How democracy worked in Athens, and who could take part

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Who could vote in Athens (400s BCE)

   Group	Could vote?	Notes
   Adult male citizens	yes	from 451 BCE, both parents had to be Athenian; about 40,000 to 60,000 men (sources differ)
   Women of citizen families	no	not part of the voting citizen body
   Enslaved people	no	owned by others, with no political rights; sources differ on the number, from about 40,000 to more than 100,000
   Foreign residents (metics)	no	free people who lived and worked in Athens

   Below the chart: ostracism (about 487 to 416 BCE) let citizens vote to send a leader away for 10 years; it needed at least 6,000 votes.

2. 1.

   From 451 BCE, what did a man need to be a citizen, Pia asks?

   • He had to live in Athens for one year
   • He had to be chosen by lot
   • Both parents had to be Athenian
   • He had to own a ship
3. 2.

   About how many adult male citizens did Athens have, Ren asks?

   • About 40,000 to 60,000
   • About 400 to 600
   • Exactly 6,000
   • More than 100,000 male citizens
4. 3.

   Which group in the chart could vote, Zee asks?

   • Adult male citizens
   • Foreign residents
   • Anyone living in Athens
   • Women of citizen families
5. 4.

   Could enslaved people vote in Athens, Ari asks?

   • Yes: if picked by lot
   • Yes: any resident could vote
   • No: but they could be on the Council
   • No: they had no political rights
6. 5.

   A foreign resident lived and worked in Athens for years. Could that person vote, Bo asks?

   • No, a metic was not a citizen
   • No, metics were enslaved
   • Yes, any free person could vote
   • Yes, living there made one a citizen
7. 6.

   How many votes did an ostracism need, Esme asks?

   • At least 6,000
   • Exactly 10,000
   • At least 500
   • At least 600
8. 7.

   For how long did an ostracism send a leader away, Jun asks?

   • 100 years
   • For life
   • 10 years
   • 6,000 years
9. 8.

   Why might citizens want a way to send a leader away, Kira asks?

   • To end the Assembly
   • To pick a new king for life
   • To give metics the vote
   • To stop one leader getting too much power
10. 9.

    Milo's friend says Athens gave the vote to everyone who lived there. What is the best reply?

    • Agree: it was a democracy
    • Agree: metics voted too
    • Disagree: most residents could not vote
    • Disagree: a king made the choices alone
11. 10.

    Why does the chart give a range of 40,000 to 60,000 citizens, Noah asks?

    • The number is known exactly
    • Athens had just 40 citizens
    • The number of citizens changed by the day
    • Sources differ, so it gives a range