Saturday, November 20, 2010

The 19th Amendment

It is hard for me to believe that if it were not for the 19th Amendment I would not have to chance to vote next year purely because I am a woman. It is hard to imagine a world where women do not have the freedoms that I have had or seen women have in my mere 17 years of life. I have witnessed many elections come, and have watched my mother drive off to go vote at the polls. The 19th Amendment has allowed women take part in the voting process and has had a huge affect on our country since it was put in place.

Prior to 1920, women were not allowed to participate in voting. From around 1848 to 1920 a movement had been progressively growing known as the Women Suffrage Movement. The women behind the movement were incredibly brave and strong. They knew exactly what they wanted, the right to vote. They gained this right in 1920 when the 19th Amendment was put into place. The process of gaining this right took over 7 decades and was fought for by hundreds of women. (Bausum) (Mass8-9)

The 19th Amendment reads, "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." Now both men and women can participating in voting. Women do not take this right for granted.

The amount of women voting has increased greatly over time. In past presidential elections, more women vote than men. For example, in 1964 39.2 million women and 37.5 million men voted. A difference of 1.7 million which is a large amount. However, in 1996 56.1 million women and 48.9 million men voted. A difference of 7.2 million! In 2004, even more voted. 67.3 million women and 58.5 million men voted. That was a difference of 8.8 million. The amount of women that vote is incredible, and 100 years ago they would not be able to based solely upon their sex.

Our country has come so far since 1848. When the Women Suffrage Movement began, I do not think that they could have for seen how many women would vote. When the 19th Amendment was put into place it allowed tens of millions of more votes to be counted. This is so significant. The ability of women to be allowed to vote has greatly changed our nation for the better.

Bausum, Ann. With Courage and Cloth Winning the Fight for a Woman's Right to Vote. New York: National Geographic Children's, 2004. Print.
Mass, Wendy. Women's Rights. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1998. Print

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Should marijuana be legalized? A question debated throughout many places right now, particularly in California as voting approaches, was a question I had to tackle these past weeks. For our project, my group studied Proposition 19. I really enjoyed learning about this proposition as it was one that if passed would greatly affect me right now. There were many pros and cons to the proposition but I finally came to the conclusion that, if I could, I would vote no on Proposition 19.

While reading Proposition 19 it was very easy to me to see the amount of positive things that would come out of it being passed. If I had not discussed with my group and found other outside sources it would have been very tempting to vote yes right away. I say that because everything was phrased in a way, obviously, that would make me want to vote yes. Here are a list that I found to be the greatest pros; passing this proposition would put dangerous street dealers out of business, it would make billions of dollars per year in taxes which would fund more important things like jobs and schools, and the money wasted each year in marijuana offenses would be used to fight against violent crimes and gangs.

Seeing these pros would make one eager to vote yes on Prop 19. However, then I began to look to other sources. The major cons that I found while looking to other sources are one, marijuana negatively affects drivers’ judgment, motor skills, and reaction time, therefore, it stands to reason that legalizing marijuana would lead to more accidents and fatalities involving drivers under the influence. Two, marijuana is known as the ‘gateway drug,’ so legalizing it could, in time, lead to the use of more dangerous drugs, such as speed, heroine, methamphetamine, etc…Lastly, California would be the first state to legalize marijuana, this could lead to many more marijuana users coming to California to live for so that they may buy and use marijuana legally.

After looking at both the pros and the cons, the cons for me outweighed the pros. The fact that California would be the first state to legalize marijuana made me leery. I do not think that it would be wise to legalize marijuana because California would have an influx of marijuana users who would come to marijuana to buy their marijuana. Some people might say that this would be a good thing because we would have more people to get our economy going. I think however, that to have all marijuana users move to California would lead to more under the influence drivers. Those who drive under the influence of marijuana have difficulty with judgment, motor skills, and reaction time. This would lead to even more fatalities and accident related injuries.

To conclude I would vote no on Proposition 19 if I could vote. For me all the pros to passing the proposition were not enough to outweigh all of the cons. The many cons to passing proposition 19 would lead to many things for California that I do not think Californian’s want.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

How I Will Pay For College


Unfortunately, I do not have many ways to pay for college, which I will be entering into in the fall of 2011. I do not qualify for either of the Cal Grants, or the Pell Grant. However, I can apply for scholarships including a scholarship from whatever college I decide to enter into. In this essay I will be showing the list of scholarships I have and will be applying for. I will lay out my estimated expenses along with what I hope to earn.

