How Similar Are The Motives Behind Creating A Democracy In America And In Ancient Athens?

Democracy is when you are through with not being heard. It is when you realize that you want a free and equal representation of your peers and elders. No matter what you need to be heard. Your voice is important – you realize that those who decide everything for you don’t actually care what happens to you, they just need to stay in power. All that matters is getting your voice heard.

Pure democracy was a simple yet revolutionary idea, as so many radical ideas are. Pure democracy was based on the ideal that every citizen has a voice and a vote. This was a ground-breaking idea that was first brought about by Solon. Solon was an archon and in 594 B.C.E he passed laws that protected Athenians from being enslaved or arrested for debt, but after this was done Greece fell to a Tyrannical Government for centuries (Athenian Democracy). Pure democracy was solidly instated by Cleisthenes after the Athenians rose up against the tyrannical government. This is similar to how the colonists’ revolted against the monarchy in Europe and created a Representative democracy. This was also a revolutionary idea. People chose to rebel against the monarch because they felt that their voices where not heard. The principle behind a representative democracy is that everyone’s voice is heard through a representative. The representative is chosen by each citizen who wishes for there voice to be heard. The mechanics of these democracies are quite similar, but the motives for creating a democracy are even more similar.

Tyranny is when the thirst for power overwhelms you. You begin require control over everything. No matter what, you have to get to the top. The people you step on and deceive to get there are just footnotes in your journal. All that matters is being in charge and having absolute power over everything around you.

Tyranny happens everywhere, all the time. It can be in a household, a school, a town, a city, a state, even a whole country. Tyranny has a big part in motivating people to rebel and revolt against the government or simply the tyrant. The ancient Greeks were subject to tyranny for centuries before creating a pure democracy, where everyone is equal and where everyone has a voice. Pisistratus was the beginning of the tyranny in Greece. Pisistratus made three attempts at creating a lasting tyranny. After the first two attempts failed Pisistratus wanted to be careful. He took ten years to prepare to build his tyranny up again. He spent this time tapping into past connections and creating new connections abroad. This gave him the financial means to pay the mercenary troops he needed to reinstate and maintain himself as the ruler of Athens. His plan was put into action in 546 B.C.E. This time he was successful and was ruler of Athens until his death – some eighteen years later (The Greeks Crucible).

After his death his eldest son Hippias became his as it were successor. After his fathers’ death Hippias had little to do, all that was essential was a small change in the archon to be sure that the ‘right’ people occupied the correct political posts. The archon was a group of nine ruling people who were appointed annually and took care of the most important responsibilities that pertained to administrative and judicial tasks. In 525 B.C.E Hippias appointed Cleisthenes as chief archon. This was because they were cousins. Soon after – about a dozen years – Hippias’s brother was murdered in 514 B.C.E. The conditions in Greece worsened after for Hippias became the very definition of a tyrant. He was paranoid and took the death of his brother as an advance against his reign as ruler. Hippias had the murderers’ executed and tortured one of their wives to death (The Greeks Crucible).

Cleisthenes took over the government at this point and banished Hippias. Isagarus conspired to take over the government. Isagarus went to the Spartans for help; Sparta was a city-state that was known for its soldiers. The Spartans gave him troops and they seized the city. They ruled from the Acropolis, which was a high hill in Athens. This tyranny was almost as bad, if not worse than the conditions of those when Hippias was ruler. Seven hundred household were banished from Athens – Cleisthenes being one of them. In 508 B.C.E the Athenians took things into they’re own hands. They were tired of the centuries of a tyrannical and corrupt government. This is the first time that the citizens had rebelled seriously against a tyrant. Isagarus and the Spartans held out for two days and two nights but had to surrender. The citizens of Athens reinstate Cleisthenes back into the community and ask him to create a government (The Greeks Crucible).

Founding fathers are those who are not afraid of change. They welcome change, they make change. There is no doubt to what they are doing; they know that what they do is needed to better the community. They are the people who have revolutionary ideas and who see through those ideas and make them reality. All that matters is creating something new.

Cleisthenes and Thomas Jefferson were both founding fathers of the democratic system. Cleisthenes made many attempts at making a change. As stated before, he was banished from Athens multiple times before he was able to create and to enforce that change. After Isagarus was banned the people of Athens requested that Cleisthenes set up a government for them; one where everyone was equal. This was a daunting task. He had to construct a functioning and an equal government. He could not place the aristocrats higher than others, he could not declare himself tyrant and he needed to be sure all Athenians were equal and could have their voices heard. Cleisthenes decided that he would carve a meeting place for Athenians to gather and to discuss issues. They would meet every nine days to debate on and vote on resolutions. The Athenians voted by using a black pebble for no and a white pebble for yes. This created a true sense of community because everyone knew that their voice was heard with as much regard and reverence as any others was (The Greeks Crucible).

Jefferson is highly regarded for being the lead draftsman on the Declaration of Independence and for being a strong advocate for liberty. Jefferson took many steps toward abolishing slavery. Before the revolution Jefferson proposed a plan for the emancipation of slaves to the House of Burgesses – the colonial legislator of Virginia. Both the royal governor and the king’s council in England rejected the proposal (Founding Fathers). In the first draft of the Declaration of Independence Jefferson stated that slavery was “a cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty.” Although this was a blatant and true statement, southern slave owners and New England slave traders demanded that the passage was eliminated from the Declaration. After the revolution Jefferson tried yet again to pass a bill through the U.S. Congress to gradually eliminate slavery but it failed (Thomas Jefferson).

We hold theses truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation the derive rights inherit and inalienable, among which the preservation of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (the original draft of the Declaration of Independence).

Tyranny, a rebellion and a strong new leader with a revolutionary idea are the most influential motives for creating a democracy in America and in Athens. it seems to me that a strong sense of conviction and belief in your ideas is all that is needed to make a radical and brilliant change in your community. Though this can be a good thing it also can be a bad thing. For example Hitler saw something he thought was wrong in the community and did something about it – this resulted in the Second World War. But it can also be an amazing and a good thing, just look at things like the civil rights movement or the abolishment of the oligarchy in South Africa. As Thomas Jefferson once stated; “A little rebellion every once in a while is a good thing.”