Transcript Athens

Social Studies 6
Unit 2: Athenian
Democracy
When and Where?
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Athenian democracy started in about
500 B.C.
Athens was considered a HUGE city
by ancient Greek standards.
Athens’ overall population was
around 250’000 people. However
only 30’000-60’000 were considered
full Greek citizens.
Who Were the Greek
Citizens?
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To be a citizen of Athens you had to
meet some conditions:
1. You had to be born in Athens.
2. You had to be male.
3. You had to be born free.
4. You couldn’t have any unpaid
taxes.
5. You had to complete military
training and be ready to defend
Athens.
The Structure of Athenian
Government
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Like in Alberta’s democracy there
were 3 parts to Athen’s gov’t.
1. Council of 500 (aka the Boule) Executive Branch
2. Assembly (up to 6000 men) Legislative Branch.
3. The Courts (at least 200 judges
and lawyers)
Athenian Democracy
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Athenian Democracy was direct
democracy - any adult male citizen
could show up to the assembly to
vote or propose new laws.
But to have your voice heard, you
had to show up to the assembly.
The Assembly passed laws, declared
war, elected officials (eg. Judges),
and controlled the city affairs.
Athenian Democracy Cont’d
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There were no political parties in the
assembly and a good speaker could
have a lot of power.
Voting was done by either show of
hands, or by placing a white or black
stone in a clay jar.
Unlike in our system, there was no
constitution that controlled the power
of the assembly.
Athenian Society
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Citizens were Athens born men, 18
years or over who paid taxes and
served in the military.
They were allowed to own property,
made decisions for their families, and
helped run the gov’t of Athens.
Because of the wealth and slaves a
citizen had, he had a lot of free-time.
Athenian Prejudices
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Prejudice – Judging something without
any information.
Athenian men were very prejudiced
against both women and foreigners.
They thought women were not capable
of deep thought, and that foreigners
were all barbarians.
This thinking made sure that few rights
were given to women and
metics/slaves.