I plan to attend a private Christian four-year college in the Fall 2011 semester. The average cost per year of a Christian college can range between $22'000 per year to $38'000 per year. Obviously, I need financial aid. My GPA is high enough that if I do very well on my SAT's there is a chance that I will receive a good scholarship from the college I choose to go to. So, the first step in my process of paying for college is to keep my grades high and do well on my SAT's, much higher than the last time I took them.

The second part of the process for me is to be continually looking for and applying to different scholarships. The first thing that I did was sign up for fastweb.com, scholarships.com, and zinch.com. All these sites give a list of scholarships that I am eligible for. Many are essay based scholarships and some do not require an essay. Zinch.com even has a weekly scholarship that only requires 2 to 3 sentences.

Here is a list of the scholarships that I have applied for:

ScholarshipPoints.com-$10'000,
Cappex "A GPA isn't Everything" Scholarship-$1'000,
Zinch Weekly Scholarship-$1'000(once weekly),
College Prowler No Essay Scholarship-$2'000,
Elks National Foundation Most Valuable Student Scholarship-$60'000,
Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation Four Year Award For Seniors Scholarship-$20'000,
Scholarchips.com "Tell A Friend" Scholarship=$1'000

Here is a list that I will be applying for after this project is due:

Third Annual Freedom in Academia Contest-$5'000
AXA Achievement Scholarship-$10'000-25'000
NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund-$1'000
John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Essay-$10'000
Annual Create a Greeting Card Scholarship-$10'000
Sam Walton Community Scholarship-$3'000
The California Association of Collectors Educational Scholarship Foundation-$2'500
Best Buy Scholarship-$1'000
Bank of America Student Leaders-varies
National Italian American Foundation Scholarship-$10'000
Southern California Association of Governments Scholarship-$3'000
McDonald's of Southern California Ronald McDonald House Charities/Scholarship-$2'000
Friends of California State Fair Scholarship-$5'000
Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year Award-$7'500
Frame My Future Scholarship Contest-$1'000
The "Save Me A Spot In College" Scholarship-2'500
The "Do Something" Award-$10'000-$100'000!
The Mary J. Szczepanski "Never Give Up" Scholarship-$500
A Patrick Charnon Scholarship-$6'000
NEWWA Francis X. Crowley Scholarship-$3'000
Healthy Choice Academic Scholarship-2'500
Essay Competition for Children of Public Employees-$500
The Scholastic Art Awards-10'000

The scholarships that I plan to apply for are in order of application deadline date. I will be working on them as they approach. I am looking forward to seeing what I can accomplish as well as if it pays off. Looking at all I have to do some of these may not be accomplished but I will be doing the best I can with the time I have. I am prepared mentally to accept the fact that all of my schooling may not be payed for and I may have to take out student loans. This will not be my first choice obviously, but I am prepared to do what I have to.


Thursday, May 6, 2010

In this essay we will be looking into the life and assassination of John F. Kennedy. We will look into his life prior to being elected President of the United States and from there we will look at his life and policies as President. The main portion of this essay will be focused specifically on his assassination and the many theories that go along with it. The purpose of this essay is to look at the life and assassination of John F. Kennedy.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born May 29th, 1917 in Brookline Massachusetts.
He was the second son of Joseph Patrick Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald out of a total of nine children. As a child, John was continuously sick. He contracted things such as the whooping cough, measles, chicken pox, and scarlet fever. Growing up he enjoyed much of the products of the hard work of his father and grandfathers. John attended Choate, a boarding school for adolescent boys, located in Connecticut.

John graduated Choate and entered Harvard in 1936, where his older brother Joe already attended. He played on the football team and one day while playing he ruptured a disc in his spine which never really recovered. While still attending Harvard John’s father was appointed the United States Ambassador to England in 1937. The whole family moved to England except for John and Joe who remained at Harvard. After a summer visit to England and other places in Europe, John returned back to school wanting to know even more about government and current events.
John’s father wrote home many times about what was going on over seas. He spoke of Hitler and Mussolini.

World War Two began in 1939 and that next year John Kennedy graduated Harvard. Soon after graduating John joined the Navy in 1941 where he was an intelligence officer. Soon after World War Two began John was sent to the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron where he was given command of a PT boat. In 1943 Kennedy was sent to the South Pacific. One day his boat was hit by a Japanese Destroyer. Two of his crew was killed while six others hung onto what was left of the ship. For five hours Kennedy and the men hung on until they managed to get to an island five miles from where there ship went down.

