{"appState":{"pageLoadApiCallsStatus":true},"categoryState":{"relatedCategories":{"headers":{"timestamp":"2022-10-18T16:01:26+00:00"},"categoryId":33672,"data":{"title":"American History","slug":"american","image":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33662"},"slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33670"},"slug":"history","categoryId":33670},{"name":"American History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"},"slug":"american","categoryId":33672}],"parentCategory":{"categoryId":33670,"title":"History","slug":"history","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33670"}},"childCategories":[],"description":"Indigenous civilizations, Columbus, the colonies, the Constitution, the Cold War — it's all here.","relatedArticles":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles?category=33672&offset=0&size=5"},"hasArticle":true,"hasBook":true,"articleCount":179,"bookCount":10},"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"}},"relatedCategoriesLoadedStatus":"success"},"listState":{"list":{"count":10,"total":179,"items":[{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-26T15:02:12+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-06-28T20:59:15+00:00","timestamp":"2022-09-14T18:19:44+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33662"},"slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33670"},"slug":"history","categoryId":33670},{"name":"American History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"},"slug":"american","categoryId":33672}],"title":"U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade","strippedTitle":"u.s. supreme court overturns roe v. wade","slug":"roe-v-wade-how-abortion-became-legal-in-the-united-states","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Learn the history behind the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, which guarantees a woman's right to an abortion.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"In a landmark decision on June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned <em>Roe v. Wade</em>. The justices ruled 6-3, eliminating a woman's constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years of that right being guaranteed.\r\n\r\nAt the time the decision was announced, about half of the states in the U.S. were poised to ban or severely restrict abortion following the Supreme Court's ruling. The decision had been expected because of a leaked draft of the court's deliberations in a related case titled <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization</em>. News outlet <em>Politico</em> obtained the draft on May 2, 2022.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >The history of Roe v. Wade</h2>\r\n<p class=\"Women's health month (May)\"><em>Roe v</em><em>ersus</em><em> Wade</em><em>, </em>better known as<em> Roe v. Wade,</em> is the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion within the first two months of pregnancy. Up until then, individual state laws regulated abortions, thereby forcing women to illegal clinics or untrained practitioners. The lack of proper medical supervision in these situations was dangerous for the women.</p>\r\nThe roots of this case lie in Dallas, Texas, in 1969. At the time, obtaining or attempting an abortion was illegal in Texas, except in cases where the woman could die. Twenty-one-year-old Norma McCorvey was single and pregnant. Thinking that abortions were legal in cases of rape and incest, she tried to get an abortion by falsely claiming she was raped. But because there was no police report to prove it, she sought the alternative, an illegal abortion. Once again, her efforts failed — police had shut down the illegal clinic. Norma's next step was to find a lawyer to sue for the right to get an abortion.\r\n\r\nTwo young attorneys named Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, dedicated to women's advocacy, took Norma's case and dubbed their plaintiff \"Jane Roe\" to protect her identity. On March 3, 1970, Coffee filed a complaint, <em>Roe </em>v.<em> Wade</em> (later amended to a class-action suit), at the Dallas federal district courthouse, suing the State of Texas over the constitutionality over its abortion laws. Henry Wade was the defending district attorney.\r\n<p class=\"Remember\">Roe won the case when the district court decided that the Texas laws were vague and infringed on the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The Ninth Amendment protects citizens' rights not listed in other parts of the Constitution, including the right to privacy. Norma's attorneys argued that this extended to a woman's right to decide to bear children or not. The Fourteenth Amendment ensures that no state can abridge a citizen's fundamental rights without due process.</p>\r\nThe case was appealed and landed in the U.S. Supreme Court. On January 22, 1973, the Court handed down its decision in favor of Roe, declaring:\r\n<blockquote>[The] right to privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the district court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.\"<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><sup>[</sup></span></blockquote>\r\nThe Supreme Court ruling didn't come in time for Norma McCorvey to have an abortion. She delivered a child even before the district court ruled in her favor in 1970; that child was immediately adopted.\r\n\r\n<em>Roe v. Wade </em>remains as polarizing as ever. Right-to-privacy proponents, anti-abortionists, religious groups, and women's rights advocates are just some of the organizations involved in this heated socio-political issue.","description":"In a landmark decision on June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned <em>Roe v. Wade</em>. The justices ruled 6-3, eliminating a woman's constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years of that right being guaranteed.\r\n\r\nAt the time the decision was announced, about half of the states in the U.S. were poised to ban or severely restrict abortion following the Supreme Court's ruling. The decision had been expected because of a leaked draft of the court's deliberations in a related case titled <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization</em>. News outlet <em>Politico</em> obtained the draft on May 2, 2022.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >The history of Roe v. Wade</h2>\r\n<p class=\"Women's health month (May)\"><em>Roe v</em><em>ersus</em><em> Wade</em><em>, </em>better known as<em> Roe v. Wade,</em> is the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion within the first two months of pregnancy. Up until then, individual state laws regulated abortions, thereby forcing women to illegal clinics or untrained practitioners. The lack of proper medical supervision in these situations was dangerous for the women.</p>\r\nThe roots of this case lie in Dallas, Texas, in 1969. At the time, obtaining or attempting an abortion was illegal in Texas, except in cases where the woman could die. Twenty-one-year-old Norma McCorvey was single and pregnant. Thinking that abortions were legal in cases of rape and incest, she tried to get an abortion by falsely claiming she was raped. But because there was no police report to prove it, she sought the alternative, an illegal abortion. Once again, her efforts failed — police had shut down the illegal clinic. Norma's next step was to find a lawyer to sue for the right to get an abortion.\r\n\r\nTwo young attorneys named Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, dedicated to women's advocacy, took Norma's case and dubbed their plaintiff \"Jane Roe\" to protect her identity. On March 3, 1970, Coffee filed a complaint, <em>Roe </em>v.<em> Wade</em> (later amended to a class-action suit), at the Dallas federal district courthouse, suing the State of Texas over the constitutionality over its abortion laws. Henry Wade was the defending district attorney.\r\n<p class=\"Remember\">Roe won the case when the district court decided that the Texas laws were vague and infringed on the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The Ninth Amendment protects citizens' rights not listed in other parts of the Constitution, including the right to privacy. Norma's attorneys argued that this extended to a woman's right to decide to bear children or not. The Fourteenth Amendment ensures that no state can abridge a citizen's fundamental rights without due process.</p>\r\nThe case was appealed and landed in the U.S. Supreme Court. On January 22, 1973, the Court handed down its decision in favor of Roe, declaring:\r\n<blockquote>[The] right to privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the district court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy.\"<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><sup>[</sup></span></blockquote>\r\nThe Supreme Court ruling didn't come in time for Norma McCorvey to have an abortion. She delivered a child even before the district court ruled in her favor in 1970; that child was immediately adopted.\r\n\r\n<em>Roe v. Wade </em>remains as polarizing as ever. Right-to-privacy proponents, anti-abortionists, religious groups, and women's rights advocates are just some of the organizations involved in this heated socio-political issue.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9312,"name":"Patricia Yuu Pan","slug":"patricia-yuu-pan","description":"","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9312"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":33672,"title":"American History","slug":"american","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[{"label":"The history of Roe v. Wade","target":"#tab1"}],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":288783,"title":"First Ladies For Dummies Cheat Sheet","slug":"50-key-dates-in-us-first-lady-history","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/288783"}},{"articleId":269903,"title":"Performing Many Roles: The President’s Duties in Modern Times","slug":"performing-many-roles-the-presidents-duties-in-modern-times","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269903"}},{"articleId":269900,"title":"President Donald Trump: Controversies at Home and Abroad","slug":"president-donald-trump-controversies-at-home-and-abroad","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269900"}},{"articleId":269894,"title":"Scandals: Defining Donald Trump’s Presidency","slug":"scandals-defining-donald-trumps-presidency","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269894"}},{"articleId":269891,"title":"The 10 Worst Presidents","slug":"the-10-worst-presidents","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269891"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":0,"slug":null,"isbn":null,"categoryList":null,"amazon":null,"image":null,"title":null,"testBankPinActivationLink":null,"bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":null,"authors":null,"_links":null},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[null]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b40e8ef0\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[null]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b40e9941\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Articles","articleList":null,"content":null,"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"sponsorAd":"","sponsorEbookTitle":"","sponsorEbookLink":"","sponsorEbookImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Explore","lifeExpectancy":"Six months","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-05-04T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":166838},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2018-08-02T03:47:45+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-06-28T14:35:09+00:00","timestamp":"2022-09-14T18:19:44+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33662"},"slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33670"},"slug":"history","categoryId":33670},{"name":"American History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"},"slug":"american","categoryId":33672}],"title":"Roe v. Wade and other Supreme Court decisions on abortion","strippedTitle":"roe v. wade and other supreme court decisions on abortion","slug":"roe-v-wade-1973","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Learn about several U.S. Supreme Court decisions concerning women's reproductive rights that came after the historical Roe v. Wade ruling.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"The Supreme Court overturned <em>Roe v. Wade</em> on June 24, 2022, ending nearly 50 years of a woman's constitutional right to abortion. The decision allows individual states the ability to set their own abortion laws, banning or restricting the procedure as they see fit.\r\n\r\nThe nation was expecting the landmark decision due to a leaked draft of the Supreme Court's deliberations in the related case <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization</em>. The leaked document, obtained by news outlet <em>Politico</em> on May 3, 2022, indicated the court's plans to overturn <em>Roe v. Wade</em>. At the time of the leak, about half of the states were poised to ban or severely restrict abortion, following the expected ruling.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >The history of Roe v. Wade</h2>\r\nBefore the court's decision in 2022, <em>Roe v. Wade</em> had been the litmus test for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court bench. No judge who came out openly against <em>Roe v. Wade</em> was likely to be confirmed.\r\n\r\nIn the 1973 case<em>,</em> the Supreme Court ruled 7–2 that women have the right to an abortion, at least during the first trimester of pregnancy. The court characterized abortion as a “fundamental” constitutional right, which means that any law aiming to restrict it is subject to the standard of <em>strict scrutiny</em>.\r\n\r\nIn <em>Planned Parenthood v. Casey</em> (1982), the high court modified <em>Roe</em> by giving the state the right to regulate an abortion, even in the first trimester, as long as that regulation doesn’t pose an “undue burden” on the woman’s fundamental right to an abortion. One such “undue burden” identified in Casey was any requirement for the woman to notify her husband.\r\n\r\nA Texas law that placed certain restrictions on abortion clinics in the state was struck down by the Supreme Court, in a 5–3 vote, as placing an “undue burden” on abortion rights in <i>Whole Woman’s </i><em>Health v. Hellerstedt</em><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\"> (2016). </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">In </span><i>Stormans Inc. v. Wiesman</i> (2016), a five-justice majority on the court refused to hear a challenge to a Washington state law making it illegal for pharmacists to refuse to dispense contraceptive drugs. In a dissent, Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote: “This case is an ominous sign … If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims will be treated in the years ahead, those who value religious freedom have cause for great concern.”","description":"The Supreme Court overturned <em>Roe v. Wade</em> on June 24, 2022, ending nearly 50 years of a woman's constitutional right to abortion. The decision allows individual states the ability to set their own abortion laws, banning or restricting the procedure as they see fit.\r\n\r\nThe nation was expecting the landmark decision due to a leaked draft of the Supreme Court's deliberations in the related case <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization</em>. The leaked document, obtained by news outlet <em>Politico</em> on May 3, 2022, indicated the court's plans to overturn <em>Roe v. Wade</em>. At the time of the leak, about half of the states were poised to ban or severely restrict abortion, following the expected ruling.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >The history of Roe v. Wade</h2>\r\nBefore the court's decision in 2022, <em>Roe v. Wade</em> had been the litmus test for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court bench. No judge who came out openly against <em>Roe v. Wade</em> was likely to be confirmed.\r\n\r\nIn the 1973 case<em>,</em> the Supreme Court ruled 7–2 that women have the right to an abortion, at least during the first trimester of pregnancy. The court characterized abortion as a “fundamental” constitutional right, which means that any law aiming to restrict it is subject to the standard of <em>strict scrutiny</em>.\r\n\r\nIn <em>Planned Parenthood v. Casey</em> (1982), the high court modified <em>Roe</em> by giving the state the right to regulate an abortion, even in the first trimester, as long as that regulation doesn’t pose an “undue burden” on the woman’s fundamental right to an abortion. One such “undue burden” identified in Casey was any requirement for the woman to notify her husband.\r\n\r\nA Texas law that placed certain restrictions on abortion clinics in the state was struck down by the Supreme Court, in a 5–3 vote, as placing an “undue burden” on abortion rights in <i>Whole Woman’s </i><em>Health v. Hellerstedt</em><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\"> (2016). </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">In </span><i>Stormans Inc. v. Wiesman</i> (2016), a five-justice majority on the court refused to hear a challenge to a Washington state law making it illegal for pharmacists to refuse to dispense contraceptive drugs. In a dissent, Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote: “This case is an ominous sign … If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims will be treated in the years ahead, those who value religious freedom have cause for great concern.”","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":10206,"name":"Michael Arnheim","slug":"michael-arnheim","description":" <p>As a lawyer who consults with various U.S. firms on constitutional issues and as author of a text on British constitutional law, <b>Dr. Michael Arnheim</b> is uniquely qualified to present an unbiased view of the U.S. Constitution, what it says, what it means, and how it&#39;s been interpreted in a variety of situations. ","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10206"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":33672,"title":"American History","slug":"american","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":34474,"title":"American Government","slug":"american-government","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/34474"}},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[{"label":"The history of Roe v. 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Gross (2015)","slug":"glossip-v-gross-2015","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/254939"}},{"articleId":254936,"title":"Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)","slug":"obergefell-v-hodges-2015","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/254936"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":288783,"title":"First Ladies For Dummies Cheat Sheet","slug":"50-key-dates-in-us-first-lady-history","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/288783"}},{"articleId":269903,"title":"Performing Many Roles: The President’s Duties in Modern Times","slug":"performing-many-roles-the-presidents-duties-in-modern-times","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269903"}},{"articleId":269900,"title":"President Donald Trump: Controversies at Home and Abroad","slug":"president-donald-trump-controversies-at-home-and-abroad","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269900"}},{"articleId":269894,"title":"Scandals: Defining Donald Trump’s Presidency","slug":"scandals-defining-donald-trumps-presidency","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269894"}},{"articleId":269891,"title":"The 10 Worst Presidents","slug":"the-10-worst-presidents","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269891"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282645,"slug":"u-s-constitution-for-dummies-2nd-edition","isbn":"9781119387299","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119387299/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1119387299/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1119387299-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1119387299/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1119387299/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/u.s.