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Ripped from the headlines: Museum ponders democracy in America

by Audrey Partington

Contributing Writer

Nearly 250 years after the Founding Fathers rejected British rule and created a democracy to be governed “by the people, for the people,” issues such as voting rights and citizenship are still being hotly debated.

A new exhibit at Sandy Spring Museum, “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America,” explores those issues as they were — and continue to be — discussed, protested and legislated in the nation from 1776 to the present.

The exhibit, which opened on Oct. 8 and runs through Nov. 21, is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils nationwide. Sandy Spring Museum is one of five venues in the state where “Voices and Votes” has been displayed since April, with support from Maryland Humanities.

The traveling exhibit is based on “American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith,” currently on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

As the exhibit — and history — teach, what began as grievances over British policies became a deeper dispute over the need for a representative government. From boycotts over taxation without representation, to a declaration of independence from the British monarchy, and a war to earn that independence, the colonist took a great leap of faith.

After the war, adopting a Constitution to provide a framework for the new government required another leap of faith.

Only 27 amendments to the original Constitution have been made since its adoption in 1787. The first 10, constituting the Bill of Rights, were written in 1791 as part of the original document.

Several the remaining 17 amendments extended voting rights to segments of the population, such as African Americans and women, who were previously disenfranchised.

But voting rights, originally open to white men who owned property, were hard won by others. The exhibit reminds that African American men won the vote nearly a century after the new nation was created, with the passage of the 15th amendment in 1870.

The recent centennial of the passage of the 19th amendment highlighted the 72-year struggle for women’s suffrage.

Still relevant today is the debate over the Electoral College system, which was created by the original Constitution to elect the president.

The exhibit explains that the system was created to balance the votes of high-population and low-population states. But the Electoral College has occasionally elected a president who did not win the popular vote, leading many to call for the system to be abolished.

The exhibit also explores the rights of citizens, and those seeking a path to citizenship.  While prisoners retain their citizenship, in nearly all 50 states they cannot vote while incarcerated.

“I wanted to pair this exhibit on voting rights in an American democracy with ‘Incarceration and Creation: Art as a Human Need,’ which is currently on display at the museum through Nov. 17,” said Allison Weiss, director of Sandy Spring Museum. “The exhibit features artists who are associated with the Justice Arts Coalition, which believes creative expression is a human need and a human right. Many believe that voting is a human right.”

 

    General admission is free. For more, go to www.sandyspringmuseum.org/exhibits. Sandy Spring Museum is located at 17901 Bentley Road. For accommodation requests, contact the museum via email at [email protected] or by phone at 301-774-0022.

    Photograph of the Civil Rights March on Washington, Aug. 28, 1963, from the National Archives.

 

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