Due to the attack in 1943 Kennedy suffered a terrible back injury so he was sent back to the United States. Kennedy was promoted and sent to Florida after he returned to the U.S. He returned to civilian life in 1945 after another operation on his back. For the next twelve months he worked as a journalist covering the United Nations Conference in San Francisco and the 1945 General Election in Britain.
In 1946 Kennedy won election of the House of Representatives as a democrat.
Kennedy traveled many places. In 1951 he took a large interest in foreign policy and he traveled to Europe visiting many countries. Later that year he visited the Middle East, India, Pakistan, Indochina, Malaya and Korea. In 1952 Kennedy was elected into the Senate and in 1953 he married Jacqueline Bouvier, the daughter of a New York City financer. They had four children over the couple of years following but only two of the four survived infancy. Their names were Caroline and John.(source)

Kennedy had a couple more back surgeries and while recovering in hospital he wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning Profiles in Courage in 1956. In 1960 Kennedy entered the race to become the Democratic Party presidential candidate. He won Democratic primaries in New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Oregon, Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia. In July of 1960, at the national convention, Kennedy was nominated on the first ballot. For his running mate he selected Lyndon B. Johnson. The Republican candidate was Richard M. Nixon. Many watched their debates unfold on the television screen.(source)


Kennedy won the popular vote and was the first Roman Catholic President.
The well known quote by Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you…but ask what you can do for your country.” was spoken during his Inaugural Address in 1961. As president his goal was to get America back into motion. His goal was to expand America. It was going to be the biggest expansion since World War Two. Kennedy had a huge desire to put a dent into poverty. (source)


As president his goal was to get America back into motion. He responded to the growing need of action to the issue of equal rights. He called for new civil rights legislation. His plans for our country were put on hold for a couple years as he aided other countries and confronted others.

He was trying to aid other countries in their progress and did so with the Peace Corps and the Alliance for Progress. The hard reality of the Communist challenge in the Soviet Union still remained however. Shortly after Kennedy’s election he permitted a band of armed and trained exiles to invade their homeland in the attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. This attempt had been underway through the CIA and was a failure. Soon after that the Soviet Union began its campaign against West Berlin again. Kennedy reacted by reinforcing Berlin and increasing our Nation's military strength. This even included new efforts in outer space. (source)


After this and the completion of the Berlin Wall the Soviet Union backed off of central Europe. Their focus was now on Cuba. The Soviet Union planned to install nuclear weapons in Cuba. When Kennedy found this out in 1962 he imposed quarantine on all weapons headed toward Cuba. Thankfully before the world entered into nuclear war the Russians backed down and agreed to take the nuclear bombs away.

In 1963 Kennedy was able to refocus his goals for the country back on civil and equal rights which was his real passion. He did not get far though. On November 22, 1963 Kennedy arrived in Dallas with his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Governor John Connally and Senator Ralph Yarborough. They would travel in a procession of cars through the business district of Dallas. A pilot car and several motorcycles rode ahead of the limousine that held Kennedy, his wife, John Conally and his wife, the head of Secret Service at the White House- Roy Kellerman, and the driver William Greer. The car following the presidential limousine held eight Secret Service Agents. This was followed by a car containing Vice President Lyndon Johnson and Senator Ralph Yarborough.(source)


At around 12.30 in the afternoon the presidential limousine began driving on Elm Street. Not long after shots rang out. President John Kennedy was hit by two bullets that hit him in the left shoulder then in the head. Another bullet hit John Connally in the back. Ten seconds after the first shots had been fired the president's car sped off quickly towards Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. Both Kennedy and Conally were carried into separate emergency rooms. Connally had wounds to his thigh, chest, wrist, and back. Kennedy's injuries were far worse. At 1 in the afternoon Kennedy was declared dead due to the massive head shot he received.

Two hours after the assassination of President Kennedy a suspect was arrested. His name was Lee Harvey Oswald. What led to the incarceration of Oswald? At the scene of the assassination witnesses claimed that they had seen shots being fired from behind a wooden fence on the Grassy Knoll and from the Texas School Book Depository. The police investigated the witness’s claims and during a search of the Texas School Book Depository they discovered three empty cartridge cases on the floor by one of the large windows. They also found a rifle hidden beneath some boxes during there search. source)


Oswald was seen in the Texas School Book Depository before 11.55 a.m. and 12:31 pm, just after the shooting of John F. Kennedy. Oswald was then seen at 12.33 leaving the building and by 1.00 P.M. arrived at his apartment. His landlady, Earlene Roberts, testified that Oswald stayed only a few minutes. However while he was in there a Dallas Police Department car was parked in front of the house. In the car were two uniformed policemen whom, according to Roberts, sounded the horn twice before driving off. Soon afterwards Oswald left the house. A Dallas police man by the name of J. D. Tippet, approached a man later identified as Oswald, walking along East 10th Street at 1.16 p.m. A witness later testified that after a short conversation Oswald pulled out a gun and shot a number of shots at Tippet then Oswald ran off leaving the Tippet dying on the ground. (source)


