The Nineteenth Amendment (August 26th)

In 1789, when the United States Constitution was adopted, only white males were allowed to vote for representatives. The 15th amendment was passed in 1869, giving men of all races the right to vote. The next group to rise up for their right to vote was the women.

Though many smaller organizations existed before this point, the beginning of the Women's Suffrage Movement is traditionally said to be the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention in New York.  The movement had grown, but during the Civil War, the Women's Rights movement faded into the background while the nation turned its head to a more pressing issue, slavery. When the reconstruction amendments were passed, granting 'universal suffrage', women pushed to be included, but were denied.

As Americans moved West, though, the Women's Suffrage Movement gained ground. Women's suffrage was soon established in the Wyoming Territory, Utah, and the Washington Territory. The 19th amendment was originally created by Susan B. Anthony with the help of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who gave the bill to California Senator Aaron A. Sargent. The bill was first introduced to congress in 1878. The first vote taken on the amendment was taken in 1887, when it failed with a 16 to 34 vote. For the next three decades, the amendment was voted on several times, yet failed each time. In a 1919 vote, the amendment failed by only one vote. The bill was brought back to vote on May 19th, 1919, where it passed with 42 more votes than necessary.

The amendment was then sent to the states to be ratified. Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan were the first states to ratify the amendment, doing so on June 10th, 1919. Over the next year, the other states began to ratify the amendment. On August 18th, 1920, Tennessee was the 36th of 48 states to ratify the amendment, giving the amendment the two-thirds majority it needed to become part of the U.S. Constitution. On August 26th, 2013, the Secretary of State proclaimed the 19th Amendment of the United States, giving women the right to vote in America.

The Beginning of Alcatraz (August 11th)

Alcatraz is a small island situated in the center of San Francisco Bay, about 1.5 miles off shore. Native Americans referred to the place as the "Evil island", for they believed it was cursed. Juan Manuel de Ayala charted San Francisco Bay in 1775, naming the island La Isla de los Alcatraces, which translates to "The Island of the Pelicans". The name was eventually shortened to Alcatraz.

In 1846, John C. Fremont bought Alcatraz in the name of the United States for $5,000. In 1850, Millard Fillmore order that the land be set aside for military use. Camp Alcatraz, Alcatraz's first military garrison, was set up after the California Gold Rush began. In 1861, Alcatraz Citadel was created, which was meant to hold Civil War prisoners. Military prisoners began to be put into Alcatraz from the Civil War through the Spanish American War and First World War.

In October of 1933, Alcatraz was acquired by the United States Department of Justice, and the island became Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. On August 11, 1934, the first 137 prisoners were brought to the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Before it closed, the prison held many of the biggest criminals in American history, including Al Capon, Robert Franklin Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz), and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed that no prisoner successfully escaped, though  a total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts. The only hole in their record was made in 1962, when Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin escaped, but were reported "missing and presumed drowned" because no bodies were found, yet there was no evidence that they reached the shores of San Francisco Bay.

Leland Stanford (#75)

Leland Stanford

Background

Leland Stanford was born in March 9th 1824. His parents, Josiah and Elizabeth Stanford, were New York farmers. Stanford attended school until 1836 and was home schooled in 1839. He then attended Clinton Liberal Institute and studied at Cazenovia Seminary from 1841 to 1845. 

Early Adulthood

After being admitted to the bar in 1848, Stanford moved to Port Washington in Wisconsin, where he began practicing law. In 1850, Stanford married Jane Elizabeth Lathrop. The two did not have a child until 1868, when Leland Stanford, Jr. was born. Two years later, the majority of Stanford's possessions were destroyed in a fire. Stanford sent his wife back to New York to live with her family while he went to California to find work. For a while, he worked as the keeper of a general store in Placer County, but he later worked as a justice of the peace and a organizer of the Sacramento Library Association.

Success

In 1855, Stanford got his wife and the two of them moved to California, where he got involved in large scale  business, and he became one of the major investors of the Central Pacific Railroad along with Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, and Collis P. Huntington. Stanford soon was elected as president of the company. In 1856, he helped to organize the California Republican Party. His involvement with the Republican party earned the nomination for the state treasurer in 1857 and for the governor of California in 1859, though he lost both elections. In 1961, Stanford ran for governor again and won, holding the seat for one 2-year term. In May of 1868, Stanford and several of his colleagues formed the Pacific Union Express Company, which merged with Wells Fargo and Company, which Stanford was the director of from 1870 to to 1893 with a month-long break in 1884. Stanford also gained control of the Southern Pacific Railroad, directing it in the same way he directed the Central Pacific Railroad. Stanford, as head of the Central Pacific, was responsible for building the western half of the Transcontinental Railroad. Stanford was present at the driving of the "Last Spike" in Promontory, Utah. Stanford was president of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific railroad companies until 1890, though he continued to be on the executive committee of the Southern Pacific Railroad until his death.

Horse Research

Stanford was interested in ranches and horse racing. In 1872, Stanford commissioned Eadweard Muybridge, a photographer, to settle a bet on whether all four feet of a horse leave the ground at the same time when running. Stanford won the bet.

