As the Persians sought to destroy Athens and was planning to land their ships at marathon and march to Athens. Getting word of the oncoming fleet, the Athenians called upon <span>Phidippides to run the 140 miles to Sparta to ask for aid.
Sparta refused to fight as they religiously couldn't when the moon was full. Although they did later come to protect Athens.
</span><span>Phidippides then had to run all the way back (36 hours, mind you, to deliver the news)
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Even without the Spartans, Athens won the battle despite being outnumbered 1:4
the surviving Persians set sail for Athens and by the time that the tired Athenian soldiers arrived back home. The Spartans had come to their aid and defended the city.
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It was basically the first instance of cooperation in the face of a military conquest against another city-state - in this case, where Athens received aid.
My favourite videos explaining this. (although history channel does tend to exaggerate, it's 1 to 4 in a ratio of Athenians to Persians)
<span>http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-greece/videos/the-battle-of-marathon
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgijJ-zdHow
(if you want a giggle. "NOW WITH STATE OF THE ART VIDEO TECHNOLOGY")
Working conditions were often diffuclt and hard to do and payed a little amount of money
It was important because then they would have an area that was only theirs
So first off tell your teacher that the United States does not have a Democracy, it is the Federal Republic and never was a True Democracy, and that the main difference between a Democracy and the Federal Republic is that Democracy is led solely by the people unanimously voting for laws directly but the Federal Republic ( in layman's terms ) people unanimously vote for the group who gets to vote for the big decisions. Ie Electoral college. However please note that I am no expert and this is highly oversimplified.
However, If they don't accept that as a proper answer then say that it limits some of the things that may need to happen if a large enough group decides that it is unnecessary provided they are in the correct position to push against these things. Ie a war that we are currently not involved in but could become a major problem for us, say a choice is being made whether or not to engage in war a majority group in a big office somewhere in D.C. would be able to come to a decision for or against that action even if it's a choice that ends up being wrong.