After hearing a news flash that J.D. Tippit had been shot nearby John Brewer who was the manager of Hardy's Shoe Store in Oak Cliff saw a man acting strangely outside the shop: "The police cars were racing up and down Jefferson with their sirens blasting and it appeared to me that this guy was hiding from them. He waited until there was a break in the activity and then he headed west until he got to the Texas Theatre." Brewer went into the theatre and spoke to the assistant manager Warren Burroughs. Burroughs had seen the man enter the balcony of the theatre. When the police arrived Brewer accompanied the officers into the cinema where he pointed out the man he had seen acting in a suspicious manner. After a brief struggle Oswald was arrested. (source)


Soon after his arrest the police found out that Oswald worked at the Texas School Book Depository. They also found his palm print on the rifle that was discovered earlier that day. Oswald's hand prints were found on the book cartons and the brown paper bag. A fellow worker Charles Givens, testified that he saw Oswald on the sixth floor at 11.55 a.m. Howard Brennan, another witness, claimed he saw Oswald holding a rifle at the sixth floor window. The police also discovered that the rifle was purchased under the name A. Hiddell. Which at first was confusing however when Oswald was arrested the police found that he was carrying a forged I.D. card with the name Alek Hiddell. The rifle had been sent by the mail order company from Chicago to P.O. Box 2915, Dallas, Texas. The Post Office box belonged to Oswald.

The Dallas police interrogated Lee Harvey Oswald for over 13 hours. However no tapes or any transcripts were made of the interrogations. Oswald denied he had been involved in the killing of Kennedy during all of his interrogation. He also told newsmen on the night of the assassination he was a "patsy". A “pasty” was a term used by the Mafia to describe someone set up to take the punishment for a crime they did not commit. n the 24th of November Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby while being transported from the city to the county jail.

The day that Kennedy was assassinated is one of the most remembered days in history. All those alive during that time still remember that day. The assassination of President Kennedy is not an event in history studied enough in my opinion. Many people of my generation are not aware of all that was involved in his assassination.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Most Important Thing I learned

In this quarter the most important thing that I learned would be learning all about the first World War. I think that this is the most important because it is a huge piece of our country's history. I think that many Americans know very little about World War 1 and to me it is something everyone should know very much about. In this short essay I will discuss why I think learning about World War One is the most important thing I have learned thus far this quarter.

I think that World War One is so important for many reasons. First of all, it was an extremely bloody and deadly war. It was not what many thought it would be. Many stated that it would end in a couple months and it would be easy to end. I think that this is why its so important to know wars like this. It did not go as they expected as many wars usually do, it lasted for years rather than the predicted months, and an extreme amount of people were killed. It is important to understand that basically an entire generation of young men were wiped out in this war.

This is why I think that World War One is so important. I think that to look back and understand the wars our country has endured is one of the most prosperous things that our country can do. Why? Wars always happen, they are something that will most likely never go away. To understand World War One is so important because it teaches us so many lessons. This is why I think that learning about World War One is the most important thing I have learned this quarter.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Women's Suffrage

In this essay I am going to discuss the Women Suffrage Movement specifically in America. The Women Suffrage Movement began around the year of 1848 and came to an end with the addition of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. During this essay we will look at how this movement began, and what occurred prior to the movement. We will look at important dates and events that occurred within the movement as a whole, and also focusing in on key persons as the essay unfolds. The main purpose of this essay is to view what the Women Suffrage Movement was, and how it lead to the 19th Amendment.

Prior to the movement, women’s roles in society were very specific. They were to get married, raise a family, and take care of the household. Few women did work outside the home, mainly if they were very poor, but were not allowed to keep their wages for themselves. If they were married their money went toward their husbands, and if not married the money went to their fathers. In the rare occurrence of divorce, women gave up their custody of their children. The highest level of education women were allowed to have was the primary level, which is about the age of 11 now, and most women could neither buy nor sell property. Lastly, women had no right to vote on any issues, they could not sit on juries, defend themselves in a courtroom, or run for political office, which is what will be focused on in this essay specifically. (Mass 8-9)

