probably the most noticed attempt, it wasn’t the first. Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, was always writing letters to John. “Remember the Ladies” she wrote in one of her letters to her husband. Even though Abigail fought for women’s rights a hundred years earlier, her letters were used in the Seneca Falls Convention to help support the women (Doc C). There were many problems with Westward expansion. One of which were issues with the Native Americans. Although the Natives refused to leave their land, the Americans didn’t really care. The idea of manifest destiny kept up their drive to go westward. This meant that they’d kill off the Native’s if they had to. In the years 1840-1870, there was a significant rise in the Non-Native population in the Oregon (Doc D). Texas caused a huge commotion. The land known as Texas was originally owned by the Mexicans but, since Texas ran though America, the Americans believed that Texas was their rightful land. Although they were kind enough to let Americans settle in their