Election of Lincoln

If you think the election is heated now.  Think about what it must of been like in 1860 when Lincoln was first elected President.  The Union was slowly unraveling and people had such different paths in mind for our country.  So different they were about to go to war against each other.  It must have been quite a scary time.  Communication was limited and not unlike today often communication was slanted towards one group or another.

 Did you know that not one southern state voted for Abraham Lincoln our first Republican President?  Lincoln was elected with only 40% of the electoral vote.  Lincoln's Vice President in his first term was Hannibal Hamlin.  Andrew Johnson was the VP in his second term.  Johnson was originally a member of the Democratic party but later joined the National Union Party(republican).

Andrew Johnson

Election Fever

 The first United States election took place in 1788 -1789 after the constitution was ratified.  Originally each elector cast two votes.  Whoever received votes from the most electors, became president, and the runner-up became vice-president. Basically, Washington ran unopposed.  All 69 electors cast one vote for Washington. John Adams received 34, the second most votes, becoming vice-president.

 Only ten states casted votes in this election.  There were two political parties Federalist and Anti-Federalist(who were against a strong federal government).

Vice Presidential Candidates

Federalist candidates

• John Adams, former Minister to Great Britain from Massachusetts
• John Jay, U.S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs from New York
• John Rutledge, former Governor of South Carolina
• John Hancock, Governor of Massachusetts
• Samuel Huntington, Governor of Connecticut
• Benjamin Lincoln, former U.S. Secretary of War from Massachusetts

Anti-Federalist candidates

• George Clinton, Governor of New York
• Edward Telfair, former Governor of Georgia

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Fun Facts

Hello! I have some fun facts for you about Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. The first one is Abraham's son Robert was at a train station and almost fell in the tracks while a train was coming and John Wilkes Booth's brother Edwin saved him by pulling him out only minutes before he would have been smushed. 

Robert Todd Lincoln

Edwin Booth

The last one is that Thomas Jefferson was one of the first americans to grow tomatoes on his plantation "Monticello".  Jefferson was first introduced to tomatoes while in Paris. People were not pleased with Jefferson growing tomatoes which were known as "The Devil's Fruit" because they were red and so was the Devil. They were also considered poisonous.

S.D. Schindler’s depiction of Thomas Jefferson and his garden from Stephanie Loer’s entry about the White House Colonical Kitchen Gardens

President's day

I am sorry that I haven't been doing my blog, but I have been busy. Well I have a few fun facts on the first , second , and third presidents. I got this info from some flash cards that I have.

George Washington: 

• Born on February 22,1732
• Died December 14,1799
• Terms of office: April 30,1789-March 3,1797
• His father and brother educated him
• Turned down the offer of being king to America
• Married a wealthy widow and helped raise her children from a previous marriage 
• Served as commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War
• The only president to be elected unanimously

John Adams:

• Born October 30,1735
• Died July 4,1826
• Term of office: March 4,1797- March 3,1801
• opposed unfair british taxes
• Helped to write Declaration of Independence in 1776
• Also helped Write Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War in 1783
• Was the first vice president and served under the first president, George Washington
• Was the first president to live in the White House
• He died 50 years after signing the Declaration of Independence

Thomas Jefferson:

• Born April 13,1743
• Died July 4,1826
• Terms of office: March 4,1801-March 3,1809
• Founded the University of Virginia
• Was governor of Virginia
• He designed his own home, Monticello
• He invented a type of copying machine
• He is known as the father of the Declaration of Independence
• Bought Louisiana from Napoleon which doubled the size of the United States
• He sent Louis and Clark on their famous expedition
• He was a politician, educator, architect, inventor, musician, and a writer.

These facts are from the Brighter Child, U.S. Presidents. Please comment on which president you thought was the most interesting. Thank You.

Christmas in Williamsburg, VA

My mom and I recently went to Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg,VA for a few days. Colonial Williamsburg is one of my mom's favorite places in the world.  It is like stepping back in time. While we were there we went on a christmas decoration tour. I was fascinated by how they figured out what might have been on the doors of Colonial Virginian's houses. We learned that if you had apples, pineapples or some type of imported goods, it showed wealth.  The only thing was the colonials would never put fruit like apples and pineapples on their doors. They would put them on the table as a center piece in order to show their prosperity.

Ladies would have tiny Lady apples so they could nibble politely.  Wealthy women would never eat a normal size apple because it would be impolite to open their mouth wide.

I took a bunch of photos on the tour. Here is a collage of modern Williamsburg doors that are interpretations of how the doors would be decorated.

You can go back in time too by visiting Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum.  Be sure to stay in one of the colonial houses to feel like you are in 1775.

Thanksgiving Fun Fact

I have been researching for a while and I could only find one thing and here it is...

Did you know that 45 million turkeys are sold on Thanksgiving, but that is only one sixth of the turkeys that are sold through out the year.

Maybe someone can comment some questions and answers and I will post them. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

Since thanksgiving is coming soon I decided to write about the first thanksgiving. Check back in a few days to read some thanksgiving fun facts. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sarah Becomes Madame CJ Walker

Then Sarah got married to Charles Joseph Walker in 1905. After a few years they divorced but she kept the name Madame CJ Walker.

Soon Sarah's hair products business took off. It was a small business called Madame C.J. Walker's Manufacturing Company. Sarah donated money to Frederick Douglas and the Tuskegee Institute. She travelled to the Caribbean and Latin America to promote her business and teach her hair care methods. In 1917, she constructed and estate called Villa Lewaro in Irvington On Hudson New York. Sarah was one of the richest African Americans and women of her time. Madame C. J. Walker named her first beauty school Lelia College. Sadly Sarah died in 1919 at the age of 51. Madame Walker help to prove men and women were equal. She showed that a women could run a million dollar company and invent many products.

Fun Fact: My Dad grew up in Irvington On Hudson. It is a town close to New
York City.

Madame CJ Walker

Madame CJ Walker was born December 23rd, 1867 with the name of Sarah Breedlove. She was an African American and the first person in her family to be born free. Her family lived in a dirt floor shack when she was born on a plantation in Delta, Loiusiana. Her family and the Burney family were sharecroppers but the Burney family owned the cotton fields. By five years olds she worked on the plantation in the cotton fields for 12 hours per day. Soon the long hours in the sun started to damage Sarah's hair. Sarah became determined to put a stop to her hair loss with home remedies and began experimenting.

At the age of 14 , she married Moses McWilliams. When she was 18 years old, they had a baby named Lelia. In 1887, when Sarah was 20 years old, Moses McWilliams was killed by a lynch mob. Some people think Moses was killed because Sarah supported an anti-lynch mob organization. The organization raised money to help stop lynching. Now despite her sorrow Sarah now had to find a way to support herself and her young child.

Help me choose who to post about next

Sorry. I had a lot of homework the past few weeks.  I also have very busy weekends with soccer games and other stuff. I will be doing famous women this month. I will need your help  to decide who to post about next. Should I do Eleanor Roosevelt, Madame C.J. Walker, Mary Todd Lincoln,or Queen Elizabeth the first ?