-constitution-for-dummies-2nd-edition-cover-9781119387299-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"U.S. Constitution For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"<p>As a lawyer who consults with various U.S. firms on constitutional issues and as author of a text on British constitutional law, <b data-author-id=\"10206\">Dr. Michael Arnheim</b> is uniquely qualified to present an unbiased view of the U.S. Constitution, what it says, what it means, and how it's been interpreted in a variety of situations. </p>","authors":[{"authorId":10206,"name":"Michael Arnheim","slug":"michael-arnheim","description":" <p>As a lawyer who consults with various U.S. firms on constitutional issues and as author of a text on British constitutional law, <b>Dr. Michael Arnheim</b> is uniquely qualified to present an unbiased view of the U.S. Constitution, what it says, what it means, and how it&#39;s been interpreted in a variety of situations. ","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10206"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119387299&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b40d233b\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119387299&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b40d5750\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Articles","articleList":null,"content":null,"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"sponsorAd":"","sponsorEbookTitle":"","sponsorEbookLink":"","sponsorEbookImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Explore","lifeExpectancy":"Six months","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-05-04T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":254930},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2019-11-19T02:35:30+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-06-23T18:33:46+00:00","timestamp":"2022-09-14T18:19:44+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33662"},"slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33670"},"slug":"history","categoryId":33670},{"name":"American History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"},"slug":"american","categoryId":33672}],"title":"The Aftermath of the American Revolution","strippedTitle":"the aftermath of the american revolution","slug":"the-aftermath-of-the-american-revolution","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Discover what you can learn from the American Revolution, why it was successful, and how it has shaped many events in world history.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"The American Revolution has had enormous effects on the development of world history since that time. We can learn a lot from exploring other events that happened following the <a href=\"https://www.dummies.com/education/history/american-history/american-revolution-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Revolution</a> and from considering the reasons that this revolution, unlike many others, was a successful endeavor.\r\n\r\nIt was a revolution like no other, “a revolution,” in the words of the 18th century British statesman Edmund Burke, “made not by chopping and changing of power in any of the existing states (nations), but by the appearance of a new state, of a new species, in a new part of the globe.”\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_294098\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"270\"]<img class=\"wp-image-294098 size-medium\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/matt-briney-VP2oTxtOgsw-unsplash-1-270x180.jpg\" alt=\"Revolutionary War soldiers\" width=\"270\" height=\"180\" /> © Matt Briney/Unsplash[/caption]\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >How big was the American Revolution?</h2>\r\nOverstating the effects of the American Revolution on world history would be difficult. It’s been estimated, for example, that more than half of the countries belonging to the United Nations in 2019 could trace their beginnings back to documents proclaiming their legitimacy as sovereign states and modeled on or inspired by America’s Declaration of Independence.\r\n\r\nIn fact, it could be argued that just a single Revolutionary War battle in the fall of 1777 in eastern New York led to a French king having his head cut off; the end of the Spanish Empire in the New World; doubling the size of the United States; firmly establishing Canada as a British colony; and hastening the settlement of Australia. That may seem a bit of stretch, but consider this:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>In September and October 1777, American forces defeated a British army near Saratoga. The stunning victory, and surrender of the entire British force, helped convince French King Louis XVI to throw France’s formidable military behind the American cause. That contributed greatly to America’s military victory over the British in the Revolutionary War.</li>\r\n \t<li>America’s subsequent creation of a democratic republic provided a vivid example to the French of how effective an uprising against a tyrannical government might be. French revolutionaries used the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a template for drafting the <em>Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen</em> in 1789. One of the casualties in the French Revolution that followed was Louis XVI — the same monarch who had helped America win its revolution.</li>\r\n \t<li>Inspired by the U.S. and French revolutions and led by Simón Bolívar — the Venezuelan who became known as the George Washington of Latin America — much of Spain’s colonial empire in Latin America revolted in the first three decades of the 19th century. By 1830, what are now the nations of Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Peru had declared independence. In addition, the former Portuguese colony of Brazil and French colony of <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Saint-Domingue</a> (now Haiti) had likewise successfully rebelled.</li>\r\n \t<li>The loss of Saint-Domingue to a rebellion led by former slave Toussaint Louverture so irritated the French dictator Napoleon that he launched a major assault to retake the island. That ended in disastrous defeat for the French. The debacle helped persuade Napoleon to forget about a French Empire in the Americas. And that decision spurred France in 1803 to sell America 828,000 square miles of what became known as the Louisiana Purchase, for $15 million (about $335 million in 2019.) That doubled the size of the United States.</li>\r\n \t<li>After the U.S. victory in the Revolutionary War, as many as 80,000 Americans who had been loyal to the British fled to Canada. That had a radical demographic effect on the sparsely populated country, most of whose non-native inhabitants up to that time were of French descent. The influx of the loyalist Americans helped solidify Britain’s cultural and political hold on Canada.</li>\r\n \t<li>Prior to the Revolutionary War, America had served as a dumping ground for Britain’s unwanted, which included a vast number of those convicted of various crimes. Faced with the post-war problem of where to send its excess convicts, Britain settled on its almost-empty colony of Australia. Between 1788 and 1868, an estimated 165,000 prisoners were transported to the Down Under continent.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nSure, lots of other elements are involved in each of these events that helped bring them about and influenced their outcomes. But there is no denying the American Revolution played a significant role in all of them.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab2\" >What kind of revolution was it?</h2>\r\nThrough most of the 20th century and into the 21st, a continual hot topic of debate among historians has been whether the American Revolution was a <em>conservative</em> or <em>radical</em> affair.\r\n\r\nThe conservative-event camp argues that the real aim of the Founding Fathers was a revolution in a literal sense: a 360-degree return to the rights, liberties and economic system that America had lived under during most of the 17th and first half of the 18th centuries. That was before the British government began looking for ways to raise revenues from its American colonies and started enforcing laws that benefited the mother country at the inconvenience of the colonists.\r\n\r\nAmerica’s leaders, the conservative-revolution camp contends, had nothing new or particularly daring in mind in terms of a new form of government. They mostly just wanted the British to stop changing things. The proof of that, the argument goes, is that even after the Constitution was written and the new government framework it contained was established, the same people were still in charge. Slavery continued; women remained legally inferior; and voting was still largely limited to adult males who owned something of value.\r\n\r\nBut, the radical camp counters, the conservative revolution argument ignores the fact that an entirely new form of government resulted. The Founding Fathers came up with a fundamentally different view of the relationship between government and people. Under monarchies or autocracies, government serves the purposes of the one or the few, and operates through the labor and sacrifices of the many. In the model created by the Constitution, the government functions through the will of the people it serves, as expressed by the actions of the representatives they elect.\r\n\r\nTrue, the radical camp concedes, the Founding Fathers ignored or sidestepped the inherent hypocrisy of a nation founded on lofty ideals of liberty, yet allowed slavery and treated half the populace as second-class citizens.\r\n\r\nBut they point out that the soundness of the governmental system the founders created has allowed it to gradually work to redress those wrongs: The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, for example, ended slavery in 1865; the 19th gave women the right to vote in 1920. These changes weren’t reliant on the desires of individual rulers or even the whims of popular opinion. They came about as the result of Americans operating under a system, which when it was created, was a radical departure from governments of the time.\r\n\r\nIn the end, it may be futile to attempt to accurately categorize the American Revolution. A revolution is a massive upheaval, undertaken by a mass of human beings with different motives, aspirations — and levels of enthusiasm.\r\n\r\nFor example, John Hancock was a wealthy merchant; George R.T. Hewes, a poor shoemaker. Hancock presided over the group that drafted the Declaration of Independence; Hewes helped dump tea in Boston Harbor. Neither had anything to gain directly from rebellion. But both rebelled and risked their lives in doing so. Was Hancock a conservative hoping to go back to the good old days, and Hewes a radical pining for a new way of doing things? I don’t know, and I don’t think it matters. Assigning generalized labels to their reasons may be an interesting academic exercise, but not a whole lot more.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab3\" >Why did the American Revolution succeed?</h2>\r\nAs the citizens of scores of other countries around the world can attest, not every revolution works equally well. England underwent two revolutions in the 17th century. One resulted in the dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell; the other substituted one monarch for another. The French Revolution gave France — and the rest of the world — Napoleon. The Russian Revolution transformed the government from a corrupt and despotic regime to a corrupt and totalitarian regime.\r\n\r\nBut the American Revolution, however bumpy its path, succeeded. One reason was roots. Americans mostly derived their ideas about government from Britain, whose people had long wrestled with trying to balance the authority of the state with the liberty of the individual. By the time shots were fired at Lexington, many, if not most, Americans had also enjoyed decades of representative democracy, at least at the local level. Self-government was not a new experience. And unlike many other nations, America had escaped dominance by a single religious organization or secular interest group.\r\n\r\nThen there was luck. America abounded in natural and economic resources. Life at the time of the revolution was generally pretty good in the colonies. The desperation faced by starving or war-torn nations on the verge of rebellion was absent and thus so was the desperate need to grab onto the first Cromwell or Napoleon to come along and offer a quick fix.\r\n\r\nFinally, Americans settled on three key aspects to the system that helped ensure the revolution could mature. One was the system of checks and balances among the three branches of government — what the historian Richard Hofstadter termed “a harmonious system of mutual frustration.”\r\n\r\nWhile the system has certainly generated its fair share of friction, it has maintained a balance the Founding Fathers sometimes feared would be unobtainable. In 1974, for example, President Richard Nixon refused to release audiotapes recorded in his office to Congress, which was considering impeachment proceedings against Nixon. Nixon based his refusal on what he claimed was a “privilege” accorded to the executive branch. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Congress. About two weeks after the court’s decision, the president resigned.\r\n\r\nThe second key aspect of the America system that differentiated it from those of other revolutions was the recognition that the rights of the minority were every bit as important as the rights of the majority. As Thomas Jefferson put it in his first Inaugural Address, “Though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail . . . the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate (this) would be oppression.”\r\n\r\nFinally, there is the elasticity of the Constitution. The document’s framers recognized they weren’t perfect and were thus unlikely to create a perfect blueprint for running the country. In the 230 years between 1789 and 2019, a total of 27 amendments were added to the Constitution. They guaranteed rights, made changes in the process of government — and in the case of Prohibition, made one societal activity illegal and then legal again.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab4\" >What you can learn from the American Revolution</h2>\r\nOne of the most rewarding things about the study of history is its reassuring reinforcement of the fact that nobody is now, or ever has been, perfect. It naturally follows that nothing any human has ever done has been perfect.\r\n\r\nThat, as John Adams pointed out in answering letters from admirers in the first quarter of the 19th century, applied to both the Founding Fathers and their efforts. “I ought not to object to your reverence for (us),” he wrote one fan, “but to tell you a very great secret, as far as I am capable of comparing the merits of different periods, I have no reason to believe we were better than you are.”\r\n\r\nTo another correspondent, Adams explained that “every measure of Congress from 1774 to 1787 inclusively, was disposed (of) with acrimony and decided by as small majorities as any question is decided these days . . . it was patched and piebald (irregular) then, as it is now, and ever will be, world without end.”\r\n\r\nSo, one lesson to be learned from the American Revolution is that it’s unreasonable to expect the political descendants of the Founding Fathers to be any more infallible than they — or the fruits of their labors — were.\r\n\r\nWhich raises a second lesson: The American Revolution wasn’t finished with the end of the war, or the adoption of the Constitution, or the peaceful shift of power from one political party to another. It has been followed by a series of mini-revolutions, additions to the country’s ever-changing menu of unresolved issues and unaddressed problems.\r\n\r\nThe menu’s items have included the end of slavery; the preservation of the Union; the extension of suffrage and other rights to women; the establishment of a safety net of programs from Social Security to Medicare; the push for a color-blind justice system, and ongoing efforts to ensure that the scales of majority rule and minority rights remain in balance.\r\n\r\nAnd that leads to a third lesson, and one I touch on in the Introduction to this book: The American Revolution isn’t over. “On the contrary,” wrote Dr. Benjamin Rush, physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Founding Father, “nothing but the first act of the drama is closed. It remains yet to establish and perfect our new forms of government and to prepare the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens for these forms of government after they are established and brought to perfection.”\r\n\r\nDr. Rush’s words were written in 1786. We’re still working on perfection.","description":"The American Revolution has had enormous effects on the development of world history since that time. We can learn a lot from exploring other events that happened following the <a href=\"https://www.dummies.com/education/history/american-history/american-revolution-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Revolution</a> and from considering the reasons that this revolution, unlike many others, was a successful endeavor.\r\n\r\nIt was a revolution like no other, “a revolution,” in the words of the 18th century British statesman Edmund Burke, “made not by chopping and changing of power in any of the existing states (nations), but by the appearance of a new state, of a new species, in a new part of the globe.”\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_294098\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"270\"]<img class=\"wp-image-294098 size-medium\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/matt-briney-VP2oTxtOgsw-unsplash-1-270x180.jpg\" alt=\"Revolutionary War soldiers\" width=\"270\" height=\"180\" /> © Matt Briney/Unsplash[/caption]\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >How big was the American Revolution?</h2>\r\nOverstating the effects of the American Revolution on world history would be difficult. It’s been estimated, for example, that more than half of the countries belonging to the United Nations in 2019 could trace their beginnings back to documents proclaiming their legitimacy as sovereign states and modeled on or inspired by America’s Declaration of Independence.\r\n\r\nIn fact, it could be argued that just a single Revolutionary War battle in the fall of 1777 in eastern New York led to a French king having his head cut off; the end of the Spanish Empire in the New World; doubling the size of the United States; firmly establishing Canada as a British colony; and hastening the settlement of Australia. That may seem a bit of stretch, but consider this:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>In September and October 1777, American forces defeated a British army near Saratoga. The stunning victory, and surrender of the entire British force, helped convince French King Louis XVI to throw France’s formidable military behind the American cause. That contributed greatly to America’s military victory over the British in the Revolutionary War.</li>\r\n \t<li>America’s subsequent creation of a democratic republic provided a vivid example to the French of how effective an uprising against a tyrannical government might be. French revolutionaries used the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a template for drafting the <em>Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen</em> in 1789. One of the casualties in the French Revolution that followed was Louis XVI — the same monarch who had helped America win its revolution.</li>\r\n \t<li>Inspired by the U.S. and French revolutions and led by Simón Bolívar — the Venezuelan who became known as the George Washington of Latin America — much of Spain’s colonial empire in Latin America revolted in the first three decades of the 19th century. By 1830, what are now the nations of Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Peru had declared independence. In addition, the former Portuguese colony of Brazil and French colony of <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Domingue\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Saint-Domingue</a> (now Haiti) had likewise successfully rebelled.</li>\r\n \t<li>The loss of Saint-Domingue to a rebellion led by former slave Toussaint Louverture so irritated the French dictator Napoleon that he launched a major assault to retake the island. That ended in disastrous defeat for the French. The debacle helped persuade Napoleon to forget about a French Empire in the Americas. And that decision spurred France in 1803 to sell America 828,000 square miles of what became known as the Louisiana Purchase, for $15 million (about $335 million in 2019.) That doubled the size of the United States.</li>\r\n \t<li>After the U.S. victory in the Revolutionary War, as many as 80,000 Americans who had been loyal to the British fled to Canada. That had a radical demographic effect on the sparsely populated country, most of whose non-native inhabitants up to that time were of French descent. The influx of the loyalist Americans helped solidify Britain’s cultural and political hold on Canada.</li>\r\n \t<li>Prior to the Revolutionary War, America had served as a dumping ground for Britain’s unwanted, which included a vast number of those convicted of various crimes. Faced with the post-war problem of where to send its excess convicts, Britain settled on its almost-empty colony of Australia. Between 1788 and 1868, an estimated 165,000 prisoners were transported to the Down Under continent.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nSure, lots of other elements are involved in each of these events that helped bring them about and influenced their outcomes. But there is no denying the American Revolution played a significant role in all of them.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab2\" >What kind of revolution was it?</h2>\r\nThrough most of the 20th century and into the 21st, a continual hot topic of debate among historians has been whether the American Revolution was a <em>conservative</em> or <em>radical</em> affair.