Topic 4.7
Expanding Democracy
THEMATIC FOCUS Politics and Power (PCE)
Debates fostered by social and political groups about the role of government in American social, political, and economic life shape government policy, institutions, political parties, and the rights of citizens
Learning Objective G
Explain the causes and effects of the expansion of participatory democracy from 1800 to 1848.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS
KC-4.1.I
The nation’s transition to a more participatory democracy was achieved by expanding suffrage from a system based on property ownership to one based on voting by all adult white men, and it was accompanied by the growth of political parties.