Universities

Leland Stanford helped to found the first California State University, San Jose State, in 1857. Also, in 1884, Stanford and his wife found Leland Stanford Junior University as a memorial to their son, who had died of typhoid fever while on a trip to Europe. The Stanfords donated $40 million dollars (over $1 billion dollars in today's money) to develop the Stanford, which opened in October of 1891.

The End

Stanford died of heart failure on June 21st, 1893. Stanford is on our list of people because he helped develop the economic, political, and educational systems that can be found in California and the United States that we have today. 

The Elephant Seal

This blog is called the History Dropoff because it is where I drop off facts on mainly history, but I use this blog to keep my family from having to listento me, so I also dropoff other information, like this post.



The Elephant Seal is a species of seal that comes in two types of species. The Northern Elephant Seal is known as Mirougna angustirostris and lives on the coast of California and Mexico, while the Southern Elephant seal, Mirougna leonina, lives only in the southern hemisphere, in places such as New Zealand, South Georgia, Antartica, etc. Elephant seals are marine mammals that come together only to breed. The Northern variety breed in January and February, but the Southern species mates from September to October. Although Elephant Seals are clumsy on land, they can swim with great power deriving from the alternating hind flippers, which they can use to catch fish and squid. The most unique feature of an elephant seal is its large nasal cavity, which only appears on males and takes 8 years it to fully develop. During mating season, the cavity fills with blood and is able to amplify aggressive roars. Along with having an odd nose, male elephant seals also have many other traits that females do not, which the bulls use during battles for dominance. Males can weigh up to 2300kg more than a female, weighing in at about 3200kg (7055lb). Males are also longer than females and can be 4.9m (16ft) long. Other outstanding battle traits used by bull Elephant Seals are tough neck skin acquired as a youth and enlarged canines. Elephant seals can have cubs when the male is 4 to 6 years old and the female is 2 to 3 years old, and after 11 months, the seal gives birth to a youth, which will hopefully live for another 20 years. Although Hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) also have traits like those of an Elephant Seal, they're not as large as Elephant seals, and their nasal cavities are no match to those of an Elephant Seals, the Elephant of the Sea.


Infromation from...
The Encyclopedia of Animals
Consultant Editor: Dr. Per Christiansen

California's Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle is a mansion built in 1919-30 by the newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). After his mother died, Hearst inherited the 250,000 acres of land where his family had lived. Hearst took this land and created one of the largest private mansions in America. With the help of architect, Julia Morgan (1872-1957), Hearst began his dream home. Hearst wanted his home to have a Mediterranean feel to it. Hearst would send men to auctions around the world to get historical artifacts for his new house. Hearst also bought medieval ceilings for his many rooms, and owned the largest collection of medieval ceilings in the world. He also kept the largest private zoo around his palace. He had bears, zebras, sheep, horses, and many other animals. Hearst Castle was always a work in progress, and was added on to whenever Hearst had a new idea for a room. Apart from his main house, the castle also included 3 guest houses, an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, and a tennis court. Though it is magnificent, Hearst Castle was never finished. There are some outside walls of the castle that haven't been completely done. When Hearst died, he asked that his house not be changed in any way, so it remains unfinished to this day.

Information From...

The World's Greatest Buildings

Consultant Editor: Trevor Howells

#13- Sir Francis Drake

13 Sir Francis Drake

Sir Francis Drake (1540-1596) was a British explorer and privateer under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I. Drake was the first explorer after Magellan to sail around the world. He went below South America, like Magellan, but once he got to the Pacific, Drake went up the coast of America, and made it at least all the way to California before crossing the Pacific. After landing in Indonesia, Drake made his way past the Cape of Good Hope to England. Upon his return, Drake was rewarded with 10000 pounds. As a privateer, Drake helped England defeat the Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130 ships and 30000 Spanish men. Although many say that Drake is famous for being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world, Drake makes our list for exploring the Western coast of America and for helping to defeat the Spanish Armada.

Information from...
http://www.library.thinkquest.org/

California's Golden Gate Bridge

The Most Momentous Bridge in the West

In 1919, the idea of having a bridge stretching across the entrance of San Francisco Bay was first proposed. When the idea came up, Joseph Strauss, a bridge engineer from Chicago, was called in along with many other engineers. Strauss was appointed chief engineer of the project and construction started in 1933. To resist high winds, Strauss designed a conventional suspension bridge supported by two piers. Unlike many other engineers, Strauss took excessive safety precautions. He gave each worker a pair of sunglasses to protect the workers from the glare. He also had a medical team inspect the construction workers regularly. The safety net that Strauss had set up under the bridge saved at least 19 lives during construction. On May 27, 1937, the bridge opened. The bridge was 8981 feet (2737m) long and spanned 4200 feet (1280m) from pier to pier. Each pier was 746 feet (227m) tall. The Golden Gate bridge survived a lot of disasters. After having to be closed down in 1940 because of its excessive flexibility, the bridge was stiffened. The bridge went on to survive a 7.1 scale earthquake in 1989 and was strengthened to withstand a 8.3 scale earthquake. The Golden Gate has become the symbol of San Francisco and has 41 million cars travel across it every day. The great bridge is now one of America's greatest wonders and is known throughout the world as the Gate to California.

Information from...
The World's Greates Buildings
Revised and Edited
Consultant Editor- Trevor Howells