\r\n\r\nThe conservative-event camp argues that the real aim of the Founding Fathers was a revolution in a literal sense: a 360-degree return to the rights, liberties and economic system that America had lived under during most of the 17th and first half of the 18th centuries. That was before the British government began looking for ways to raise revenues from its American colonies and started enforcing laws that benefited the mother country at the inconvenience of the colonists.\r\n\r\nAmerica’s leaders, the conservative-revolution camp contends, had nothing new or particularly daring in mind in terms of a new form of government. They mostly just wanted the British to stop changing things. The proof of that, the argument goes, is that even after the Constitution was written and the new government framework it contained was established, the same people were still in charge. Slavery continued; women remained legally inferior; and voting was still largely limited to adult males who owned something of value.\r\n\r\nBut, the radical camp counters, the conservative revolution argument ignores the fact that an entirely new form of government resulted. The Founding Fathers came up with a fundamentally different view of the relationship between government and people. Under monarchies or autocracies, government serves the purposes of the one or the few, and operates through the labor and sacrifices of the many. In the model created by the Constitution, the government functions through the will of the people it serves, as expressed by the actions of the representatives they elect.\r\n\r\nTrue, the radical camp concedes, the Founding Fathers ignored or sidestepped the inherent hypocrisy of a nation founded on lofty ideals of liberty, yet allowed slavery and treated half the populace as second-class citizens.\r\n\r\nBut they point out that the soundness of the governmental system the founders created has allowed it to gradually work to redress those wrongs: The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, for example, ended slavery in 1865; the 19th gave women the right to vote in 1920. These changes weren’t reliant on the desires of individual rulers or even the whims of popular opinion. They came about as the result of Americans operating under a system, which when it was created, was a radical departure from governments of the time.\r\n\r\nIn the end, it may be futile to attempt to accurately categorize the American Revolution. A revolution is a massive upheaval, undertaken by a mass of human beings with different motives, aspirations — and levels of enthusiasm.\r\n\r\nFor example, John Hancock was a wealthy merchant; George R.T. Hewes, a poor shoemaker. Hancock presided over the group that drafted the Declaration of Independence; Hewes helped dump tea in Boston Harbor. Neither had anything to gain directly from rebellion. But both rebelled and risked their lives in doing so. Was Hancock a conservative hoping to go back to the good old days, and Hewes a radical pining for a new way of doing things? I don’t know, and I don’t think it matters. Assigning generalized labels to their reasons may be an interesting academic exercise, but not a whole lot more.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab3\" >Why did the American Revolution succeed?</h2>\r\nAs the citizens of scores of other countries around the world can attest, not every revolution works equally well. England underwent two revolutions in the 17th century. One resulted in the dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell; the other substituted one monarch for another. The French Revolution gave France — and the rest of the world — Napoleon. The Russian Revolution transformed the government from a corrupt and despotic regime to a corrupt and totalitarian regime.\r\n\r\nBut the American Revolution, however bumpy its path, succeeded. One reason was roots. Americans mostly derived their ideas about government from Britain, whose people had long wrestled with trying to balance the authority of the state with the liberty of the individual. By the time shots were fired at Lexington, many, if not most, Americans had also enjoyed decades of representative democracy, at least at the local level. Self-government was not a new experience. And unlike many other nations, America had escaped dominance by a single religious organization or secular interest group.\r\n\r\nThen there was luck. America abounded in natural and economic resources. Life at the time of the revolution was generally pretty good in the colonies. The desperation faced by starving or war-torn nations on the verge of rebellion was absent and thus so was the desperate need to grab onto the first Cromwell or Napoleon to come along and offer a quick fix.\r\n\r\nFinally, Americans settled on three key aspects to the system that helped ensure the revolution could mature. One was the system of checks and balances among the three branches of government — what the historian Richard Hofstadter termed “a harmonious system of mutual frustration.”\r\n\r\nWhile the system has certainly generated its fair share of friction, it has maintained a balance the Founding Fathers sometimes feared would be unobtainable. In 1974, for example, President Richard Nixon refused to release audiotapes recorded in his office to Congress, which was considering impeachment proceedings against Nixon. Nixon based his refusal on what he claimed was a “privilege” accorded to the executive branch. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Congress. About two weeks after the court’s decision, the president resigned.\r\n\r\nThe second key aspect of the America system that differentiated it from those of other revolutions was the recognition that the rights of the minority were every bit as important as the rights of the majority. As Thomas Jefferson put it in his first Inaugural Address, “Though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail . . . the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate (this) would be oppression.”\r\n\r\nFinally, there is the elasticity of the Constitution. The document’s framers recognized they weren’t perfect and were thus unlikely to create a perfect blueprint for running the country. In the 230 years between 1789 and 2019, a total of 27 amendments were added to the Constitution. They guaranteed rights, made changes in the process of government — and in the case of Prohibition, made one societal activity illegal and then legal again.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab4\" >What you can learn from the American Revolution</h2>\r\nOne of the most rewarding things about the study of history is its reassuring reinforcement of the fact that nobody is now, or ever has been, perfect. It naturally follows that nothing any human has ever done has been perfect.\r\n\r\nThat, as John Adams pointed out in answering letters from admirers in the first quarter of the 19th century, applied to both the Founding Fathers and their efforts. “I ought not to object to your reverence for (us),” he wrote one fan, “but to tell you a very great secret, as far as I am capable of comparing the merits of different periods, I have no reason to believe we were better than you are.”\r\n\r\nTo another correspondent, Adams explained that “every measure of Congress from 1774 to 1787 inclusively, was disposed (of) with acrimony and decided by as small majorities as any question is decided these days . . . it was patched and piebald (irregular) then, as it is now, and ever will be, world without end.”\r\n\r\nSo, one lesson to be learned from the American Revolution is that it’s unreasonable to expect the political descendants of the Founding Fathers to be any more infallible than they — or the fruits of their labors — were.\r\n\r\nWhich raises a second lesson: The American Revolution wasn’t finished with the end of the war, or the adoption of the Constitution, or the peaceful shift of power from one political party to another. It has been followed by a series of mini-revolutions, additions to the country’s ever-changing menu of unresolved issues and unaddressed problems.\r\n\r\nThe menu’s items have included the end of slavery; the preservation of the Union; the extension of suffrage and other rights to women; the establishment of a safety net of programs from Social Security to Medicare; the push for a color-blind justice system, and ongoing efforts to ensure that the scales of majority rule and minority rights remain in balance.\r\n\r\nAnd that leads to a third lesson, and one I touch on in the Introduction to this book: The American Revolution isn’t over. “On the contrary,” wrote Dr. Benjamin Rush, physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Founding Father, “nothing but the first act of the drama is closed. It remains yet to establish and perfect our new forms of government and to prepare the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens for these forms of government after they are established and brought to perfection.”\r\n\r\nDr. Rush’s words were written in 1786. We’re still working on perfection.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9116,"name":"Steve Wiegand","slug":"steve-wiegand","description":" <p><b>Steve Wiegand</b> is an award&#45;winning political journalist and history writer. Over a 35&#45;year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the <i>San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle</i>, and <i>Sacramento Bee</i>. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history. ","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9116"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":33672,"title":"American History","slug":"american","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[{"label":"How big was the American Revolution?","target":"#tab1"},{"label":"What kind of revolution was it?","target":"#tab2"},{"label":"Why did the American Revolution succeed?","target":"#tab3"},{"label":"What you can learn from the American Revolution","target":"#tab4"}],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":265932,"title":"Women in the American Revolution","slug":"women-in-the-american-revolution","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/265932"}},{"articleId":265926,"title":"Native Americans in the Revolutionary War","slug":"native-americans-in-the-revolutionary-war","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/265926"}},{"articleId":265923,"title":"Slavery and the American Revolution","slug":"slavery-and-the-american-revolution","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/265923"}},{"articleId":265917,"title":"The Impact of the American Revolution on the Home Front","slug":"the-impact-of-the-american-revolution-on-the-home-front","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/265917"}},{"articleId":265911,"title":"The Lack of Unity in Early American Colonies","slug":"the-lack-of-unity-in-early-american-colonies","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/265911"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":288783,"title":"First Ladies For Dummies Cheat Sheet","slug":"50-key-dates-in-us-first-lady-history","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/288783"}},{"articleId":269903,"title":"Performing Many Roles: The President’s Duties in Modern Times","slug":"performing-many-roles-the-presidents-duties-in-modern-times","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269903"}},{"articleId":269900,"title":"President Donald Trump: Controversies at Home and Abroad","slug":"president-donald-trump-controversies-at-home-and-abroad","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269900"}},{"articleId":269894,"title":"Scandals: Defining Donald Trump’s Presidency","slug":"scandals-defining-donald-trumps-presidency","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269894"}},{"articleId":269891,"title":"The 10 Worst Presidents","slug":"the-10-worst-presidents","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269891"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":281944,"slug":"american-revolution-for-dummies","isbn":"9781119593492","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119593492/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1119593492/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1119593492-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1119593492/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1119593492/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/american-revolution-for-dummies-cover-9781119593492-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"American Revolution For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":true,"authorsInfo":"<p><p><b><b data-author-id=\"9116\">Steve Wiegand</b></b> is an award&#45;winning political journalist and history writer. Over a 35&#45;year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the <i>San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle</i>, and <i>Sacramento Bee</i>. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history.</p>","authors":[{"authorId":9116,"name":"Steve Wiegand","slug":"steve-wiegand","description":" <p><b>Steve Wiegand</b> is an award&#45;winning political journalist and history writer. Over a 35&#45;year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the <i>San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle</i>, and <i>Sacramento Bee</i>. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history. ","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9116"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119593492&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b409e929\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119593492&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b409f382\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Articles","articleList":null,"content":null,"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"sponsorAd":"","sponsorEbookTitle":"","sponsorEbookLink":"","sponsorEbookImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Explore","lifeExpectancy":"Five years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-06-23T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":265891},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-26T21:21:43+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-05-04T16:33:34+00:00","timestamp":"2022-09-14T18:19:42+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33662"},"slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33670"},"slug":"history","categoryId":33670},{"name":"American History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"},"slug":"american","categoryId":33672}],"title":"A Brief History of Father's Day","strippedTitle":"a brief history of father's day","slug":"a-brief-history-of-fathers-day","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Let's hear it for the dads! Learn all about how this holiday on the third Sunday in June was conceived and founded.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"Father's Day, celebrated in the United States on the third Sunday of June, got a jump start from <a href=\"https://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-history-of-mothers-day.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the formation of Mother's Day</a>. Credit for beginning Father's Day celebrations is given to Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington.\r\n\r\nAt the turn of the century, Mother's Day observances were growing across the United States. The federal government had yet to recognize the holiday, but many states had adopted the third Sunday in May as a special celebration day honoring mothers. It was during a Mother's Day church service on June 20, 1909, that Sonora Smart Dodd was struck with the idea of creating a special holiday to honor fathers, too.\r\n\r\nWhen Sonora was 16, her mother died while giving birth to her sixth child, the last of five sons. Back then, like today, single parenthood was no easy task. By Sonoma's account, though, Mr. Smart did a wonderful job. Because of this love and esteem, Sonoma Smart Dodd believed that her father deserved a special time of honor just like that given to mothers on Mother's Day.\r\n\r\nIn 1909, Sonoma Smart Dodd approached the Spokane YMCA and the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and suggested that her father's birthday — June 5 — become a celebration day for Father's Day. Because they wanted more time to prepare, the Ministerial Alliance chose June 19 instead.\r\n\r\nThe first Father's Day was thus observed in the State of Washington on June 19, 1910. The idea of officially celebrating fatherhood spread quickly across the United States, as more and more states adopted the holiday. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recognized Father's Day as the third Sunday in June of that year and encouraged states to do the same. Congress officially recognized Father's Day in 1956 with the passage of a joint resolution.\r\n\r\nTen years later, in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation calling for the third Sunday in June to be recognized as Father's Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon permanently established the observance of the third Sunday in June as Father's Day in the United States.\r\n\r\nSonora Smart Dodd lived to see her idea come to fruition. She died in 1978 at the ripe old age of 96.","description":"Father's Day, celebrated in the United States on the third Sunday of June, got a jump start from <a href=\"https://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-history-of-mothers-day.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the formation of Mother's Day</a>. Credit for beginning Father's Day celebrations is given to Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington.\r\n\r\nAt the turn of the century, Mother's Day observances were growing across the United States. The federal government had yet to recognize the holiday, but many states had adopted the third Sunday in May as a special celebration day honoring mothers. It was during a Mother's Day church service on June 20, 1909, that Sonora Smart Dodd was struck with the idea of creating a special holiday to honor fathers, too.\r\n\r\nWhen Sonora was 16, her mother died while giving birth to her sixth child, the last of five sons. Back then, like today, single parenthood was no easy task. By Sonoma's account, though, Mr. Smart did a wonderful job. Because of this love and esteem, Sonoma Smart Dodd believed that her father deserved a special time of honor just like that given to mothers on Mother's Day.\r\n\r\nIn 1909, Sonoma Smart Dodd approached the Spokane YMCA and the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and suggested that her father's birthday — June 5 — become a celebration day for Father's Day. Because they wanted more time to prepare, the Ministerial Alliance chose June 19 instead.\r\n\r\nThe first Father's Day was thus observed in the State of Washington on June 19, 1910. The idea of officially celebrating fatherhood spread quickly across the United States, as more and more states adopted the holiday. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recognized Father's Day as the third Sunday in June of that year and encouraged states to do the same. Congress officially recognized Father's Day in 1956 with the passage of a joint resolution.\r\n\r\nTen years later, in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation calling for the third Sunday in June to be recognized as Father's Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon permanently established the observance of the third Sunday in June as Father's Day in the United States.\r\n\r\nSonora Smart Dodd lived to see her idea come to fruition. She died in 1978 at the ripe old age of 96.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9772,"name":"Andrew Hollandbeck","slug":"andrew-hollandbeck","description":"","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9772"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":33672,"title":"American History","slug":"american","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":288783,"title":"First Ladies For Dummies Cheat Sheet","slug":"50-key-dates-in-us-first-lady-history","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/288783"}},{"articleId":269903,"title":"Performing Many Roles: The President’s Duties in Modern Times","slug":"performing-many-roles-the-presidents-duties-in-modern-times","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269903"}},{"articleId":269900,"title":"President Donald Trump: Controversies at Home and Abroad","slug":"president-donald-trump-controversies-at-home-and-abroad","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269900"}},{"articleId":269894,"title":"Scandals: Defining Donald Trump’s Presidency","slug":"scandals-defining-donald-trumps-presidency","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269894"}},{"articleId":269891,"title":"The 10 Worst Presidents","slug":"the-10-worst-presidents","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269891"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":0,"slug":null,"isbn":null,"categoryList":null,"amazon":null,"image":null,"title":null,"testBankPinActivationLink":null,"bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":null,"authors":null,"_links":null},"collections":[{"title":"Be a Rad Dad","slug":"be-the-best-dad","collectionId":293237}],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[null]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b3eb68c3\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[null]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b3eb7282\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Articles","articleList":null,"content":null,"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"sponsorAd":"","sponsorEbookTitle":"","sponsorEbookLink":"","sponsorEbookImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Explore","lifeExpectancy":"Five years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-05-04T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":192457},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-26T20:46:36+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-03-09T21:59:47+00:00","timestamp":"2022-09-14T18:19:22+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33662"},"slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33670"},"slug":"history","categoryId":33670},{"name":"American History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"},"slug":"american","categoryId":33672}],"title":"Women's Suffrage: Fighting for the Right to Vote","strippedTitle":"women's suffrage: fighting for the right to vote","slug":"womens-suffrage-fighting-for-the-right-to-vote","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"After a long and hard-fought struggle, women finally earned the right to vote. Find out how the suffrage movement won their fight.