January 20, 2009 What does today mean to America? By Laura Jensen

Obama won the election on November 4, 2008 Americans felt strong emotions.

Election Day, November 4, 2008 It was exciting!

The Obamas: November 4, 2008 It was historic.

The Obamas & the Bidens (By the way, Jill Biden is a community college English teacher.)

There were ten weeks between the election on November 4 and the inauguration--the day Obama officially becomes President.

Today: The Inauguration of Barack Obama, our first African-American President!

Our History: Why is this such a big deal? What is the US Constitution?

History of voting rights in the United States: Who elects our Presidents? US Constitution (1787: gave voting rights to some white men) 15th Amendment to the Constitution (1870: gave voting rights to black men) 19th Amendment to the Constitution (1920: gave voting rights to women) Civil Rights Movement (1965: Voting Rights Act)

Slavery was legal in parts of the United States until the Civil War ( )

The Civil War: Slavery was legal in the South, but many people in the North wanted it to end. After the 1860 election, the South decided to leave the United States and start a new country. President Abraham Lincoln wanted all the states to stay in one country. The North and the South fought each other in a bloody civil war.

Abraham Lincoln US President, Can you find President Lincoln in your wallet?

The Civil War: Free States & Slave States Before the Civil War, the United States consisted of 19 free states, 15 slave states, and several territories. Eleven slave states left the Union and made up the Confederate States of America. The remaining 23 states and the territories fought for the Union.

The Civil War: “A Harvest of Death” More than 600,000 people were killed. Sometimes brothers fought against brothers. It was a terrible time, but finally the North won.

The Civil War ended slavery…

…but not discrimination.

So…almost 100 years later, the Civil Rights Movement began.

People fought for equality for all Americans.

People wanted to end the tricks that stopped some Americans from voting. One question on the “literacy” test: How many bubbles in a bar of soap?

People often sang the song, “We Shall Overcome.” What does it mean to overcome? What were these Americans trying to overcome? shall = will

President Johnson used these words in a speech to help pass the Voting Rights Act of "It is wrong—deadly wrong— to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote... We have already waited 100 years and more, and the time for waiting is gone... We Shall Overcome! " This law helped all citizens vote.

Martin Luther King, Jr. listened to that speech with tears in his eyes. President Johnson surprised many people that night. As a young man, Johnson taught the children of migrant workers in Texas. However, after that time, he had not always worked very hard for civil rights.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is a hero of the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King was a minister. He was killed in We celebrated his birthday yesterday. That is why you had no school!

Dr. King gave many famous speeches that made people think about justice. Dr. King is standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC 1963

The Washington Mall Washington, DC The Capitol Building The Washington Monument The Lincoln Memorial

“I Have A Dream” is his most famous speech. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Most Americans know at least part of this speech. 1963

They say that… Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Rosa Parks Montgomery Bus Boycott Martin Luther King March on Washington 1963

Martin walked so Obama could run. Civil Rights March 1968 Obama campaigning at a community college in 2008

Obama ran so our children could fly... Yes We Can!

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office today, he will use the same Bible Lincoln used. He will be the first President to use it since Civil rights organizers at the Lincoln Memorial, 1963

Michelle Obama’s family has traveled through history from this white house… Michelle Obama’s great-great-grandfather once lived in one of these slave cabins that are still on this South Carolina farm.

…to this White House! This will be Barack, Michelle, Malia, and Sasha Obama’s home for the next four years. (By the way, slaves helped to build the White House in the 1700s.)

It is a time for Americans to think about both the past and the future of our nation.

To many Americans, it seems like Dr. King’s dream is finally coming true. future tense present perfect tense

Americans are proud of this progress. Today is a day to CELEBRATE!!!