Women were basically property of men, whether it was there husbands or their fathers, they were only property. However beginning in 1848, women wanted to change all of this. Five women are credited for the beginning of the Women Suffrage Movement. The first women’s rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York in the year of 1848. Here they drafted a “Declaration of Rights and Sentiments.” It was written to outline the equality of rights they desired. The beginning was written in the same style as the Declaration of Independence and added “and women” to the phrase “…all men are created equal…” so it read “…all men and women are created equal…” This document included 12 ways to create the equality for women in the areas such as education, law, labor, morality, and religion. (Bausum 18-19)

The 9th specifically called for women to vote. It read, “Resolved, that it is the duty of women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective suffrage.” One definition I would like to make clear is the meaning of suffrage. Suffrage is another word voting. It comes from the Latin word suffrage, meaning “approval” and
“the right to vote”. Someone who works to gain voting rights is most often called a suffragist. Another word that describes voting comes from the French word meaning “freedom”, a person that has voting rights in enfranchised. (Bausum)

Some of the first women who began fighting in the 19th century were Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone. Women held multiple women’s voting rights conventions. The very first National Women’s Rights convention was held in 1850 in Worcester, Massachusetts. In fact, the convention held in 1852 is where Susan B. Anthony decided to join the movement. Here she stated, “the right women needed above every other...was the right of suffrage.” Her joining the movement was so important to the movement’s history. A national convention was held every year after 1850 until 1860, other than the year 1857. Women petitioned state legislators to change laws unfair to women, made speeches, wrote multiple letters, published news stories, and argued their beliefs wherever they were. At first the majority of women participating in the movement were white; however there were few African Americans, for example Sojourner Truth. (Bausum)

When the civil war broke out in 1861, women decided to put their fight on hold and supported the men in the war. However, they did hope that when the war ended they would be granted some rights along with the black population. In the end they were not correct at all. Though they did not accomplish what they had hoped, they did not give up. They tried even harder to pursue what they believed. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony organized their work into the national woman suffrage Association, NWSA, or shortly known as the National is May of 1869. Later that year, one of their former friends Lucy Stone, founded the American Women Suffrage Association, AWSA, or shortly known as the American. (Bausum)

These two groups were very different. The National was much more radical and militant in their actions. Men were not allowed to join their Association. They founded a weekly newspaper called “The Revolution” with their motto being, “Men, their rights and nothing more, women their rights and nothing less!” The American was much less radical, in fact men and women of any color were allowed to join their association, which in turn was much larger. Both groups did agree on one thing however, the only way women were going to gain votes was with new laws. Beyond that they disagreed. (Bausum)

The National decided they would go to a federal level. In 1878 they managed to have a women suffrage amendment introduced for consideration by the U.S. Senate. Nine years passed before the measure came to a vote and it was not a success. Only about 16 out of 76 senators supported it, all being from the north. 337 were opposed to it and 26 members abstained from voting. The House of Representatives did not even consider women’s suffrage until past the end of the 19th century. (Bausum)
Although things were not going very well on a federal level. Several areas in the U.S offered women the right to vote in the 19th century. Two of the states that offered women suffrage had allowed it since their admission into statehood, Wyoming in 1890, and Utah in 1896. A few places allowed women partial suffrage in matters concerning only education. Other places, namely southern states did not give consideration to women suffrage at all. (Bausum)

The time frame between 1896 and 1910 came to be known as the “doldrums” because not one state adopted women suffrage. In 1890 the NWSA and the AWSA merged into the NAWSA. This organization survived until the end of the suffrage fight 30 years later. Sadly, Stone died in 1893, Stanton in 1902, and Anthony in 1906. So the true beginners of the movement did not live to see the beginning of nationwide suffrage. (Bausum)

However, miles away in Europe, women were taking a more rebellious stand. They would use “civil disobedience” to try to further their movement. They would do such things as shout at government speakers, threw stones into office windows, set fire in mailboxes, cut telephone wires, vandalized train cars, and burnt down buildings. The police would fight back with just as much brutality. The women would be arrested and would go on hunger strikes while they were in jail. More than 1000 women, suffragettes as they were more commonly known, spent time in jail. (Bausum)

The youngest daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Harriot Stanton Blanch, was very familiar with the British suffrage movement. She had lived in Britain for around 20 years. When she moved back home to the United States she brought many ideas with her. She also brought encouragement. By this point in time, many more southern women were joining the movement as well, all basically wanting suffrage for only white women only. On the other hand, northern women basically wanted suffrage for all women because they wanted all the support they could have. However, if it would hurt their chances of reaching suffrage, they would completely downplay the idea of universal suffrage. Black suffragists worked along side white women when allowed to. Sometimes however, they overstepped their boundaries and insisted in working with the white women. In other areas, black women were organizing segregated clubs to gain support from other African Americans. (Bausum)