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"Women's suffrage was a controversial subject as women's roles developed in society. By the time the twentieth century arrived, American feminists had been seeking the right to vote for more than 50 years. The suffrage movement was fanned even hotter in 1869, when African American males were given the right to vote through the Sixteenth Amendment, while women of all races were still excluded.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_291315\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"15924\"]<img class=\"wp-image-291315 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/library-of-congress-IEj4pcYrsHA-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"Women suffragettes\" width=\"15924\" height=\"10494\" /> 14-yr. old striker, Fola La Follette, and Rose Livingston. Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash.[/caption]\r\n\r\nOne place where women were increasingly included was in the workplace. As the country shifted away from a rural, agrarian society to an industrial, urban one, more and more women had jobs — eight million by 1910. Moreover, they were getting better jobs. In 1870, 60 percent of working women were in domestic service.\r\n\r\nBy 1920, it was only 20 percent, and women made up 13 percent of the professional ranks. Women were getting out of the house for more than just jobs, too. In 1892, membership in women’s clubs was about 100,000. By 1917, it was more than one million. And women’s increasing independence was reflected in the fact that the divorce rate rose from 1 in every 21 marriages in 1880 to 1 in 9 by 1916.\r\n\r\nBecause women had always had nontraditional roles in the West, it wasn’t surprising that Western states and territories were the first to give females the right to vote: Wyoming in 1869, Utah in 1870, Washington in 1883, Colorado in 1893, and Idaho in 1896. By 1914, all the Western states except New Mexico had extended the voting franchise to women.\r\n\r\nBy 1917, the suffrage movement was building momentum. In July of that year, a score of suffragists tried to storm the White House. They were arrested and taken to the county workhouse. President Woodrow Wilson was not amused, but sympathetic, and pardoned them. The next year, a constitutional amendment — the Nineteenth — was submitted to the states. When ratified in 1920, it gave women the right to vote in every state.\r\n\r\nDespite the significance of the Nineteenth Amendment, many leaders of the women’s movement recognized that the vote alone wouldn’t give women equal standing with men when it came to educational, economic, or legal rights.\r\n\r\n“Men are saying, perhaps, ‘thank God this everlasting women’s fight is over,’” said feminist leader Crystal Eastman after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. “But women, if I know them, are saying, ‘now at last we can begin.’”","description":"Women's suffrage was a controversial subject as women's roles developed in society. By the time the twentieth century arrived, American feminists had been seeking the right to vote for more than 50 years. The suffrage movement was fanned even hotter in 1869, when African American males were given the right to vote through the Sixteenth Amendment, while women of all races were still excluded.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_291315\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"15924\"]<img class=\"wp-image-291315 size-full\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/library-of-congress-IEj4pcYrsHA-unsplash.jpg\" alt=\"Women suffragettes\" width=\"15924\" height=\"10494\" /> 14-yr. old striker, Fola La Follette, and Rose Livingston. Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash.[/caption]\r\n\r\nOne place where women were increasingly included was in the workplace. As the country shifted away from a rural, agrarian society to an industrial, urban one, more and more women had jobs — eight million by 1910. Moreover, they were getting better jobs. In 1870, 60 percent of working women were in domestic service.\r\n\r\nBy 1920, it was only 20 percent, and women made up 13 percent of the professional ranks. Women were getting out of the house for more than just jobs, too. In 1892, membership in women’s clubs was about 100,000. By 1917, it was more than one million. And women’s increasing independence was reflected in the fact that the divorce rate rose from 1 in every 21 marriages in 1880 to 1 in 9 by 1916.\r\n\r\nBecause women had always had nontraditional roles in the West, it wasn’t surprising that Western states and territories were the first to give females the right to vote: Wyoming in 1869, Utah in 1870, Washington in 1883, Colorado in 1893, and Idaho in 1896. By 1914, all the Western states except New Mexico had extended the voting franchise to women.\r\n\r\nBy 1917, the suffrage movement was building momentum. In July of that year, a score of suffragists tried to storm the White House. They were arrested and taken to the county workhouse. President Woodrow Wilson was not amused, but sympathetic, and pardoned them. The next year, a constitutional amendment — the Nineteenth — was submitted to the states. When ratified in 1920, it gave women the right to vote in every state.\r\n\r\nDespite the significance of the Nineteenth Amendment, many leaders of the women’s movement recognized that the vote alone wouldn’t give women equal standing with men when it came to educational, economic, or legal rights.\r\n\r\n“Men are saying, perhaps, ‘thank God this everlasting women’s fight is over,’” said feminist leader Crystal Eastman after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. “But women, if I know them, are saying, ‘now at last we can begin.’”","blurb":"","authors":[],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":33672,"title":"American History","slug":"american","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":288783,"title":"First Ladies For Dummies Cheat Sheet","slug":"50-key-dates-in-us-first-lady-history","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/288783"}},{"articleId":269903,"title":"Performing Many Roles: The President’s Duties in Modern Times","slug":"performing-many-roles-the-presidents-duties-in-modern-times","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269903"}},{"articleId":269900,"title":"President Donald Trump: Controversies at Home and 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These events mark the unique and continuing evolution of the office of First Lady and the first ladies themselves.","description":"This cheat sheet focuses on 50 key dates in the history of first ladies of the United States. These events mark the unique and continuing evolution of the office of First Lady and the first ladies themselves.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9725,"name":"Marcus A. Stadelmann","slug":"marcus-stadelmann","description":"Marcus A. Stadelmann, PhD, is a professor of political science and chair of the Department of Political Science and History at the University of Texas at Tyler. Along with teaching at universities in California, Utah, and Texas, Dr. Stadelmann has published and given presentations in the fields of American politics and international relations.","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9725"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":33672,"title":"American History","slug":"american","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":269903,"title":"Performing Many Roles: The President’s Duties in Modern Times","slug":"performing-many-roles-the-presidents-duties-in-modern-times","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269903"}},{"articleId":269900,"title":"President Donald Trump: Controversies at Home and Abroad","slug":"president-donald-trump-controversies-at-home-and-abroad","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269900"}},{"articleId":269894,"title":"Scandals: Defining Donald Trump’s Presidency","slug":"scandals-defining-donald-trumps-presidency","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269894"}},{"articleId":269891,"title":"The 10 Worst Presidents","slug":"the-10-worst-presidents","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269891"}},{"articleId":269885,"title":"The 10 Best Presidents","slug":"the-10-best-presidents","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269885"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":288806,"slug":"first-ladies-for-dummies","isbn":"9781119822196","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/111982219X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/111982219X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/111982219X-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/111982219X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/111982219X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/first-ladies-for-dummies-cover-9781119822196-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"First Ladies For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":true,"authorsInfo":"<p><p><b><b data-author-id=\"34802\">Marcus A. Stadelmann</b>, PhD,</b> is a professor of political science and chair of the Department of Political Science and History at the University of Texas at Tyler. Along with teaching at universities in California, Utah, and Texas, Dr. Stadelmann has published and given presentations in the fields of American politics and international relations.</p>","authors":[{"authorId":34802,"name":"Marcus A. Stadelmann","slug":"marcus-a-stadelmann","description":" <p><b>Marcus A. Stadelmann, PhD,</b> is a professor of political science and chair of the Department of Political Science and History at the University of Texas at Tyler. Along with teaching at universities in California, Utah, and Texas, Dr. Stadelmann has published and given presentations in the fields of American politics and international relations. ","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/34802"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[{"title":"Wonder Women","slug":"wonder-women","collectionId":291389}],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119822196&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b292fa6a\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119822196&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b293033d\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":0,"title":"","slug":null,"categoryList":[],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/"}}],"content":[{"title":"Events during the 1700s and 1800s","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p><strong>June 3, 1781</strong>: Martha Jefferson dies. She is the first First Lady to die before her husband becomes president.</p>\n<p><strong>April 30, 1789</strong>: Martha Washington becomes the first First Lady of the United States. People refer to her as Lady Washington.</p>\n<p><strong>November 1800</strong>: Abigail Adams moves into the new president’s house in Washington, D.C., which is later called the White House.</p>\n<p><strong>August 24, 1814</strong>: The British burn down the White House, after First Lady Dolley Madison was able to save many U.S. historical treasures.</p>\n<p><strong>March 4, 1817</strong>: Elizabeth Monroe becomes the only wife of a president whose father fought for the British during the Revolutionary War.</p>\n<p><strong>March 4, 1825</strong>: John Quincy Adams becomes president, making his mother, Abigail Adams, the first First Lady to be married to a president and to be the mother of a president.</p>\n<p><strong>March 4, 1825</strong>: Louisa Adams becomes the first wife of a president to be born in a foreign country. She was born in Great Britain to an American father.</p>\n<p><strong>March 4, 1837</strong>: Martin Van Buren becomes president of the United States. His wife, Hannah, who had passed in 1819, is the only First Lady married to her first cousin, good old Martin.</p>\n<p><strong>September 10, 1842</strong>: Letitia Tyler becomes the first wife of a president to die in the White House.</p>\n<p><strong>June 26, 1844</strong>: Julia Tyler becomes the first woman to marry a sitting president. She is also the first wife of a sitting president to be photographed.</p>\n<p><strong>March 4, 1845</strong>: Anna Harrison becomes the first and only First Lady to be a wife to a president and the grandmother of a president.</p>\n<p><strong>1849</strong>: President Zachary Taylor coins the term <em>First Lady</em> in a eulogy given for Dolley Madison at her state funeral.</p>\n<p><strong>July 9, 1850</strong>: Abigail Fillmore becomes the first wife of a president to work and have a salary. She was a school teacher. She also establishes the first library in the White House.</p>\n<p><strong>March 4, 1857</strong>: Harriet Lane becomes the first niece of a president to become First Lady. Her uncle President James Buchanan had been a bachelor all his life.</p>\n<p><strong>April 14, 1865</strong>: Mary Todd Lincoln becomes the first First Lady whose husband, Abraham Lincoln, is assassinated.</p>\n<p><strong>March 5, 1877</strong>: Lucy Hayes becomes the first wife of a president to have a college degree.</p>\n<p><strong>1886</strong>: Martha Washington becomes the first and only woman to be featured on the one dollar bill.</p>\n<p><strong>June 2, 1886</strong>: Frances Cleveland marries President Grover Cleveland who is 27 years her senior. She is the first wife of a president to get married in the White House, to give birth in the White House, and to remarry after her husband dies.</p>\n<p><strong>March 4, 1889</strong>: Caroline Harrison becomes First Lady and introduces the tradition of having a Christmas tree in the White House.</p>\n<p><strong>October 3, 1891</strong>: Frances Cleveland gives birth to a daughter and becomes the only First Lady to have a candy bar named in the honor of daughter Ruth (Baby Ruth).</p>\n<p><strong>1890s</strong>: Julia Grant becomes the first wife of a president to write her memoirs. They are finally published in 1975.</p>\n"},{"title":"Events during the 1900s","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p><strong>March 4, 1909</strong>: Helen Taft becomes the first wife of a president to own and drive a car.</p>\n<p><strong>March 4, 1913</strong>: Ellen Wilson is the only professional artist to become a First Lady.</p>\n<p><strong>1914</strong>: Helen Taft becomes the first former First Lady to write and publish her memoirs, <em>Recollections of Full Years.</em></p>\n<p><strong>1919</strong>: Edith Wilson is the only First Lady to run the White House during her husband’s illness. She was also a direct descendant of Pocahontas and is the first wife of a president to receive Secret Service protection.</p>\n<p><strong>November 2, 1920</strong>: Florence Harding is the first wife of a president to be able to vote for her husband.</p>\n<p><strong>March 4, 1929</strong>: Lou Hoover becomes the first wife of a president to have a degree in geology from Stanford University and to be able to speak fluent Chinese.</p>\n<p><strong>January 5, 1933</strong>: Grace Coolidge becomes the first former First Lady to receive an honorary degree from an American university (University of Vermont).</p>\n<p><strong>March 4, 1933</strong>: Eleanor Roosevelt becomes the first First Lady to hold press conferences, write weekly and monthly newspaper columns, and host a radio show.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 1941</strong>: Eleanor Roosevelt becomes the first and only wife of a president to serve for more than eight years. She ended up being First Lady for 12 years.</p>\n<p><strong>1945:</strong> Bess Truman becomes First Lady of the United States. She held one press conference, hated it, and never had another one.</p>\n<p><strong>1951</strong>: Jaqueline Kennedy interviews her future husband and future president, John F. Kennedy. They got married in 1953.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 1953</strong>: Mamie Eisenhower becomes First Lady of the United States. Besides loving the color pink, she is the first wife of a president to not only appear on television but to also actually be in a presidential campaign ad.</p>\n<p><strong>1962</strong>: Jaqueline Kennedy becomes the only First Lady to win an Emmy award for her television special on the renovated White House.</p>\n<p><strong>1963</strong>: Lady Bird Johnson becomes the first wife of a president who already is a millionaire before becoming First Lady. She owned a media empire in the Austin, Texas, area.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 1969</strong>: Pat Nixon becomes the first wife of a president with a graduate degree, and she also was the first to wear pants in public as First Lady.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 1977</strong>: Rosalynn Carter becomes First Lady. She establishes her own workspace in the East Wing of the White House, which today is called the Office of the First Lady.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 1981</strong>: Nancy Reagan becomes the first actress to become First Lady.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 1989</strong>: Barbara Bush becomes the only First Lady to write a bestseller from the point of her dog. It is called <em>Millie’s Book as dictated to Barbara Bush.</em></p>\n"},{"title":"Events during the 2000s","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p><strong>November 2000</strong>: Hillary Clinton becomes the first former First Lady to be elected to public office when she is elected U.S. Senator from the State of New York.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 2001</strong>: Laura Bush becomes the only First Lady who had twins.</p>\n<p><strong>November 17, 2001</strong>: Laura Bush becomes the first wife of a president to substitute for her husband in the weekly presidential radio address.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 2001</strong>: Barbara Bush becomes the second First Lady whose husband and son were presidents of the United States.</p>\n<p><strong>January 2009</strong>: Hillary Clinton becomes the first former First Lady to become Secretary of State. She held the position until 2013.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 2009</strong>: Michelle Obama becomes the first African American First Lady.</p>\n<p><strong>2016</strong>: Hillary Clinton becomes the first wife of a president to be nominated by a major political party to be its presidential candidate. She loses a close election to Republican Donald Trump.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 2017</strong>: Melania Trump becomes the second foreign-born First Lady. She was born in Slovenia, back then a part of the former Yugoslavia.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 2017</strong>: Melania Trump becomes the first naturalized citizen to become First Lady.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 2021</strong>: Jill Biden becomes the first wife of a president to have a doctorate.</p>\n<p><strong>January 20, 2021</strong>: Jill Biden becomes the oldest First Lady to date at the age of 69.</p>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"sponsorAd":"","sponsorEbookTitle":"","sponsorEbookLink":"","sponsorEbookImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Explore","lifeExpectancy":"Two years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2021-10-08T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":288783},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2016-03-26T22:56:03+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-03-07T17:14:39+00:00","timestamp":"2022-09-14T18:19:21+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33662"},"slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33670"},"slug":"history","categoryId":33670},{"name":"American History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"},"slug":"american","categoryId":33672}],"title":"Facing Racism and Sexism: Black Women in America","strippedTitle":"facing racism and sexism: black women in america","slug":"facing-racism-and-sexism-black-women-in-america","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Black women in America face the dual struggles of racism and sexism. Learn about the organizations they started to aid in their fight for equality.