Final answer:
The American government was founded on the ideals of liberty and equality for some (B), as in its early days, voting was restricted (D) to property-owning men. Marginalized groups were initially denied voting rights, which took centuries to expand, reflecting a government 'of the people, by the people, for the people'.
Step-by-step explanation:
The American government was founded on the ideals of liberty and equality for some, but in its early days, voting was restricted to property owners, essentially free (white) men. Many of the founding fathers distrusted true democracy, associating it with 'mob rule' and believed that only landowners were suitable to vote, fearing the majority rule could undermine the newly independent nation. Conversely, women, African Americans, indigenous Americans, and other marginalized groups were denied the right to vote and were not considered full citizens.
In the fledgling nation, the state constitutions drafted after the Declaration of Independence provided a republican form of government; however, the definition of who constituted 'the people' who could exert political power was very narrow. As time progressed, various groups have fought for and achieved suffrage, expanding the democratic foundation of the nation to more truly reflect its founding principle that government should be 'of the people, by the people, for the people'—a phrase coined by President Abraham Lincoln to emphasize the fundamental democratic element of citizen representation.
While the notion of liberty and equality was central to the creation of the U.S. Constitution, the actualization of these ideals took centuries and remains an ongoing process. The voting rights that many take for granted today were the result of long and arduous struggles by those excluded from the electoral process at the founding of the country.