Ben Franklin's world.

The podcast dedicated to helping you learn more about how the people and events of our early American past have shaped the present

day world we live in.

And I'm your host, Liz Kovart.

Every year the United States holds elections.

Often these elections are for city, town, and state offices.

However, every two years, the United States holds federal elections,

where the American people elect those who will represent and serve them in their national government?

How did elections in the United States develop?

And who is American Democracy for, and who gets to participate in that democracy by voting.

As 2020 is a federal election year, my colleagues Joseph Edelman, Holly White and I, have found ourselves

wondering about these questions.

So we decided to create a podcast series to investigate answers to them.

Over the next four episodes, Holly Joe and I are going to investigate how the practice of holding elections and voting for representatives has developed and changed over time.

Specifically, we're going to explore the early American origins of elections and voting practices in the United States.

In our first episode, Holly will take us back to Colonial America

so that we can investigate how elections and democracy took hold in the British

North American context.

In our second episode, we'll explore the origins and development of federal elections

and who could participate in those elections.

Our third episode will allow us to explore different aspects of Native American sovereignty,

and whether the new United States left any space for Native American peoples to participate in state and

...