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, black women were in a difficult position. Between the civil rights and feminist movements, where did they fit in? They had been the backbone of the civil rights movement, but their contributions were deemphasized as black men — often emasculated by white society — felt compelled to adopt patriarchal roles.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_291293\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"860\"]<img class=\"wp-image-291293 size-large\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/unseen-histories-U2F-bYmuEqU-unsplash-860x586.jpg\" alt=\"Civil rights Black women protesting\" width=\"860\" height=\"586\" /> Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhen black women flocked to the feminist movement, white women discriminated against them and devoted little attention to class issues that seriously affected black women, who tended to also be poor.\r\n<p class=\"Remember\">Historically, black women have chosen race over gender concerns, a choice that was especially poignant during Reconstruction when African American female leaders, such as Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, supported the Fifteenth Amendment giving black men the right to vote over the objections of white women suffragists.</p>\r\nBlack women have a long feminist tradition dating back to 19th-century activists such as Maria W. Stewart and Sojourner Truth as well as organizations like the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) and the National Council of Negro Women, founded in 1896 and 1935, respectively. Events of the 1960s and 1970s, not to mention black men's changing attitudes regarding the role of black women, focused awareness around new concerns such as race, gender, and class, and several organizations attempted to address these issues:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>The ANC (Aid to Needy Children) Mothers Anonymous of Watts and the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO): </b>Johnnie Tillmon was an early pioneer of addressing the concerns of poor black women. A welfare mother living in Los Angeles's Nickerson Projects, Tillmon helped found ANC (Aid to Needy Children) Mothers Anonymous of Watts in 1963. She was later tapped to lead the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), founded in 1966. Through these organizations, Tillmon addressed such issues as equal pay for women, child care, and voter registration.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>Black Women's Liberation Committee (BWLC): </b>Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) member Francis Beal was one of the founders of the Black Women's Liberation Committee (BWLC) in 1968. In 1969, Beal helped clarify the struggles of black women in the influential essay \"Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female\" that also appeared in the landmark 1970 anthology <i>The Black Woman, </i>which ushered in a new wave of black female writers. Beal identified capitalism as a key factor in the chasm between black men and women. During the early 1970s, the BWLC evolved into the Third World Women's Alliance.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>National Organization for Women (NOW): </b>Reverend Dr. Anna Pauline (Pauli) Murray is a cofounder of the nation's most prominent feminist organization, the National Organization for Women (NOW), founded in 1966.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>The National Black Feminist Organization: </b>While many black women remain active in mainstream feminist organizations only, other black women have created organizations aimed at addressing black women's unique concerns more effectively. The National Black Feminist Organization launched in 1973 with the specific goal of including black women of all ages, classes, and sexual orientation. Although it and similar organizations didn't outlive the 1970s, the legacy of black feminism lives on.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nIn 1983, Alice Walker coined the term <i>womanism, </i>a feminist ideology that addresses the black woman's unique history of racial and gender oppression. Women such as Angela Davis; law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw; academics Patricia Hill Collins, Beverly Guy Sheftall, and Bell Hooks; and historians Darlene Clark Hine, Paula Giddings, and Deborah Gray White have greatly expanded the context in which black women and their history and activism are discussed by underscoring black women's issues related to race, gender, and class.","description":"From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, black women were in a difficult position. Between the civil rights and feminist movements, where did they fit in? They had been the backbone of the civil rights movement, but their contributions were deemphasized as black men — often emasculated by white society — felt compelled to adopt patriarchal roles.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_291293\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"860\"]<img class=\"wp-image-291293 size-large\" src=\"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/unseen-histories-U2F-bYmuEqU-unsplash-860x586.jpg\" alt=\"Civil rights Black women protesting\" width=\"860\" height=\"586\" /> Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhen black women flocked to the feminist movement, white women discriminated against them and devoted little attention to class issues that seriously affected black women, who tended to also be poor.\r\n<p class=\"Remember\">Historically, black women have chosen race over gender concerns, a choice that was especially poignant during Reconstruction when African American female leaders, such as Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, supported the Fifteenth Amendment giving black men the right to vote over the objections of white women suffragists.</p>\r\nBlack women have a long feminist tradition dating back to 19th-century activists such as Maria W. Stewart and Sojourner Truth as well as organizations like the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) and the National Council of Negro Women, founded in 1896 and 1935, respectively. Events of the 1960s and 1970s, not to mention black men's changing attitudes regarding the role of black women, focused awareness around new concerns such as race, gender, and class, and several organizations attempted to address these issues:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>The ANC (Aid to Needy Children) Mothers Anonymous of Watts and the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO): </b>Johnnie Tillmon was an early pioneer of addressing the concerns of poor black women. A welfare mother living in Los Angeles's Nickerson Projects, Tillmon helped found ANC (Aid to Needy Children) Mothers Anonymous of Watts in 1963. She was later tapped to lead the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), founded in 1966. Through these organizations, Tillmon addressed such issues as equal pay for women, child care, and voter registration.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>Black Women's Liberation Committee (BWLC): </b>Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) member Francis Beal was one of the founders of the Black Women's Liberation Committee (BWLC) in 1968. In 1969, Beal helped clarify the struggles of black women in the influential essay \"Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female\" that also appeared in the landmark 1970 anthology <i>The Black Woman, </i>which ushered in a new wave of black female writers. Beal identified capitalism as a key factor in the chasm between black men and women. During the early 1970s, the BWLC evolved into the Third World Women's Alliance.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>National Organization for Women (NOW): </b>Reverend Dr. Anna Pauline (Pauli) Murray is a cofounder of the nation's most prominent feminist organization, the National Organization for Women (NOW), founded in 1966.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><b>The National Black Feminist Organization: </b>While many black women remain active in mainstream feminist organizations only, other black women have created organizations aimed at addressing black women's unique concerns more effectively. The National Black Feminist Organization launched in 1973 with the specific goal of including black women of all ages, classes, and sexual orientation. Although it and similar organizations didn't outlive the 1970s, the legacy of black feminism lives on.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nIn 1983, Alice Walker coined the term <i>womanism, </i>a feminist ideology that addresses the black woman's unique history of racial and gender oppression. Women such as Angela Davis; law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw; academics Patricia Hill Collins, Beverly Guy Sheftall, and Bell Hooks; and historians Darlene Clark Hine, Paula Giddings, and Deborah Gray White have greatly expanded the context in which black women and their history and activism are discussed by underscoring black women's issues related to race, gender, and class.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":10229,"name":"Ronda Racha Penrice","slug":"ronda-racha-penrice","description":" <p><b>Ronda Racha Penrice</b> attended the M.A. program in Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. A veteran freelance writer, the Columbia University alum has covered Black history and culture for publications including <i>Zora, Essence</i>, the <i>Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ebony, theGrio, The Root</i>, and <i>NBC THINK</i>.</p> ","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10229"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":33672,"title":"American History","slug":"american","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":285269,"title":"Black American History For Dummies Cheat Sheet","slug":"black-american-history-for-dummies-cheat-sheet","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","black-american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/285269"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":288783,"title":"First Ladies For Dummies Cheat Sheet","slug":"50-key-dates-in-us-first-lady-history","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/288783"}},{"articleId":269903,"title":"Performing Many Roles: The President’s Duties in Modern Times","slug":"performing-many-roles-the-presidents-duties-in-modern-times","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269903"}},{"articleId":269900,"title":"President Donald Trump: Controversies at Home and Abroad","slug":"president-donald-trump-controversies-at-home-and-abroad","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269900"}},{"articleId":269894,"title":"Scandals: Defining Donald Trump’s Presidency","slug":"scandals-defining-donald-trumps-presidency","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269894"}},{"articleId":269891,"title":"The 10 Worst Presidents","slug":"the-10-worst-presidents","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269891"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":284350,"slug":"black-american-history-for-dummies","isbn":"9781119780854","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119780853/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1119780853/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1119780853-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1119780853/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1119780853/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/black-american-history-for-dummies-cover-9781119780854-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"Black American History For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":true,"authorsInfo":"<p><b><b data-author-id=\"10229\">Ronda Racha Penrice</b></b> attended the M.A. program in Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. A veteran freelance writer, the Columbia University alum has covered Black history and culture for publications including <i>Zora, Essence</i>, the <i>Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ebony, theGrio, The Root</i>, and <i>NBC THINK</i>.</p>","authors":[{"authorId":10229,"name":"Ronda Racha Penrice","slug":"ronda-racha-penrice","description":" <p><b>Ronda Racha Penrice</b> attended the M.A. program in Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. A veteran freelance writer, the Columbia University alum has covered Black history and culture for publications including <i>Zora, Essence</i>, the <i>Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ebony, theGrio, The Root</i>, and <i>NBC THINK</i>.</p> ","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10229"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[{"title":"Wonder Women","slug":"wonder-women","collectionId":291389}],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119780854&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b2927a14\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119780854&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b2928499\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Articles","articleList":null,"content":null,"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"sponsorAd":"","sponsorEbookTitle":"","sponsorEbookLink":"","sponsorEbookImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Explore","lifeExpectancy":"Five years","lifeExpectancySetFrom":"2022-03-04T00:00:00+00:00","dummiesForKids":"no","sponsoredContent":"no","adInfo":"","adPairKey":[]},"status":"publish","visibility":"public","articleId":201339},{"headers":{"creationTime":"2019-11-19T03:37:52+00:00","modifiedTime":"2022-03-07T17:09:32+00:00","timestamp":"2022-09-14T18:19:21+00:00"},"data":{"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Academics & The Arts","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33662"},"slug":"academics-the-arts","categoryId":33662},{"name":"History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33670"},"slug":"history","categoryId":33670},{"name":"American History","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"},"slug":"american","categoryId":33672}],"title":"Women in the American Revolution","strippedTitle":"women in the american revolution","slug":"women-in-the-american-revolution","canonicalUrl":"","seo":{"metaDescription":"Learn about the role that women played in the American Revolution by working at home for the cause as well as near the battle front.","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"It is an inescapable fact that there were no “Founding Mothers,” at least not in the sense the term \"Founding Fathers” is used to describe the male leaders of the <a href=\"https://www.dummies.com/education/history/american-history/american-revolution-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Revolution</a>. No women served in Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence, or helped draft the Articles of Confederation or US Constitution.\r\n\r\nWhile specifics varied from state to state and sometimes from community to community, women during this period generally had little legal standing. So tiny was their role in politics that even to suggest having a larger one was a subject of great humor — at least to men.\r\n\r\nWhen Abagail Adams wrote her husband John in 1776 to “remember the ladies” while drafting the fledgling country’s new government, he replied, “I cannot help but laugh. . . . Depend upon it. We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems.”\r\n\r\nTo a colleague, however, John took a more serious, if just as chauvinistic, tone. Extending the right to vote too widely under the new government would open a Pandora’s box of universal demands: “There will be no End to It. New Claims will arise. Women will demand a Vote.”\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >American revolutionary women labored on the home front</h2>\r\nWomen could and did enter the political arena by writing letters, circulars, and tracts and helping to operate lines of communication and information. And as in all great wars, it fell to women to do everything but fight to keep things going. When Americans quit buying machine-made cloth from England, for example, American women had to make it by hand.\r\n\r\n“I rise with the sun and all through the long day I have no time for aught but my work,” wrote a Connecticut farmer’s wife whose husband was off to the war. Even during family prayer time, she admitted, her mind was on “whether Polly remembered to set the sponge for the bread, or put water in the leach tub or to turn the cloth in the dyeing vat. . .”\r\n<p class=\"article-tips remember\">Less specific but more important, women were expected, at least in Patriot families, to infuse the children with the spirit of representative democracy and the value of individual liberty. It was a task that historian Linda Kerber labeled “republican motherhood,” and political leaders urged Revolutionary-era men to remind their spouses of its importance. “Let their husbands point out the necessity of such conduct,” wrote Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina, “that it is the only thing that can save them and their children from distresses, slavery and disgrace…”.</p>\r\nIn addition to bearing the brunt of wartime shortages and other hardships, it also fell to women to bear the losses of men who would not come home from the fighting, as well as steeling themselves to send off their husbands and sons to war — or going themselves.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab2\" >Women near the battle front in the American Revolution</h2>\r\nA widowed Irish immigrant in South Carolina, Elizabeth Jackson lost two of her three sons to the war. She nonetheless volunteered to act as a nurse for wounded Americans held on British prison ships in Charleston Harbor. After contracting cholera, she summoned her remaining 15-year-old son, who had been fighting the British since he was 12 and bore the slash marks of a British officer’s sword to prove it. “Avoid quarrels if you can,” Andrew Jackson recalled his mother telling him before she died, “ . . . (but) if you ever have to vindicate your honor, do it calmly.”\r\n\r\nWomen often served as nurses, cooks, seamstresses, and laundresses to the various militias and Continental Army. General Washington wasn’t keen on the practice, since the women had to be fed precious rations. And, try as he might with repeated orders to the contrary, they often hitched rides in supply wagons, thus slowing things down. But since his own wife Martha often traveled with him, Washington did not order his commanders to ban women entirely from the army camps.\r\n\r\nIf they didn’t tag along with their husbands, sons, and brothers, women might make uniforms, gather food, or perform other tasks for the troops. One group of three dozen Philadelphia residents were so persistent in raising funds for the army, a Loyalist complained “people were obliged to give them something to get rid of them.” They ultimately raised the staggering modern-day equivalent of $300,000.\r\n\r\n“Necessity,” a Revolutionary War woman recalled in 1810, “taught us to make exertions which our girls of the present day know nothing of.”","description":"It is an inescapable fact that there were no “Founding Mothers,” at least not in the sense the term \"Founding Fathers” is used to describe the male leaders of the <a href=\"https://www.dummies.com/education/history/american-history/american-revolution-for-dummies-cheat-sheet/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Revolution</a>. No women served in Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence, or helped draft the Articles of Confederation or US Constitution.\r\n\r\nWhile specifics varied from state to state and sometimes from community to community, women during this period generally had little legal standing. So tiny was their role in politics that even to suggest having a larger one was a subject of great humor — at least to men.\r\n\r\nWhen Abagail Adams wrote her husband John in 1776 to “remember the ladies” while drafting the fledgling country’s new government, he replied, “I cannot help but laugh. . . . Depend upon it. We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems.”\r\n\r\nTo a colleague, however, John took a more serious, if just as chauvinistic, tone. Extending the right to vote too widely under the new government would open a Pandora’s box of universal demands: “There will be no End to It. New Claims will arise. Women will demand a Vote.”\r\n<h2 id=\"tab1\" >American revolutionary women labored on the home front</h2>\r\nWomen could and did enter the political arena by writing letters, circulars, and tracts and helping to operate lines of communication and information. And as in all great wars, it fell to women to do everything but fight to keep things going. When Americans quit buying machine-made cloth from England, for example, American women had to make it by hand.\r\n\r\n“I rise with the sun and all through the long day I have no time for aught but my work,” wrote a Connecticut farmer’s wife whose husband was off to the war. Even during family prayer time, she admitted, her mind was on “whether Polly remembered to set the sponge for the bread, or put water in the leach tub or to turn the cloth in the dyeing vat. . .”