Answer:
Before the late 1700s, democracy was not universally associated with representative government on the basis of a mass franchise. The real birth of American democracy did not come until after the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution in 1788. Enlightenment thinkers advanced ideas about freedom and equality before the law, which influenced how governments should be organized and functioned, but this did not make democracy more practical until later. Additionally, colonial politics were highly factional and unstable during this time period, making it difficult to implement democratic principles.