In our first federal election under the Constitution the people were only allowed to vote for Senators and Representatives. A) True B) False
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is A) True.
In the first federal election under the U.S. Constitution, which took place in 1788 and 1789, people were only allowed to vote for Senators and Representatives. However, it is important to clarify that the method of selecting Senators was different from the way Representatives were chosen. Under the original U.S. Constitution, Senators were not directly elected by the people. Instead, they were chosen by state legislatures. This process of indirect election for Senators remained in place until the 17th Amendment, passed in 1913, which established the direct election of Senators by the people.
On the other hand, Representatives were directly elected by the people. The number of Representatives for each state was determined by population, with each state having at least one Representative. The U.S. House of Representatives was intended to reflect the people’s interests, while the Senate, with its longer terms and smaller body, was designed to represent the states as entities within the union.
The first federal election under the Constitution involved voting for these two bodies of Congress. The election did not include a presidential vote, as George Washington was elected president through a different process, which involved the Electoral College, which was established by the Constitution as well.
Thus, during the first federal election, the right to vote was limited to choosing Congressional members, and the system reflected the early compromises in the U.S. government, balancing the will of the people and the interests of the states.