\r\n<p class=\"article-tips remember\">Less specific but more important, women were expected, at least in Patriot families, to infuse the children with the spirit of representative democracy and the value of individual liberty. It was a task that historian Linda Kerber labeled “republican motherhood,” and political leaders urged Revolutionary-era men to remind their spouses of its importance. “Let their husbands point out the necessity of such conduct,” wrote Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina, “that it is the only thing that can save them and their children from distresses, slavery and disgrace…”.</p>\r\nIn addition to bearing the brunt of wartime shortages and other hardships, it also fell to women to bear the losses of men who would not come home from the fighting, as well as steeling themselves to send off their husbands and sons to war — or going themselves.\r\n<h2 id=\"tab2\" >Women near the battle front in the American Revolution</h2>\r\nA widowed Irish immigrant in South Carolina, Elizabeth Jackson lost two of her three sons to the war. She nonetheless volunteered to act as a nurse for wounded Americans held on British prison ships in Charleston Harbor. After contracting cholera, she summoned her remaining 15-year-old son, who had been fighting the British since he was 12 and bore the slash marks of a British officer’s sword to prove it. “Avoid quarrels if you can,” Andrew Jackson recalled his mother telling him before she died, “ . . . (but) if you ever have to vindicate your honor, do it calmly.”\r\n\r\nWomen often served as nurses, cooks, seamstresses, and laundresses to the various militias and Continental Army. General Washington wasn’t keen on the practice, since the women had to be fed precious rations. And, try as he might with repeated orders to the contrary, they often hitched rides in supply wagons, thus slowing things down. But since his own wife Martha often traveled with him, Washington did not order his commanders to ban women entirely from the army camps.\r\n\r\nIf they didn’t tag along with their husbands, sons, and brothers, women might make uniforms, gather food, or perform other tasks for the troops. One group of three dozen Philadelphia residents were so persistent in raising funds for the army, a Loyalist complained “people were obliged to give them something to get rid of them.” They ultimately raised the staggering modern-day equivalent of $300,000.\r\n\r\n“Necessity,” a Revolutionary War woman recalled in 1810, “taught us to make exertions which our girls of the present day know nothing of.”","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9116,"name":"Steve Wiegand","slug":"steve-wiegand","description":" <p><b>Steve Wiegand</b> is an award&#45;winning political journalist and history writer. Over a 35&#45;year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the <i>San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle</i>, and <i>Sacramento Bee</i>. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history. ","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/9116"}}],"primaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":33672,"title":"American History","slug":"american","_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/categories/33672"}},"secondaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"tertiaryCategoryTaxonomy":{"categoryId":0,"title":null,"slug":null,"_links":null},"trendingArticles":null,"inThisArticle":[{"label":"American revolutionary women labored on the home front","target":"#tab1"},{"label":"Women near the battle front in the American Revolution","target":"#tab2"}],"relatedArticles":{"fromBook":[{"articleId":265926,"title":"Native Americans in the Revolutionary War","slug":"native-americans-in-the-revolutionary-war","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/265926"}},{"articleId":265923,"title":"Slavery and the American Revolution","slug":"slavery-and-the-american-revolution","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/265923"}},{"articleId":265917,"title":"The Impact of the American Revolution on the Home Front","slug":"the-impact-of-the-american-revolution-on-the-home-front","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/265917"}},{"articleId":265911,"title":"The Lack of Unity in Early American Colonies","slug":"the-lack-of-unity-in-early-american-colonies","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/265911"}},{"articleId":265905,"title":"American History: The Plymouth Colony","slug":"american-history-the-plymouth-colony","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/265905"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":288783,"title":"First Ladies For Dummies Cheat Sheet","slug":"50-key-dates-in-us-first-lady-history","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/288783"}},{"articleId":269903,"title":"Performing Many Roles: The President’s Duties in Modern Times","slug":"performing-many-roles-the-presidents-duties-in-modern-times","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269903"}},{"articleId":269900,"title":"President Donald Trump: Controversies at Home and Abroad","slug":"president-donald-trump-controversies-at-home-and-abroad","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269900"}},{"articleId":269894,"title":"Scandals: Defining Donald Trump’s Presidency","slug":"scandals-defining-donald-trumps-presidency","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269894"}},{"articleId":269891,"title":"The 10 Worst Presidents","slug":"the-10-worst-presidents","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269891"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":281944,"slug":"american-revolution-for-dummies","isbn":"9781119593492","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119593492/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1119593492/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1119593492-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1119593492/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1119593492/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/american-revolution-for-dummies-cover-9781119593492-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"American Revolution For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":true,"authorsInfo":"<p><p><b><b data-author-id=\"9116\">Steve Wiegand</b></b> is an award&#45;winning political journalist and history writer. Over a 35&#45;year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the <i>San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle</i>, and <i>Sacramento Bee</i>. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history.</p>","authors":[{"authorId":9116,"name":"Steve Wiegand","slug":"steve-wiegand","description":" <p><b>Steve Wiegand</b> is an award&#45;winning political journalist and history writer. Over a 35&#45;year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the <i>San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle</i>, and <i>Sacramento Bee</i>. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history. 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A timeline of significant events in the life of the United States of America st","noIndex":0,"noFollow":0},"content":"US history is as complex and fascinating as the people who populate the country. A timeline of significant events in the life of the United States of America starts with hunters crossing the Bering Strait, through the fight for independence, and to the election of 44 men to serve as president. The election of the 43rd, Barack Obama, is of historical significance in itself as he was the first African American president.","description":"US history is as complex and fascinating as the people who populate the country. A timeline of significant events in the life of the United States of America starts with hunters crossing the Bering Strait, through the fight for independence, and to the election of 44 men to serve as president. The election of the 43rd, Barack Obama, is of historical significance in itself as he was the first African American president.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":9116,"name":"Steve Wiegand","slug":"steve-wiegand","description":" <p><b>Steve Wiegand</b> is an award&#45;winning political journalist and history writer. Over a 35&#45;year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the <i>San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle</i>, and <i>Sacramento Bee</i>. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history. 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Over a 35-year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the <i>San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle</i>, and <i>Sacramento Bee</i>. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history. </p>","authors":[{"authorId":9116,"name":"Steve Wiegand","slug":"steve-wiegand","description":" <p><b>Steve Wiegand</b> is an award&#45;winning political journalist and history writer. Over a 35&#45;year career, he worked as a reporter and columnist at the <i>San Diego Evening Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle</i>, and <i>Sacramento Bee</i>. He is the author or coauthor of seven books dealing with various aspects of U.S. and world history. 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The first ten amendments were ratified just four years after the Constitution itself and are known as the Bill of Rights.","description":"The US Constitution was written and signed by men who craved independence from Britain but who were nonetheless steeped in its history and ideals.\r\n\r\nThe document starts with some basic precepts of English governance, but then adds some uniquely American twists — three branches of government that act to check and balance each other, for example.\r\n\r\nAlthough much thought went into the Constitution, the framers left it open to amendment. The first ten amendments were ratified just four years after the Constitution itself and are known as the Bill of Rights.","blurb":"","authors":[{"authorId":10206,"name":"Michael Arnheim","slug":"michael-arnheim","description":" <p>As a lawyer who consults with various U.S. firms on constitutional issues and as author of a text on British constitutional law, <b>Dr. Michael Arnheim</b> is uniquely qualified to present an unbiased view of the U.S. Constitution, what it says, what it means, and how it&#39;s been interpreted in a variety of situations. 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California (2014)","slug":"riley-v-california-2014","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/254942"}},{"articleId":254939,"title":"Glossip v. Gross (2015)","slug":"glossip-v-gross-2015","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/254939"}},{"articleId":254936,"title":"Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)","slug":"obergefell-v-hodges-2015","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/254936"}}],"fromCategory":[{"articleId":288783,"title":"First Ladies For Dummies Cheat Sheet","slug":"50-key-dates-in-us-first-lady-history","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/288783"}},{"articleId":269903,"title":"Performing Many Roles: The President’s Duties in Modern Times","slug":"performing-many-roles-the-presidents-duties-in-modern-times","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269903"}},{"articleId":269900,"title":"President Donald Trump: Controversies at Home and Abroad","slug":"president-donald-trump-controversies-at-home-and-abroad","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269900"}},{"articleId":269894,"title":"Scandals: Defining Donald Trump’s Presidency","slug":"scandals-defining-donald-trumps-presidency","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269894"}},{"articleId":269891,"title":"The 10 Worst Presidents","slug":"the-10-worst-presidents","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/269891"}}]},"hasRelatedBookFromSearch":false,"relatedBook":{"bookId":282645,"slug":"u-s-constitution-for-dummies-2nd-edition","isbn":"9781119387299","categoryList":["academics-the-arts","history","american"],"amazon":{"default":"https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119387299/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","ca":"https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/1119387299/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","indigo_ca":"http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-9208661-13710633?url=https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/product/1119387299-item.html&cjsku=978111945484","gb":"https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1119387299/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20","de":"https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1119387299/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wiley01-20"},"image":{"src":"https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/u.s.-constitution-for-dummies-2nd-edition-cover-9781119387299-203x255.jpg","width":203,"height":255},"title":"U.S. Constitution For Dummies","testBankPinActivationLink":"","bookOutOfPrint":false,"authorsInfo":"<p>As a lawyer who consults with various U.S. firms on constitutional issues and as author of a text on British constitutional law, <b data-author-id=\"10206\">Dr. Michael Arnheim</b> is uniquely qualified to present an unbiased view of the U.S. Constitution, what it says, what it means, and how it's been interpreted in a variety of situations. </p>","authors":[{"authorId":10206,"name":"Michael Arnheim","slug":"michael-arnheim","description":" <p>As a lawyer who consults with various U.S. firms on constitutional issues and as author of a text on British constitutional law, <b>Dr. Michael Arnheim</b> is uniquely qualified to present an unbiased view of the U.S. Constitution, what it says, what it means, and how it&#39;s been interpreted in a variety of situations. ","hasArticle":false,"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/authors/10206"}}],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/books/"}},"collections":[],"articleAds":{"footerAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_adhesion_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119387299&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b1835c9c\"></div></div>","rightAd":"<div class=\"du-ad-region row\" id=\"article_page_right_ad\"><div class=\"du-ad-unit col-md-12\" data-slot-id=\"article_page_right_ad\" data-refreshed=\"false\" \r\n data-target = \"[{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;cat&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;academics-the-arts&quot;,&quot;history&quot;,&quot;american&quot;]},{&quot;key&quot;:&quot;isbn&quot;,&quot;values&quot;:[&quot;9781119387299&quot;]}]\" id=\"du-slot-63221b183665f\"></div></div>"},"articleType":{"articleType":"Cheat Sheet","articleList":[{"articleId":193931,"title":"The U.S. Constitution and the Establishment of Government","slug":"the-u-s-constitution-and-the-establishment-of-government","categoryList":[],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/193931"}},{"articleId":193928,"title":"The U.S. Constitution’s First Ten Amendments: The Bill of Rights","slug":"the-u-s-constitutions-first-ten-amendments-the-bill-of-rights","categoryList":[],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/193928"}},{"articleId":193930,"title":"Who Signed the U.S. Constitution?","slug":"who-signed-the-u-s-constitution","categoryList":[],"_links":{"self":"https://dummies-api.dummies.com/v2/articles/193930"}}],"content":[{"title":"The Constitution and the establishment of government","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>The U.S. Constitution, as adopted by the Philadelphia Convention on September 17, 1787, sets out three distinct branches of national government and provides powers to each that serve as a check on the others. The following sections offer key facts about each branch.</p>\n<h2>The Executive Branch: The President</h2>\n<p>The highest elected official in the United States, the President</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Is Commander in Chief of the U.S. armed forces. However, only Congress can actually declare war.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Has the power to veto legislation passed by both houses of Congress (the House of Representatives and the Senate). Congress can override the veto only with a two-thirds majority.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\">Appoints Cabinet officers, Supreme Court justices, and many other officials — subject to confirmation by the Senate.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n<h2>The Legislative Branch: Congress</h2>\n<p>The Constitution provides for two houses of Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The population of a state determines how many people it elects to the House of Representatives. Each state elects two Senators, so the Senate offers an equal playing field for small states and large states.</p>\n<p>Congress has the power to make all federal laws, and only the House can introduce tax legislation. The Senate has the power to confirm or deny the President’s appointments to the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, and other key positions.</p>\n<h2>The Judicial Branch: The Supreme Court</h2>\n<p>Each justice is nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and has the opportunity to serve in that position for life as long as he or she demonstrates what the Constitution calls “Good Behaviour.” The Supreme Court effectively determines what the Constitution means.</p>\n"},{"title":"The first ten amendments: The Bill of Rights","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>Some of the signers of the U.S. Constitution felt the need to spell out the rights of individual citizens in contrast to the establishment of the powers of the federal government enumerated in the Constitution itself. Thus, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, called the <i>Bill of Rights,</i> were ratified as a group by December 15, 1791. They are:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Amendment I:</b> Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Amendment II:</b> A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Amendment III:</b> No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Amendment IV:</b> The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Amendment V:</b> No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Amendment VI:</b> In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Amendment VII:</b> In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Amendment VIII:</b> Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Amendment IX:</b> The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Amendment X:</b> The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"},{"title":"Who signed the US Constitution?","thumb":null,"image":null,"content":"<p>The 38 signers of the U.S. Constitution were delegates from the original states who gathered several times and in several places, first drafting the Declaration of Independence, and then, after the colonists defeated the British army and won independence, writing the U.S. Constitution. The signers of the two documents have some overlap — Benjamin Franklin signed both, but John Hancock wrote large only on the Declaration of Independence. The delegates are here grouped by the states they represented:</p>\n<ul class=\"level-one\">\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Connecticut:</b> William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Delaware:</b> George Read, Gunning Bedford Jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Georgia:</b> William Few, Abraham Baldwin</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Maryland:</b> James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Massachusetts:</b> Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>New Hampshire:</b> John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>New Jersey:</b> William Livingston, David Brearley, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>New York:</b> Alexander Hamilton</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>North Carolina:</b> William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Pennsylvania:</b> Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas FitzSimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>South Carolina:</b> John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Pierce Butler</p>\n</li>\n<li>\n<p class=\"first-para\"><b>Virginia:</b> George Washington (President and deputy), John Blair, James Madison Jr.</p>\n</li>\n</ul>\n"}],"videoInfo":{"videoId":null,"name":null,"accountId":null,"playerId":null,"thumbnailUrl":null,"description":null,"uploadDate":null}},"sponsorship":{"sponsorshipPage":false,"backgroundImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"brandingLine":"","brandingLink":"","brandingLogo":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0},"sponsorAd":"","sponsorEbookTitle":"","sponsorEbookLink":"","sponsorEbookImage":{"src":null,"width":0,"height":0}},"primaryLearningPath":"Explore","lifeExpectancy":"Five 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American History U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade

