Syria

The recent wave of the Tunisian revolution reached Syria in mid-March 2011, when a small southern city took to the streets to protest. The people were protesting the torture of students who had put up anti-government graffiti. The government reacted violently and with strong force. These students were brutally tortured for a crime that did not match their punishment. These demonstrations began to spread across the county. Syria's dictator, President Bashar al-Assad, started the use this force when signs of reform were present.In April, he set off a series of crackdowns that sent tanks into cities where they opened fire on demonstrators. I see these actions as barbaric. As an American citizen we are entitled to freedom for speech and protest. In Syria, loss of life could be the result for showing any form of reform. This crackdown carried on into summer and fall. Thousands of soldiers began launching attacks against the government ,which brought the country to the verge of a civil war.  According to the United Nations, 5.400 Syrians have been killed and thousands are missing. The war continues on today and the country is truly divided. This civil war creates extreme problems within the country and causes true chaos.It is hard to see a country reliving something to our civil war, in present day. Syria needs to take actions to help rebuild the country and the dictatorship must end. Syria is fighting with itself and there are no winners in this war.

Afghanistan

The war in Afghanistan is one of the longest ongoing wars that the United States has been part of.  After the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, the U.S invaded Afghanistan and the war has escalated ever since.Ever since the war started it has been chaos and death. Too many soldiers have returned home with serious injuries and way too many have not returned home to their families. In June 2011, President Obama declared that the United States had achieved most of their set goals there. He also set an aggressive timeline for the withdrawal of American troops by 2014.I feel that this is a goal we as a country to aim to achieve and it is one that is reachable. This war has gone on for too long and the longer we stay in Afghanistan, the harder it will be to get out.  In the beginning of 2012, the United States had around 90,000 troops in Afghanistan,with 22,000 due to be home by the fall. There is no scheduled pace for the withdrawal of the other 68,000 troops who by Obama's plan, are due to be home by 2014. I feel that the withdrawal number is so large than it physically cannot happen overnight but in small sections, troops need to come home. Soldiers should be home safe, not fighting an endless war filled with bloodshed and death. I feel that we have been fighting this war for too long and our stay in Afghanistan has been overstayed. Some citizens of Afghanistan do not appreciate us being there and us violence to drive us out. On Febuary 21, angry protests broke out because there were emerging stories that NATO personnel were setting fire to bags filled with the sacred books of Korans. This riot lasted for days an lead to more deaths and controversey. It is time for the United States army to come home and to pull out of Afghanistan.

Women Suffrage Movement

The women suffrage movement was a movement that  fought for all women to have the right to vote. This assisted in the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 which gave citizens-this time including women-the right to vote. People that supported women's right to vote were known as "suffragists".  In early American, positions of power were only available to property owning men and only those men were entitled to vote.  Later the American Revolution led to a more broad idea of participationg in which female taxpayers still voted in only some areas but the vote did not expand to all. The movement focused on giving this right to all women. Those involved in the movement were women and those who were involved in organziations such as the National American Women Suffrage Association. The movement was very powerful and was successful in granting women suffrage.



http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/256043?terms=women%20suffrage%20movement

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born November 12th, 1815. She was raised with an abolitionist background and carried her abolitionist beliefs out and acted upon them. She fought strongly for the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments because she wanted African American men to have the right to vote. Stanton felt that African Americans were entitled to vote, and so were women. Along with Susan B. Anthony, she fought for African American and women suffrage and rights. Both felt that the language of the amendments must be changed in order to grant full and secure equality. In 1868, Stanton and Anthony started a women's rights weekly called the ''Revolition". The editorials showed greater opportunities for working women and articles to encourage women to demand their granted their rights. Later both women founded the Nation Woman Suffrage Association to get federal passage of the women's suffrage amendment. Stanton traveled across the country trying to gain support and encourage women to take action. Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for the rights of women and was a leader in the fight for women suffrage.

http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/247918?terms=elizabeth+cady+stanton

Research Question

I am studying Susan B. Anthony's beliefs about women's rights because I want to find out how women impacted society and helped create change to our history, in order to help my reader understand how influential women and their actions influenced new laws and society.

Research Question: Did Anthony's actions and beliefs influence congressional decisions?

Final Overview

After reading these three articles, I learned how influential women are to our history. Women like Susan B. Anthony took action against injustice to women and the effect was success. Anthony and many other activists including the NAWSA, did not only take action but encouraged others to take action as well. The women who took action and fought for their rights helped the Nineteenth get ratified. I feel that even today the power of women is underestimated. After reading, i still have questions such as, why did it take so long for change to be made? Why did congress feel that women should not have the right to vote? Where other movements taken but ignored? I think it is important to read about women because they are extremely powerful and make a difference in our history. The actions that these women took lead to change and a better country with true equality.

Nineteenth Amendment

The Nineteenth Amendment was a women's suffrage amendment that was introduced to congress in 1868. Ten years later, the suffrage supporters proposed the new Amendment. They called this the "so-called Anthony Amendment", named for Susan B. Anthony, which was modeled off of the Fifteenth Amendment. This amendment provided that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex".  Suffragists were unsure of the prospects of a constitutional amendment and resorted to breaking laws. Susan B. Anthony was prosecuted for attempting to vote when she did not have a "lawful right". After being convicted the Supreme Court rejected the her rights and held the Fourteenth Amendment against her. Their evidence was that the Fourteenth Amendment did not give the right to vote to women. The Constitution allows states to determine the qualifications for voting and before the amendment, most states neglected women. Taken back by the women's activist, the suffragist movement succeeding and persuaded Congress to enact the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919. The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 18th 1920. This amendment guarantees women the right to vote and was a huge accomplishment in the history of women.

http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?entry=t184.e0848&srn=1&ssid=900502719#FIRSTHIT
http://americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1353208?terms=nineteenth+amendment