1. Beginning of Class Activity
Take a few minutes to answer the following question quietly in your notes…
What is a direct democracy?
What are the strengths of democracy?
What are the weaknesses of democracy?
What circumstances need to occur for democracy to work?

2. Learning from Mistakes
Early Athens
Learning from Mistakes
Sharecropping system
Leads to never-ending cycle of debt…
Leads to Revolt
Greek leader, Solon, clears land debt, but didn’t take away land from aristocrats…BIG PROBLEM
Early Governments
Monarchy  Oligarchy  Democracy
Oligarchy was led by a council
The council members were called archons.
As population in Athens grew, land was at a premium. Those who had land became very rich. Those who didn’t have land usually borrowed land to farm from the rich, a system called “share-cropping.” This led to the gap between the rich and the poor widening consistently. What is going to happen? = Revolt by poor! How do we solve this problem? (students brainstorm ideas.)
Athens was near civil war until a powerful archon named Solon cleared away the sharecropper’s debt, but did nothing to fix the problem. Influential men outside the government gained power because they promised reform. One of these tyrants, Pisistratus, seized power in 546 B.C. backed by the support of the poor and merchant class. He immediately started to redistribute land. What will happen? The aristocrats revolted.
Cleistenes was the next tyrant to seize power. He set up a council of 500 people representative of all social classes to approve legislation. Democracy was born.

3. New leader, Pisistratus took away land from the rich. What happened?
REVOLT by aristocrats
Inequalities are recognized by new leader, Cleisthenes.
His idea was to create a council of 500
Propose Laws
Also created the Assembly
All male citizens were able to vote on the laws.
Divided Attica into 10 Tribes
Equal representation from each

4. Athenian democracy is then expanded further by Pericles (461-429 B.C.)
"Our administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition.
According to Pericles, what are the benefits of Democracy?
“Father of Athenian Democracy”
Gave more power to the Assembly.
Rotated people through office.
-Pericles made rules where

6. Athenian Democracy: The Age of Pericles
Overview
3 main parts
The Council of 500
Discussed proposed Decrees, Laws
The Assembly
Voted on Decrees and Laws
The People’s Court
Tried and convicted criminals

7. Council of 500 Only full-time government in Athens. Elected officials
Members serve 1 year terms.
Members must be approved by previous year’s council.
50 from each of Attica’s ten tribes
Function
Vote on proposed Decrees or Laws to send to the Assembly

8. The Assembly Why is this important?
Main law making branch of Athenian government
Open to all male citizens
Anyone could speak on a topic regardless of social rank
All participants paid to attend
Why is this important?

9. The People’s Court Juries made of male citizens Selection Cases
Vote on guilt or innocence of defendants.
Vote on punishments for defendants found guilty.
501 to 1501 jurors
Selection
At random, also randomly assigned to cases.
Must be 30 years old.
Jurors were paid
Cases
Each juror heard one to two speeches from each side.
The juror then had two ballots – one for the plaintiff and one for the defendant.
The juror would then place the ballot for whichever side he chose in an urn.
Votes would be counted out of the urn in public.