The Comparison Of Democracy And Slavery In The United States?

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Abraham Lincoln was a president who not only witnessed slavery first hand, but also witnessed a once cohesive and democratic nation go to war with itself over slavery. Due to this, it makes sense that his definition of democracy would largely be based on slavery. He has seen slavery and the effects, and, for this reason, would put neither himself nor anyone else to be in a position subservient to others. Furthermore, he proposes the idea that anyone who would place themselves above others in this manner differs from democracy, to the magnitude at which they place themselves above those they believe beneath them.
This quote from Lincoln is more specific to his time, however, I believe we still draw on this ideal today. The modern government in this country is built, with democracy in mind, in a way where no one person can command too much power. We …show more content…

Up to this point I have mostly discussed what democracy and slavery now mean in the United States, however, there are many countries with governments very different from ours. In most dictatorships, the people are not only completely subservient to the government and the individual in power, but they have no say in what happens in the country. On top of that, if they disagree with the individual in charge, they could be imprisoned or even killed. I can think of no closer comparison to the master-slave dynamic than that of a dictator and his people. The dictator has arbitrary power over those in his country, and often wields it with deadly purpose. By placing themselves so high above their people, dictators are entirely undemocratic by Lincoln’s definition, to the greatest extent possible. This is why the system of the United States, built partially by Lincoln’s efforts as president and his definition of democracy, is (in my opinion) one of the best democratic systems in the modern

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