Cobblestone articles from March 2004

Cobblestone archives from March 2004

The value of the vote.
March 1, 2004... America holds elections for many offices, ranging from local school board positions all the way to the president of the United States. Here, voting is both a right and a responsibility. It is a right that past generations of Americans--African...

Establishing the vote.
March 1, 2004... Political thinking during the Colonial period in America was influenced heavily by English customs. One of the traditions that made its way to the New World from Great Britain was freeholder voting. Freeholders--those who possessed a certain...

Voting time line at a glance.(history of voting rights in the US)(Brief Article)(Chronology)
March 1, 2004... 1775 The issue of taxation without representation angers Americans enough to provoke boycotts and uprisings in the Colonies. 1788 The U.S. Constitution is ratified and becomes the framework for the new U.S. government. However, only certain...

The long struggle: African American voting rights.
March 1, 2004... Standing on the Edmund Pettus Bridge outside Selma, Alabama, eight-year-old Sheyann Webb gazed with fear at the "hundreds of policemen, state troopers, billy clubs, dogs and horses." Webb and the other six hundred activists marching from Selma...

Vote!(Quote of the Month)
March 1, 2004... This month's quote is from an African American who was born in Dallas, Texas, and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. The great-grandson of slaves and son of voting rights activists, he later became a lawyer. In 1973, at age thirty-five, he was elected...

'The duty of the women': "resolved, that it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.".
March 1, 2004... Patterned after the Declaration of Independence, the words at left made up one of twelve resolutions in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Declaration of Sentiments. The declaration was signed in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, by sixty-eight women...

Did you know?(Comic)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The words "ballot" and "bullet" come from the same roof word that means "small ball," In ancient Greece, people voted by putting pebbles or small stones into a container. In the presidential election of November 2000, approximately 180,000...

Native American: citizenship and suffrage.
March 1, 2004... "BE IT ENACTED..., THAT ALL NON-CITIZEN INDIANS BORN WITHIN THE TERRITORIAL LIMITS OF THE UNITED STATES BE, AND THEY ARE HEREBY, DECLARED TO BE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES: PROVIDED, THAT THE GRANTING OF SUCH CITIZENSHIP SHALL NOT IN ANY...

Old enough to fight, old enough to vote.
March 1, 2004... Before the American Revolution, most colonies set twenty-one as the age when men, then considered adults, could vote. Yet in many American towns, boys as young as sixteen served in the militia and voted in elections to choose militia officers....

Barriers and obstacles.
March 1, 2004... In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court said that "no right is more precious in a free country" than the right to vote. Over the centuries, generations of Americans have struggled to gain and protect this important right. Despite the progress that...

Motivating kids: a visit with kids voting USA.
March 1, 2004... So, you just don't understand why, voting is so important? Don't mention that to Paula Case or anyone else associated with Kids Voting USA (KVUSA). KVUSA is an organization that offers an authentic voting experience for anyone under the age of...

My Grandmother's House.(Letters)(Brief Article)(Poem)
March 1, 2004... My Grandmother's House The comfy couch calls for my attention. The computer buzzes as if it were mad. The table in the kitchen strains to hold the load of Grandma's good food. Her cooking...

Ghost Countdown from Ten.(Letters)(Brief Article)(Poem)
March 1, 2004... Ghost Countdown From Ten Ten ghosts were having a ball. The tenth one had to answer a phone call. The ninth ghost had to get a haircut. The eighth one went rack to his hut. The seventh ghost...

Benedict Arnold: Patriot to Traitor.(Letters)(Brief Article)(Poem)
March 1, 2004... Benedict Arnold: Patriot to Traitor A druggist, a father, a soldier, a traitor-- did you become an American hater? Did you nave a good reason for your dangerous treason? Did you not get enough...

Landowner and voter.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... I don't think it was fair that most people couldn't vote. Only white men with land could vote, it wasn't fair to black men, women, and people who went into the army and were under twenty-one years old. In 1870, black men had the right to vote....

My Melody.(Letters)(Brief Article)(Poem)
March 1, 2004... My Melody Across that blue, shimmering sea, there rings out a melody. It is parading around in my ear because I'm gathering my life without fear. The angel is coming to take me away, but...

Life is Like a Marathon.(Letters)(Brief Article)(Poem)
March 1, 2004... Life Is Like a Marathon Life is like a marathon. It's a long race to get to the end, You have to be strong. You may not be the winner, but the only thing that matters in the end is if you finish. ...

Dear Cobblestonians.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2004... In 1783, after years of fighting, the Thirteen Colonies formally were recognized as independent from Great Britain. But all was not smooth sailing from that point. After the American Revolution, the new country faced an economic depression. In...

Books to read.(Digging Deeper)
March 1, 2004... Mississippi Challenge by Mildred Pitts Walter (New York: Bradbury Press, 1992, www.stmartins.com) uses many first-person quotes to describe the struggle for civil rights--from slavery to the 1965 Voting Rights Act--on the part of African...

More media.(Digging Deeper)
March 1, 2004... Mississippi, America documents the oppression and violence encountered by African Americans in their fight to win the right to vote. PBS Home Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314-1698. One Woman, One Vote is a filmed depiction...

Embry's review.(Digging Deeper)
March 1, 2004... A Time for Courage by Kathryn Lasky (New York: Scholastic Books, 2001, www.scholastic.com) is set in 1917, when many American citizens were fighting for women's right to vote. Teenager Kat Bowen uses her diary to describe living during this...

On the web.(Digging Deeper)
March 1, 2004... The Federal Election Commission has a Web site that includes great information, from history to statistics, related to the election process in the United States. Go to www.fec.gov. The Web site of the National Voting Rights Institute...

Places to visit.(Digging Deeper)
March 1, 2004... National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dedicated to increasing the public's awareness and appreciation of the U.S. Constitution, this museum offers more than 100 multimedia exhibits, photos, sculptures, films, and artifacts....

From the achives.
March 1, 2004... From the people who fought for equal rights, to the ways American lives have been impacted, to historic viewpoints, the subject of voting or the struggle for equal rights has been touched upon in quite a few COBBLESTONE issues. They include...

Cartoon connection.(Comic)
March 1, 2004... The government's doing it again! Taking more taxes and leaving less money for me!! Somebody's got to do something! Oh, I don't vote. I figure why bother. How'd you vote?