Why were the democracies in both Canada and the US initially oligarchies?

I would imagine that your teacher and or text has a specific answer that you are expected to come up with.  It may not match mine.  Please be careful.

In my opinion, there are two major reasons why this was.

First is the fact that there really had been no modern example of a democracy before the United States was founded.  Because of this, most people naturally looked to the elites of society for leadership.  This was how things had always been.

A second factor is the fact that there was less education and less leisure time for most people in those early days.  Because of this, only the elites had the time and the knowledge needed to become political figures.