Harriot Blatch’s work helped end the U.S. doldrums. The state of Washington gave women the right to vote in 1910; which was the first state to do so in 14 years. In 1911 California did the same. By 1912 a total of 9 states allowed women suffrage including Kansas, Oregon, and Arizona. One year later Illinois lawmakers authorized women to vote in the presidential election. In this way women could influence 84 of the 483 members. (Bausum)

All of this brought on a new generation of suffragists, one women by the name of Alice Paul. Paul had been studying in Britain during the radical suffrage movement there. There she was put in prison seven different times. In jail she met a woman by the name of Lucy Burns. These two women became very close friends, and close suffragists. A year after they met Paul returned to the United States, Burns stayed and devoted herself to the movement there. However a few years passed and Burns returned to the United States in 1912, and the two women took up right where they left off. (Bausum)

The two women worked perfectly together very much like the team of Stanton and Anthony decades before. Both joined the NAWSA and were set to work. In the beginning of 1913 they were given the job of putting together the giant parade that was to take place a day before the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson. This day was chosen for one main reason, publicity. The women knew that many more people would be in town around the inauguration day than any other day of the year. They wanted a lot of people to see what they believed; the parade even followed the same route as the inaugural procession. Around 8’000 women participated in the parade and there were around 500’000 spectators. (Bausum 11-12 &28-29)

The banners read, “We demand an amendment to the Constitution of the United States enfranchising women.” African Americans were encouraged to walk in the parade as well; however they were placed in the back of the parade. There were exceptions though, like Ida B. Wells, who demanded to walk alongside her white suffrage friends. The women looked like something the people of Washington D.C. had never seen before. They were described to look like an army. However, the crowd grew to not like what they saw. Men were crowding the street, as to block the parade. This amazing parade soon turned into what looked like a riot. During all of the chaos the police stood by not doing a thing. Instead of lasting around the scheduled two hours, the parade lasted until nightfall. The suffragists looked at the disaster as a positive and just counted on it being more publicity for their movement. (Bausum 13-15)

The parade was only one of Paul and Burns’ accomplishments. They did much work for the suffragist movement. They put together groups of suffragists to go visit the president. They raised thousands of dollars for the suffragist cause; and even started a weekly newspaper called “The Suffragist”. After identifying the thousands of supporters throughout the country they separated them into state chapters, so there movement would have a solid team in each and every state. Their efforts were hard to miss, and the leaders of the NAWSA began to wonder what Paul and Burns would do next. History did repeat itself again and Paul and Burns broke away from the NAWSA and started there own more radical group known as the National Woman’s Party. (Bausum 32-33)

In 1914 U.S. Senators held their first vote for women suffrage in 27 years. However there the vote was no success. More than one third abstained from voting and out of the 64 votes needed they received 35. Ten months later the House of Representatives held its first ever vote on women suffrage. They were around 100 votes shy of gaining a victory; 174 were in favor and 204 were opposed. From 1914-1916 only two more states granted women suffrage, Montana and Nevada. (Bausum 33)

Why did the momentum slow so much yet again? By 1914 the Anti Women Suffrage group had grown tremendously. They organized the National Association Opposed to Women Suffrage. The group had over 200’000 members and state divisions in more than half of the U.S. Paul’s group would not give up so easy; however the members of NAWSA desired a new leader due to their many defeats. They turned to Carrie Chapman Catt, a former leader of their organization who had led them to multiple victories in the prior years. (Bausum)

In the autumn of 1916, Catt offered her Winning Plan to the NAWSA for gaining winning suffrage. Its first step was to divide the 48 states; all of 50 states did not exist yet, into four sections. She assigned each one with one task in what she said would be a “red hot, never ceasing campaign.” The four groups were divided as states with full suffrage, states with the hope of full suffrage, states with no suffrage, and southern states where even partial suffrage seamed unrealistic. The states with full suffrage were to really press for a federal amendment. The states with the soon hope of full suffrage were to proceed with those fights. The states with no suffrage were to fight for partial suffrage, and those in the South were to seek for at least the right to vote in presidential primaries. (Bausum 35)