Article / Updated 06-28-2022

In a landmark decision on June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The justices ruled 6-3, eliminating a woman's constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years of that right being guaranteed. At the time the decision was announced, about half of the states in the U.S. were poised to ban or severely restrict abortion following the Supreme Court's ruling. The decision had been expected because of a leaked draft of the court's deliberations in a related case titled Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. News outlet Politico obtained the draft on May 2, 2022. The history of Roe v. Wade Roe versus Wade, better known as Roe v. Wade, is the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion within the first two months of pregnancy. Up until then, individual state laws regulated abortions, thereby forcing women to illegal clinics or untrained practitioners. The lack of proper medical supervision in these situations was dangerous for the women. The roots of this case lie in Dallas, Texas, in 1969. At the time, obtaining or attempting an abortion was illegal in Texas, except in cases where the woman could die. Twenty-one-year-old Norma McCorvey was single and pregnant. Thinking that abortions were legal in cases of rape and incest, she tried to get an abortion by falsely claiming she was raped. But because there was no police report to prove it, she sought the alternative, an illegal abortion. Once again, her efforts failed — police had shut down the illegal clinic. Norma's next step was to find a lawyer to sue for the right to get an abortion. Two young attorneys named Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, dedicated to women's advocacy, took Norma's case and dubbed their plaintiff "Jane Roe" to protect her identity. On March 3, 1970, Coffee filed a complaint, Roe v. Wade (later amended to a class-action suit), at the Dallas federal district courthouse, suing the State of Texas over the constitutionality over its abortion laws. Henry Wade was the defending district attorney. Roe won the case when the district court decided that the Texas laws were vague and infringed on the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The Ninth Amendment protects citizens' rights not listed in other parts of the Constitution, including the right to privacy. Norma's attorneys argued that this extended to a woman's right to decide to bear children or not. The Fourteenth Amendment ensures that no state can abridge a citizen's fundamental rights without due process. The case was appealed and landed in the U.S. Supreme Court. On January 22, 1973, the Court handed down its decision in favor of Roe, declaring: [The] right to privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the district court determined, in the Ninth Amendment's reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy."[ The Supreme Court ruling didn't come in time for Norma McCorvey to have an abortion. She delivered a child even before the district court ruled in her favor in 1970; that child was immediately adopted. Roe v. Wade remains as polarizing as ever. Right-to-privacy proponents, anti-abortionists, religious groups, and women's rights advocates are just some of the organizations involved in this heated socio-political issue.

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American History Roe v. Wade and other Supreme Court decisions on abortion

Article / Updated 06-28-2022

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, ending nearly 50 years of a woman's constitutional right to abortion. The decision allows individual states the ability to set their own abortion laws, banning or restricting the procedure as they see fit. The nation was expecting the landmark decision due to a leaked draft of the Supreme Court's deliberations in the related case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The leaked document, obtained by news outlet Politico on May 3, 2022, indicated the court's plans to overturn Roe v. Wade. At the time of the leak, about half of the states were poised to ban or severely restrict abortion, following the expected ruling. The history of Roe v. Wade Before the court's decision in 2022, Roe v. Wade had been the litmus test for confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court bench. No judge who came out openly against Roe v. Wade was likely to be confirmed. In the 1973 case, the Supreme Court ruled 7–2 that women have the right to an abortion, at least during the first trimester of pregnancy. The court characterized abortion as a “fundamental” constitutional right, which means that any law aiming to restrict it is subject to the standard of strict scrutiny. In Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1982), the high court modified Roe by giving the state the right to regulate an abortion, even in the first trimester, as long as that regulation doesn’t pose an “undue burden” on the woman’s fundamental right to an abortion. One such “undue burden” identified in Casey was any requirement for the woman to notify her husband. A Texas law that placed certain restrictions on abortion clinics in the state was struck down by the Supreme Court, in a 5–3 vote, as placing an “undue burden” on abortion rights in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt (2016). In Stormans Inc. v. Wiesman (2016), a five-justice majority on the court refused to hear a challenge to a Washington state law making it illegal for pharmacists to refuse to dispense contraceptive drugs. In a dissent, Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote: “This case is an ominous sign … If this is a sign of how religious liberty claims will be treated in the years ahead, those who value religious freedom have cause for great concern.”

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American History The Aftermath of the American Revolution

Article / Updated 06-23-2022

The American Revolution has had enormous effects on the development of world history since that time. We can learn a lot from exploring other events that happened following the American Revolution and from considering the reasons that this revolution, unlike many others, was a successful endeavor. It was a revolution like no other, “a revolution,” in the words of the 18th century British statesman Edmund Burke, “made not by chopping and changing of power in any of the existing states (nations), but by the appearance of a new state, of a new species, in a new part of the globe.” How big was the American Revolution? Overstating the effects of the American Revolution on world history would be difficult. It’s been estimated, for example, that more than half of the countries belonging to the United Nations in 2019 could trace their beginnings back to documents proclaiming their legitimacy as sovereign states and modeled on or inspired by America’s Declaration of Independence. In fact, it could be argued that just a single Revolutionary War battle in the fall of 1777 in eastern New York led to a French king having his head cut off; the end of the Spanish Empire in the New World; doubling the size of the United States; firmly establishing Canada as a British colony; and hastening the settlement of Australia. That may seem a bit of stretch, but consider this: In September and October 1777, American forces defeated a British army near Saratoga. The stunning victory, and surrender of the entire British force, helped convince French King Louis XVI to throw France’s formidable military behind the American cause. That contributed greatly to America’s military victory over the British in the Revolutionary War. America’s subsequent creation of a democratic republic provided a vivid example to the French of how effective an uprising against a tyrannical government might be. French revolutionaries used the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a template for drafting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen in 1789. One of the casualties in the French Revolution that followed was Louis XVI — the same monarch who had helped America win its revolution. Inspired by the U.S. and French revolutions and led by Simón Bolívar — the Venezuelan who became known as the George Washington of Latin America — much of Spain’s colonial empire in Latin America revolted in the first three decades of the 19th century. By 1830, what are now the nations of Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Peru had declared independence. In addition, the former Portuguese colony of Brazil and French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) had likewise successfully rebelled. The loss of Saint-Domingue to a rebellion led by former slave Toussaint Louverture so irritated the French dictator Napoleon that he launched a major assault to retake the island. That ended in disastrous defeat for the French. The debacle helped persuade Napoleon to forget about a French Empire in the Americas. And that decision spurred France in 1803 to sell America 828,000 square miles of what became known as the Louisiana Purchase, for $15 million (about $335 million in 2019.) That doubled the size of the United States. After the U.S. victory in the Revolutionary War, as many as 80,000 Americans who had been loyal to the British fled to Canada. That had a radical demographic effect on the sparsely populated country, most of whose non-native inhabitants up to that time were of French descent. The influx of the loyalist Americans helped solidify Britain’s cultural and political hold on Canada. Prior to the Revolutionary War, America had served as a dumping ground for Britain’s unwanted, which included a vast number of those convicted of various crimes. Faced with the post-war problem of where to send its excess convicts, Britain settled on its almost-empty colony of Australia. Between 1788 and 1868, an estimated 165,000 prisoners were transported to the Down Under continent. Sure, lots of other elements are involved in each of these events that helped bring them about and influenced their outcomes. But there is no denying the American Revolution played a significant role in all of them. What kind of revolution was it? Through most of the 20th century and into the 21st, a continual hot topic of debate among historians has been whether the American Revolution was a conservative or radical affair. The conservative-event camp argues that the real aim of the Founding Fathers was a revolution in a literal sense: a 360-degree return to the rights, liberties and economic system that America had lived under during most of the 17th and first half of the 18th centuries. That was before the British government began looking for ways to raise revenues from its American colonies and started enforcing laws that benefited the mother country at the inconvenience of the colonists. America’s leaders, the conservative-revolution camp contends, had nothing new or particularly daring in mind in terms of a new form of government. They mostly just wanted the British to stop changing things. The proof of that, the argument goes, is that even after the Constitution was written and the new government framework it contained was established, the same people were still in charge. Slavery continued; women remained legally inferior; and voting was still largely limited to adult males who owned something of value. But, the radical camp counters, the conservative revolution argument ignores the fact that an entirely new form of government resulted. The Founding Fathers came up with a fundamentally different view of the relationship between government and people. Under monarchies or autocracies, government serves the purposes of the one or the few, and operates through the labor and sacrifices of the many. In the model created by the Constitution, the government functions through the will of the people it serves, as expressed by the actions of the representatives they elect. True, the radical camp concedes, the Founding Fathers ignored or sidestepped the inherent hypocrisy of a nation founded on lofty ideals of liberty, yet allowed slavery and treated half the populace as second-class citizens. But they point out that the soundness of the governmental system the founders created has allowed it to gradually work to redress those wrongs: The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, for example, ended slavery in 1865; the 19th gave women the right to vote in 1920. These changes weren’t reliant on the desires of individual rulers or even the whims of popular opinion. They came about as the result of Americans operating under a system, which when it was created, was a radical departure from governments of the time. In the end, it may be futile to attempt to accurately categorize the American Revolution. A revolution is a massive upheaval, undertaken by a mass of human beings with different motives, aspirations — and levels of enthusiasm. For example, John Hancock was a wealthy merchant; George R.T. Hewes, a poor shoemaker. Hancock presided over the group that drafted the Declaration of Independence; Hewes helped dump tea in Boston Harbor. Neither had anything to gain directly from rebellion. But both rebelled and risked their lives in doing so. Was Hancock a conservative hoping to go back to the good old days, and Hewes a radical pining for a new way of doing things? I don’t know, and I don’t think it matters. Assigning generalized labels to their reasons may be an interesting academic exercise, but not a whole lot more. Why did the American Revolution succeed? As the citizens of scores of other countries around the world can attest, not every revolution works equally well. England underwent two revolutions in the 17th century. One resulted in the dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell; the other substituted one monarch for another. The French Revolution gave France — and the rest of the world — Napoleon. The Russian Revolution transformed the government from a corrupt and despotic regime to a corrupt and totalitarian regime. But the American Revolution, however bumpy its path, succeeded. One reason was roots. Americans mostly derived their ideas about government from Britain, whose people had long wrestled with trying to balance the authority of the state with the liberty of the individual. By the time shots were fired at Lexington, many, if not most, Americans had also enjoyed decades of representative democracy, at least at the local level. Self-government was not a new experience. And unlike many other nations, America had escaped dominance by a single religious organization or secular interest group. Then there was luck. America abounded in natural and economic resources. Life at the time of the revolution was generally pretty good in the colonies. The desperation faced by starving or war-torn nations on the verge of rebellion was absent and thus so was the desperate need to grab onto the first Cromwell or Napoleon to come along and offer a quick fix. Finally, Americans settled on three key aspects to the system that helped ensure the revolution could mature. One was the system of checks and balances among the three branches of government — what the historian Richard Hofstadter termed “a harmonious system of mutual frustration.” While the system has certainly generated its fair share of friction, it has maintained a balance the Founding Fathers sometimes feared would be unobtainable. In 1974, for example, President Richard Nixon refused to release audiotapes recorded in his office to Congress, which was considering impeachment proceedings against Nixon. Nixon based his refusal on what he claimed was a “privilege” accorded to the executive branch. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Congress. About two weeks after the court’s decision, the president resigned. The second key aspect of the America system that differentiated it from those of other revolutions was the recognition that the rights of the minority were every bit as important as the rights of the majority. As Thomas Jefferson put it in his first Inaugural Address, “Though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail . . . the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate (this) would be oppression.” Finally, there is the elasticity of the Constitution. The document’s framers recognized they weren’t perfect and were thus unlikely to create a perfect blueprint for running the country. In the 230 years between 1789 and 2019, a total of 27 amendments were added to the Constitution. They guaranteed rights, made changes in the process of government — and in the case of Prohibition, made one societal activity illegal and then legal again. What you can learn from the American Revolution One of the most rewarding things about the study of history is its reassuring reinforcement of the fact that nobody is now, or ever has been, perfect. It naturally follows that nothing any human has ever done has been perfect. That, as John Adams pointed out in answering letters from admirers in the first quarter of the 19th century, applied to both the Founding Fathers and their efforts. “I ought not to object to your reverence for (us),” he wrote one fan, “but to tell you a very great secret, as far as I am capable of comparing the merits of different periods, I have no reason to believe we were better than you are.” To another correspondent, Adams explained that “every measure of Congress from 1774 to 1787 inclusively, was disposed (of) with acrimony and decided by as small majorities as any question is decided these days . . . it was patched and piebald (irregular) then, as it is now, and ever will be, world without end.” So, one lesson to be learned from the American Revolution is that it’s unreasonable to expect the political descendants of the Founding Fathers to be any more infallible than they — or the fruits of their labors — were. Which raises a second lesson: The American Revolution wasn’t finished with the end of the war, or the adoption of the Constitution, or the peaceful shift of power from one political party to another. It has been followed by a series of mini-revolutions, additions to the country’s ever-changing menu of unresolved issues and unaddressed problems. The menu’s items have included the end of slavery; the preservation of the Union; the extension of suffrage and other rights to women; the establishment of a safety net of programs from Social Security to Medicare; the push for a color-blind justice system, and ongoing efforts to ensure that the scales of majority rule and minority rights remain in balance. And that leads to a third lesson, and one I touch on in the Introduction to this book: The American Revolution isn’t over. “On the contrary,” wrote Dr. Benjamin Rush, physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Founding Father, “nothing but the first act of the drama is closed. It remains yet to establish and perfect our new forms of government and to prepare the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens for these forms of government after they are established and brought to perfection.” Dr. Rush’s words were written in 1786. We’re still working on perfection.

