Change

We have finally broke the tradition of our typical American president. By electing Barak Obama as president, his slogan, " Change" has come into effect already. Without even starting his term in office, by being elected president he has changed America.

Mr. Obama owes his victory, first, to his gift of leadership and personality: the hybrid cool of his charisma, his cathartic power to mine unity from difference. But his triumph depended on voters, first prone to see his candidacy as exotic, to recognize it as something that could (and would) only happen here. That they did stems in large part from the founding fathers’ clear vision of the ideal makeup of a democracy: an inclusive electorate, political participation and political power sharing.

- Op Ed Contributer, Orlando Patterson

Although America allows all of its citizens to vote nowadays (except for when it is taken away) it wasn't always that way. If you follow the path of woman's right to vote, you would be as surprised as I was to see how things use to be.

In 1848, The first women's rights convention is held in Seneca Falls, New York. After 2 days of discussion and debate, 68 women and 32 men sign a Declaration of Sentiments, which shows the pathway to improve women's rights movement, in hope for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women.

In 1850, The first National Women's Rights Convention takes place in Worcester, Mass. attracting more than 1,000 participants. This began activists like Susan B. Anthony, Charlotte Woodward, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucy Stone, to start organizations to help gain voting rights for women.

In 1893, Colorado is the first state to adopt an amendment granting women the right to vote. Utah and Idaho follow this in 1896, Washington State in 1910,California in 1911, Oregon, Kansas and Arizona in 1912, Alaska and Illinois in 1913, Montana and Nevada in 1914, New York in 1917, and Michigan, South Dakota and Oklahoma following in 1918.

August 26, 1920 is known as the day the suffrage battle was won, the long battle for the vote for women was finally won. In 1920, when women finally won the vote throughout the nation, Charlotte Woodward was the only participant in the 1848 Convention who was still alive to cast her vote. Eighty-one years old, she cast her vote proudly.

Resources:

1. Imbornoni, Ann-Marie. "Women's Rights Movement in the U.S.: Timeline — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help. — Infoplease.com. 10 Nov. 2008 .
2. Lewis, Jone Johnson. "August 26, 1920 - Women's Suffrage Victory - Nineteenth Amendment Becomes Law." Women's History - Comprehensive Women's History Research Guide. 10 Nov. 2008 .
3. Patterson , Orlando . "Op-Ed Contributor - An Eternal Revolution - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 10 Nov. 2008 .
4. "The Declaration of Sentiments — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free online reference, research & homework help. — Infoplease.com. 10 Nov. 2008