Catt wanted the suffragists to make a lot of noise; to make their point well known. She wanted to raise at least one million dollars to fund this winning plan of hers. She raised most of it when she first unveiled her plan in a private NAWSA meeting. An extra 2 million was donated by a local newspaper publisher. Finally, the NAWSA had a well financed and organized plan in place. President Wilson was not as impressed. The women knew they had to make a different approach. Paul’s group decided to move locations and move their headquarters to nearby the White House. The NAWSA found themselves not far away due to another part of Catt’s winning plan. She established a 26 room mansion and called it Suffrage House, just six blocks from the White House. These two groups may have had different battle plans, but they shared the same goal. (Bausum 38)

Women were beginning to do something so unheard of. They began to picket the White House. At first President Wilson was patient with the women and even offered them coffee. Soon however his attitude changed. With the first World War occurring, the president had many things on his mind, like whether or not the U.S was to begin fighting in the war. When the U.S. did enter into the war, many women felt it was necessary to set aside their work toward suffrage. Alice Paul did not want to cease. Her National Woman’s Party took on the “votes for women first” policy. Paul decided to publish more and more banners, and less and less yelling. The banners became more and more embarrassing towards the president; but Alice Paul was not going to stop fighting.(Bausum)

Paul’s group was now picketing both the White House and the U.S. Capitol. However, now there was a shift in the way the picketers were being treated. The women were beginning to be arrested. More and more women were being attacked by mobs, and yet only the women were being arrested. The men in the mobs were not being punished for their actions at all. Eventually even Alice Paul found herself in jail for around 5 weeks. This imprisonment was the first the American women had seen. Due to the fact that women were not being physical or obstructing justice in any way they were technically not receiving their right to free speech. Now many were beginning to question Wilson’s actions. They wondered how the nation could claim to fight for democracy overseas when it could not even treat the people at home democratically. (Bausum 47)

Women in jail were being treated incredibly bad. They were kept in uncomfortable clothes and shoes that did not fit properly. There one blanket was washed one time a year. They did not have access to the bathroom nor were they allowed to speak at meal times, where they were being forced to eat food filled with worms and maggots. Alice Paul and another woman in jail both went on hunger strikes. They were the first women to do so in America at this point in time. The two women were put into the psychiatric ward in the hospital and were force fed. When the other women heard of this they all joined in. (Bausum)

Eventually the women all departed the prison. Some because their sentences were complete, others were bailed out by worried family members. Convinced that they had been placed in jail for no reason, the women sued the government for damages and demanded their records be cleared. They figured this because they had not broken any laws. After time the Appeals Court agreed and all their arrests and convictions were overturned. All of this was also all over newspapers and things of that such so the women were getting even more publicity about their cause and for that they were excited. They figured that although they had to endure what they did in jail, it would hopefully soon be well worth it. (Bausum)

On January 9th President Wilson gave the suffragists his support. What changed him mind, he stated, was the work women had done during World War One. This was really exciting for the suffragists because he had finally come to agree with them and they could finally see that voting for them could soon become a reality. The two different plans of Catt and Paul were coming together to be an ultimate success. The House of Representatives held another vote for a federal amendment for woman suffrage. This time it was a success; 274 voted for the movement and 136 were opposed. Next was the Senate. Congress was adjourned to meet 14 months later which gave both organizations time to celebrate and enjoy their short success. They were sure that with the support of the president that they would indeed get what they hope for easily, however they were wrong. (Bausum)

Both groups had much recruiting to do. They needed to be sure that their request would pass. Senate support did grow but by mid summer the results were showing that they were two votes short. Paul’s group resorted back to their old friends, the protest banners. They protested around Lafayette square. Some women were sent to jail again on the grounds of holding a meeting in public ground and climbing on a statue. This time their sentences were only a max of 2 weeks. The senators did agree to vote on the issue after all however the amendment was not passed due to the already predicted, two votes. (Bausum)

The two women, Paul and Catt, came together for the first time since Paul left the NAWSA. With election day only a couple weeks away they decided they were going to support pro suffrage candidates, and defeat those who were opposed. At the same time Paul and her followers picketed Capitol Hill for 6 weeks. All attempts failed however, and the women were in the same boat as when they began. (Bausum)

In November of 1918 World War One ended and by the end of the year women in 15 of the 48 states had full suffrage rights. In 6 other states women had some suffrage but not full suffrage. Paul’s group was not going to settle. They began a new form of protest; they lit a fire in front of the White House where everyone could see. She and many others were arrested for “building a bonfire on public grounds between sunrise and sun set. They were sent to jail. Virtually everyone went on hunger strikes while they were in jail. (Bausum)

