In 1776, Americans took a radical step: they scrapped monarchy and built a government from scratch, grounded in the idea that power belongs to the people. But that idea raised hard questions from the start. Who counts as “the people”? How should they make their voices heard? And could a diverse, fractious nation actually hold together under a system no one had tried before? This section introduces the founding ideals, grievances, and debates that launched the American democratic experiment and set the terms of a conversation that every generation since has had to take up again.

The founders imagined a world in which propertied men voted on behalf of everyone else. Many Americans had other ideas. From the early 19th century through the civil rights era and beyond, groups shut out of the polls organized, marched, petitioned, and fought to claim their place in the democratic process. This section traces the long and unfinished history of voting rights in America, from the constitutional amendments that expanded the electorate to the laws and practices that worked to limit it. The central question runs through it all: in a government by the people, who gets to be one of the people?

The Constitution says surprisingly little about how democracy actually runs day to day. Political parties, nominating conventions, campaign rallies, yard signs, attack ads — none of it is in the founding documents. This section explores the informal institutions and traditions that Americans invented to make participatory government work, from the torchlight parades and partisan spectacles of the 19th century to the television spots and social media campaigns of today. At the heart of it all is a problem that every generation has had to solve: how do you get people to show up and vote?

Voting is not the only way Americans make their voices heard. The First Amendment guarantees the right to assemble and petition the government, and Americans have used that right in every imaginable form — marches and demonstrations, letters and petitions, face-to-face lobbying and organized advocacy. This section examines the many ways citizens and groups have pushed their concerns into the public square, from landmark protests that changed the course of history to the quieter, persistent work of civic engagement. It also asks an honest question: when money and power enter the picture, does everyone get heard equally?

What does it mean to be an American? The founders left the question surprisingly open, and every generation since has had to answer it again. This section explores the ongoing debates over citizenship, immigration, and national identity that have shaped American life from the beginning. Should the country welcome newcomers or restrict them? Is there a shared national story, and who gets to tell it? Does a diverse democracy need a common culture to hold together? These are not settled questions. They are live ones, and this section invites visitors to think carefully about what rights and responsibilities citizenship carries, and what kind of nation Americans want to be.

Every national story plays out somewhere specific. This companion section brings the themes of Voices and Votes home to Putnam County, tracing the moments of disagreement, discord, and deliberation that have shaped our community over time. From contested local decisions to broader conflicts that landed here with particular force, the exhibition asks how people in this place have navigated genuine differences in values and interests. What did they argue about, and how did they work through it? What mechanisms of deliberation, formal and informal, have communities in Putnam County used to find their way forward? The history on display here is local, but the questions it raises are the same ones the founders wrestled with and the same ones we face today: how do people with real differences in values live together, govern together, and keep talking to one another?

Reading by Orson Welles

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Reading by Alfre Woodard

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Curated by Alex Richardson; Listen on Spotify

Recording from the 1963 March on Washington

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Recording from 2008, The National Constitution Center

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Curated by Alex Richardson; Listen on Spotify

Four interactive games designed by the Smithsonian Institution invite you to debate, deliberate, and discover what you think. In “Head to Head,” you’ll go bracket by bracket on questions like who changed America more — try reaching consensus without a fight. “Ideals and Images” asks you to show what words like equality and citizenship actually look like by choosing the images that represent them best. “My Fellow Citizens” puts the Naturalization Oath in front of you and asks you to finish the sentence: “I believe good citizens should…” Write your answer on a whiteboard, share it with the group, then post a photo with #MyFellowCitizens and #VoicesVotes. And in “Where Do You Stand?”, you’ll get up off your feet and physically move to show where you fall on the tough questions Americans have been debating for 250 years.

Add your name to one of the most consequential documents in human history. The Prindle Institute invites visitors to sign a reproduction of the Declaration of Independence and generate a custom signature graphic to share on social media with #VoicesAndVotesIN. Two hundred and fifty years later, the argument is still yours to join.

Voices and Votes traces 250 years of Americans fighting for the right to cast a ballot. The best way to honor that history is to use it. If you are not yet registered to vote, Indiana makes it straightforward to do so online. You can register, check your registration status, and find your polling place at in.gov/sos/elections. The deadline to register to vote in Indiana is 29 days before an election. If you are already registered, make sure your information is current, and make a plan to show up. Democracy works when we participate.

How does your moral and civic thinking compare to everyone else who has walked through this exhibition? The Question Machine is a freestanding touchscreen kiosk that poses philosophical questions drawn from the exhibition’s themes—fairness, identity, truth-telling, courage, democratic participation—and lets you respond your way: a short written reflection, a position on a spectrum, or a choice between two ways of framing the question. No account, no wrong answers, no facilitator needed. Just you, a question, and an anonymized window into how everyone else responded.

The Smithsonian Institution has developed a suite of digital learning resources designed to extend the themes of Voices and Votes beyond the exhibition floor. The Learning Lab brings together primary sources, images, documents, and curated collections that let you explore the history of American democracy at your own pace and on your own terms. Whether you’re a student looking to go deeper on a topic from the exhibition, an educator building a lesson around its themes, or simply a curious visitor who wants to keep the conversation going, the Learning Lab has something for you. Explore the Smithsonian’s Voices and Votes collections at learninglab.si.edu.