Quote:
Originally Posted by Pilot1
What is exceptional? I will tell you. We are the only country founded on the principle that who your family was didn't matter. That is exceptional. No other country can claim that.....
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You cannot be saying that without a big grin on your face. If you came from the families of thousands of African-American slaves it certainly mattered. Furthermore, most states had highly restrictive voting laws, voting was limited in most states to those had met high income and/or tax requirements, which in the early years of the republic kept government in the hands of wealthy white males.
The national government was originally set up to limit those Federal offices that were filled by direct vote too.
In America's early years wealth and the color of your skin mattered more than family if you want to look at it that way.
The U.S. was a republic of moneyed aristocrats almost until the era of Jackson, and Americans did not get to directly elect their senators until the early 20th century.
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