Every branch of the 1776 American state governments was made elective.

Evidence

Nothing in this system was democratic. In Common Sense, Paine depicted the British government as deeply authoritarian—“The will of the king is as much the law of the land in Britain as in [absolutist] France,” he wrote. Similarly, because of King George’s treatment of his American subjects, the Declaration of Independence denounced him as a tyrant “unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” Equating independence with popular rule, Paine proposed having states governed by elected, single-house legislatures. While most of the new state constitutions of 1776 did not go this far toward unchecked popular rule, they all organized every branch of state government to be elected directly or indirectly by the people. By doing so, they became models for free states everywhere. Among the reforms of 1776, none mattered more than popular rule. Although voting made little difference in Britain, and many members of the House of Commons—including British generals William Howe and John Burgoyne—represented rotten boroughs run by their families, fair representation, free elections, and true vote counts mattered in the American states. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 7

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the course theme of democracy versus aristocracy as competing foundations of American governance.