The Right To Vote: A Case Study In American Territories

A governments' authority comes from the will of the people. People must show what they want their government to do by voting. Everyone has the right to vote.


For several posts I'm featuring case studies that illustrate an article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that children and adults find interesting and illuminating.

The goal is to identify examples that I can use with my 4th grade class. 

I get the Czech Republic version of HBO, and can never really figure out when anything is on. I think John Oliver is on at sometime, but I'm not sure. But there's Youtube, and there's this brilliant critique of US citizens who aren't allowed to vote. John Oliver brilliantly critiques the hypocrisy and ignorance that much of America has with its territories.  



Not all of our territories allow even citizenship though. 
If you're born on America Samoa, you're a US national, but not a citizen.  As John Oliver put it, "they can't run for president, serve on a federal journal, or, depending on where they live, even become a public school teacher." Yet they serve on our army, where a commander-in-chief who they couldn't possibly vote for, send them to war. 

America Samoa, you belong in my "right to country" post.