Things were looking better though due to one of the two needed senators announcing to the world that he now supports women suffrage. The Senate voted again on February 10th and as expected it came up short by one man. Once again many women were arrested when the president was expected to come home at their protest. This sentencing to jail was the last of the women during the women’s suffrage movement. However, jail was not the worst part for many women; some lost their jobs or homes and others their family members or their husbands. (Bausum)

It was now March 3, 1919 and congress came into session again. They were not considering the women’s suffrage issue at this meeting. Also, the House’s support in 1918 was now void. Now the women were going to have to win both bodies of Congress before the amendment would be passed. Paul’s group decided to plan their last protest, and it was going to be a violent one. A huge riot broke out, some men even broke into the women’s suffrage headquarters, where they destroyed banners and broke windows. (Bausum)

While the President was in Europe two months later he was trying to swing the last needed vote for women suffrage. The vote was from Georgia. Then he called a meeting for Congress to go into special session. The house had a total of 42 extra yes votes, and the Senate even had two votes to spare. The “Anthony” amendment, named after Susan B. Anthony, had passed. It had taken from 1878 till 1919 for the Anthony amendment to be approved by congress. Now all the women had to do was to get states to ratify it. (Bausum)

Many knew that this was not going to be an easy task however. Three fourths of the states needed to ratify it for it to be passed as an amendment. So a total of 36 states were needed to ratify it. All the women were ready to fight. However so were the antis, there power was mostly in the southern states. The states where the vote could swing either way was Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Catt and Paul started their campaign by telegraphing state governors. In the fall there was a total of only 14 yes votes. By the end of 1919 there was now 22 states that ratified the amendment. In March of 1920 there was a total of 34 states that had ratified the amendment. (Bausum)

As the suffragists had known, gaining two more states was not going to be easy. However Washington state had been one of the two later that month. This was basically up to Tennessee. On August 9th, 1920 the Senate had approved of the amendment, the rest was up to the house. In the end Tennessee ended up being 49 in favor and 47 opposed. The Antis tried to overturn the vote but eventually the Tennessee governor signed the “certificate of ratification”, which proved the states vote. The certificate reached Washington D.C. and the secretary of state was wakened from his sleep as he had requested someone to do. Late in the night of August 26th 1920, he signed the papers for the completed ratification of the 19th Amendment. Woman suffrage was now promised to all. (Bausum)

In conclusion, we have discussed the Women’s suffrage movement. We have looked at important people and dates that helped us understand the very important issues of this movement. The main purpose of this essay was to look at what the Women’s Suffrage Movement was and how it lead to the 19th Amendment. The purpose of this essay has been achieved.

Bausum, Ann. With Courage and Cloth Winning the Fight for a Woman's Right to Vote. New York: National Geographic Children's, 2004. Print.


Mass, Wendy. Women's rights. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1998. Print

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Theodore Roosevelt

The life of Theodore Roosevelt is a very interesting life to talk about. I love his story because it shows a man who knows he has health problems that are hindering his life and still fights to prosper. The purpose of this entry is to show how Theodore Roosevelt came to be President of the United States.

Theodore Roosevelt was born on October 27, 1858 in New York City to a wealthy family. He grew up surrounded by the love of his family. Theodore had asthma throughout his life and was always a very sick child. He however did not let this illness affect his mindset. He was determined to be a strong individual. He took up gymnastics and weight lifting which helped him become strong. From then on he always found time for exercise and for Theodore exercise became a daily occurrence, from hiking and riding horses to swimming.

In 1884 Theodore experienced an extremely rough day. His wife, Alice Lee Roosevelt gave birth to a baby girl. Two days later, Theodore’s mother passed away due to kidney failure and within a couple hours Alice passed away also. Both died on the same day, in the same house. He knew he had to get out so he left his daughter with his sister and left for the Dakota Badlands, where he bought a couple ranches and lived on the frontier, taking a break from politics.

In 1886 Roosevelt heads back to New York and remarries, diving back into politics. Roosevelt was appointed as a member of the Civil Service Commission of which he later became president. In 1897 he joined the administration of President McKinley as the secretary of the Navy. He saw that the Cuban War was approaching, so while he was in office he began preparing for it. When this was broke out in 1898 he went to Cuba as lieutenant colonel of a regiment of volunteer cavalry. Also in this year Theodore was elected governor of New York.

He would have sought to be reelected for another term but the Republicans choose him as their candidate for the second office of the Union. He served as vice president for less than a year and became president after the assassination of President McKinley on September 14, 1901. This is how he became president.

His life leading up to his presidency was hard but he fought through it. His health didn’t stop him from becoming what he wanted to become. This is the reason I love his story so much, he fought through his problems and the outcome was fantastic.