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American History A Brief History of Father's Day

Article / Updated 05-04-2022

Father's Day, celebrated in the United States on the third Sunday of June, got a jump start from the formation of Mother's Day. Credit for beginning Father's Day celebrations is given to Sonora Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington. At the turn of the century, Mother's Day observances were growing across the United States. The federal government had yet to recognize the holiday, but many states had adopted the third Sunday in May as a special celebration day honoring mothers. It was during a Mother's Day church service on June 20, 1909, that Sonora Smart Dodd was struck with the idea of creating a special holiday to honor fathers, too. When Sonora was 16, her mother died while giving birth to her sixth child, the last of five sons. Back then, like today, single parenthood was no easy task. By Sonoma's account, though, Mr. Smart did a wonderful job. Because of this love and esteem, Sonoma Smart Dodd believed that her father deserved a special time of honor just like that given to mothers on Mother's Day. In 1909, Sonoma Smart Dodd approached the Spokane YMCA and the Spokane Ministerial Alliance and suggested that her father's birthday — June 5 — become a celebration day for Father's Day. Because they wanted more time to prepare, the Ministerial Alliance chose June 19 instead. The first Father's Day was thus observed in the State of Washington on June 19, 1910. The idea of officially celebrating fatherhood spread quickly across the United States, as more and more states adopted the holiday. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recognized Father's Day as the third Sunday in June of that year and encouraged states to do the same. Congress officially recognized Father's Day in 1956 with the passage of a joint resolution. Ten years later, in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation calling for the third Sunday in June to be recognized as Father's Day. In 1972, President Richard Nixon permanently established the observance of the third Sunday in June as Father's Day in the United States. Sonora Smart Dodd lived to see her idea come to fruition. She died in 1978 at the ripe old age of 96.

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American History Women's Suffrage: Fighting for the Right to Vote

Article / Updated 03-09-2022

Women's suffrage was a controversial subject as women's roles developed in society. By the time the twentieth century arrived, American feminists had been seeking the right to vote for more than 50 years. The suffrage movement was fanned even hotter in 1869, when African American males were given the right to vote through the Sixteenth Amendment, while women of all races were still excluded. One place where women were increasingly included was in the workplace. As the country shifted away from a rural, agrarian society to an industrial, urban one, more and more women had jobs — eight million by 1910. Moreover, they were getting better jobs. In 1870, 60 percent of working women were in domestic service. By 1920, it was only 20 percent, and women made up 13 percent of the professional ranks. Women were getting out of the house for more than just jobs, too. In 1892, membership in women’s clubs was about 100,000. By 1917, it was more than one million. And women’s increasing independence was reflected in the fact that the divorce rate rose from 1 in every 21 marriages in 1880 to 1 in 9 by 1916. Because women had always had nontraditional roles in the West, it wasn’t surprising that Western states and territories were the first to give females the right to vote: Wyoming in 1869, Utah in 1870, Washington in 1883, Colorado in 1893, and Idaho in 1896. By 1914, all the Western states except New Mexico had extended the voting franchise to women. By 1917, the suffrage movement was building momentum. In July of that year, a score of suffragists tried to storm the White House. They were arrested and taken to the county workhouse. President Woodrow Wilson was not amused, but sympathetic, and pardoned them. The next year, a constitutional amendment — the Nineteenth — was submitted to the states. When ratified in 1920, it gave women the right to vote in every state. Despite the significance of the Nineteenth Amendment, many leaders of the women’s movement recognized that the vote alone wouldn’t give women equal standing with men when it came to educational, economic, or legal rights. “Men are saying, perhaps, ‘thank God this everlasting women’s fight is over,’” said feminist leader Crystal Eastman after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. “But women, if I know them, are saying, ‘now at last we can begin.’”

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American History First Ladies For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-07-2022

This cheat sheet focuses on 50 key dates in the history of first ladies of the United States. These events mark the unique and continuing evolution of the office of First Lady and the first ladies themselves.

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American History Facing Racism and Sexism: Black Women in America

Article / Updated 03-07-2022

From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, black women were in a difficult position. Between the civil rights and feminist movements, where did they fit in? They had been the backbone of the civil rights movement, but their contributions were deemphasized as black men — often emasculated by white society — felt compelled to adopt patriarchal roles. When black women flocked to the feminist movement, white women discriminated against them and devoted little attention to class issues that seriously affected black women, who tended to also be poor. Historically, black women have chosen race over gender concerns, a choice that was especially poignant during Reconstruction when African American female leaders, such as Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, supported the Fifteenth Amendment giving black men the right to vote over the objections of white women suffragists. Black women have a long feminist tradition dating back to 19th-century activists such as Maria W. Stewart and Sojourner Truth as well as organizations like the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC) and the National Council of Negro Women, founded in 1896 and 1935, respectively. Events of the 1960s and 1970s, not to mention black men's changing attitudes regarding the role of black women, focused awareness around new concerns such as race, gender, and class, and several organizations attempted to address these issues: The ANC (Aid to Needy Children) Mothers Anonymous of Watts and the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO): Johnnie Tillmon was an early pioneer of addressing the concerns of poor black women. A welfare mother living in Los Angeles's Nickerson Projects, Tillmon helped found ANC (Aid to Needy Children) Mothers Anonymous of Watts in 1963. She was later tapped to lead the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO), founded in 1966. Through these organizations, Tillmon addressed such issues as equal pay for women, child care, and voter registration. Black Women's Liberation Committee (BWLC): Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) member Francis Beal was one of the founders of the Black Women's Liberation Committee (BWLC) in 1968. In 1969, Beal helped clarify the struggles of black women in the influential essay "Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female" that also appeared in the landmark 1970 anthology The Black Woman, which ushered in a new wave of black female writers. Beal identified capitalism as a key factor in the chasm between black men and women. During the early 1970s, the BWLC evolved into the Third World Women's Alliance. National Organization for Women (NOW): Reverend Dr. Anna Pauline (Pauli) Murray is a cofounder of the nation's most prominent feminist organization, the National Organization for Women (NOW), founded in 1966. The National Black Feminist Organization: While many black women remain active in mainstream feminist organizations only, other black women have created organizations aimed at addressing black women's unique concerns more effectively. The National Black Feminist Organization launched in 1973 with the specific goal of including black women of all ages, classes, and sexual orientation. Although it and similar organizations didn't outlive the 1970s, the legacy of black feminism lives on. In 1983, Alice Walker coined the term womanism, a feminist ideology that addresses the black woman's unique history of racial and gender oppression. Women such as Angela Davis; law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw; academics Patricia Hill Collins, Beverly Guy Sheftall, and Bell Hooks; and historians Darlene Clark Hine, Paula Giddings, and Deborah Gray White have greatly expanded the context in which black women and their history and activism are discussed by underscoring black women's issues related to race, gender, and class.

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American History Women in the American Revolution

Article / Updated 03-07-2022

It is an inescapable fact that there were no “Founding Mothers,” at least not in the sense the term "Founding Fathers” is used to describe the male leaders of the American Revolution. No women served in Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence, or helped draft the Articles of Confederation or US Constitution. While specifics varied from state to state and sometimes from community to community, women during this period generally had little legal standing. So tiny was their role in politics that even to suggest having a larger one was a subject of great humor — at least to men. When Abagail Adams wrote her husband John in 1776 to “remember the ladies” while drafting the fledgling country’s new government, he replied, “I cannot help but laugh. . . . Depend upon it. We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems.” To a colleague, however, John took a more serious, if just as chauvinistic, tone. Extending the right to vote too widely under the new government would open a Pandora’s box of universal demands: “There will be no End to It. New Claims will arise. Women will demand a Vote.” American revolutionary women labored on the home front Women could and did enter the political arena by writing letters, circulars, and tracts and helping to operate lines of communication and information. And as in all great wars, it fell to women to do everything but fight to keep things going. When Americans quit buying machine-made cloth from England, for example, American women had to make it by hand. “I rise with the sun and all through the long day I have no time for aught but my work,” wrote a Connecticut farmer’s wife whose husband was off to the war. Even during family prayer time, she admitted, her mind was on “whether Polly remembered to set the sponge for the bread, or put water in the leach tub or to turn the cloth in the dyeing vat. . .” Less specific but more important, women were expected, at least in Patriot families, to infuse the children with the spirit of representative democracy and the value of individual liberty. It was a task that historian Linda Kerber labeled “republican motherhood,” and political leaders urged Revolutionary-era men to remind their spouses of its importance. “Let their husbands point out the necessity of such conduct,” wrote Christopher Gadsden of South Carolina, “that it is the only thing that can save them and their children from distresses, slavery and disgrace…”. In addition to bearing the brunt of wartime shortages and other hardships, it also fell to women to bear the losses of men who would not come home from the fighting, as well as steeling themselves to send off their husbands and sons to war — or going themselves. Women near the battle front in the American Revolution A widowed Irish immigrant in South Carolina, Elizabeth Jackson lost two of her three sons to the war. She nonetheless volunteered to act as a nurse for wounded Americans held on British prison ships in Charleston Harbor. After contracting cholera, she summoned her remaining 15-year-old son, who had been fighting the British since he was 12 and bore the slash marks of a British officer’s sword to prove it. “Avoid quarrels if you can,” Andrew Jackson recalled his mother telling him before she died, “ . . . (but) if you ever have to vindicate your honor, do it calmly.” Women often served as nurses, cooks, seamstresses, and laundresses to the various militias and Continental Army. General Washington wasn’t keen on the practice, since the women had to be fed precious rations. And, try as he might with repeated orders to the contrary, they often hitched rides in supply wagons, thus slowing things down. But since his own wife Martha often traveled with him, Washington did not order his commanders to ban women entirely from the army camps. If they didn’t tag along with their husbands, sons, and brothers, women might make uniforms, gather food, or perform other tasks for the troops. One group of three dozen Philadelphia residents were so persistent in raising funds for the army, a Loyalist complained “people were obliged to give them something to get rid of them.” They ultimately raised the staggering modern-day equivalent of $300,000. “Necessity,” a Revolutionary War woman recalled in 1810, “taught us to make exertions which our girls of the present day know nothing of.”

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American History US History For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-23-2022

US history is as complex and fascinating as the people who populate the country. A timeline of significant events in the life of the United States of America starts with hunters crossing the Bering Strait, through the fight for independence, and to the election of 44 men to serve as president. The election of the 43rd, Barack Obama, is of historical significance in itself as he was the first African American president.

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American History US Constitution For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Cheat Sheet / Updated 01-27-2022

The US Constitution was written and signed by men who craved independence from Britain but who were nonetheless steeped in its history and ideals. The document starts with some basic precepts of English governance, but then adds some uniquely American twists — three branches of government that act to check and balance each other, for example. Although much thought went into the Constitution, the framers left it open to amendment. The first ten amendments were ratified just four years after the Constitution itself and are known as the Bill of Rights.

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