Did You Know...

Inquire about the availability of documents in alternate formats.
  
 The history of the electoral process and voting rights is rich with milestones that mirror changes and growth in society. Sacramento County’s Voter Registration and Elections spotlights significant events with our “Did You Know…” series. Let the information below become your stepping stones to learning more about the events that have helped shaped today’s electoral process.
 
 

The American Civil war is sometimes called the War Between the States, the War of Rebellion, or the War for Southern Independence. It began on April 12, 1861, when confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, and lasted until May 26, 1865, when the last Confederate army surrendered. The war took more than 600,000 lives; destroyed property valued at $5 billion, brought freedom to 4 million black slaves. 

 
On this day in history, January 23, 1845: The United States Congress decrees the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November to be the universal election day for presidential elections.
 
Election: a procedure that allows members of an organization or community to choose representatives who will hold positions of authority within it. The most important elections select the leaders of local, state, and national governments. It is the chance to decide who will govern at these levels and serves as an opportunity for the public to make choices about the policies, programs, and future directions of government action. At the same time, elections promote accountability. The threat of defeat at the polls exerts pressure on those in power to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and takes account of popular interests and wishes when they make their decisions.
 
In the United States, elections are held at regular intervals. National presidential elections take place every four years. Congressional elections occur every two years. Elections for state and local office usually coincide with national elections. The responsibility for organizing elections rests largely with state and local governments. State laws specify how elections are to be administered, determine the boundaries of electoral districts, and specify the qualifications of candidates. State, county, and municipal election boards administer elections. These boards establish and staff polling places and verify the eligibility of individuals who come to vote.
 

 
December 28, 1945 U.S. Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance - In 1892 Francis Bellamy (a former Baptist minister) proposed a patriotic ceremony for American school children to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in North America. The children would salute the flag while reciting a new pledge which originally was "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
 
In 1923 and 1924 the National Flag Conference, organized by the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution substituted the words "the flag of the United States of America" for the phrase "my Flag" due to concerns that immigrants might pledge loyalty to their country of birth rather than to the United States.
 
In 1954, President Eisenhower added the words "under God" to the pledge to distinguish the United States from the Soviet Union which many Americans identified with "godless communism."
 
In recent years courts have examined whether the phrase "under God" in the pledge is constitutional and their decision allowed "under God" to remain in the pledge but did not determine its constitutionality.
 

 
Remembering a President – On November 22, 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated during a visit to Dallas, Texas. President Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States, and the youngest person ever to be elected to that office. He was also the nation’s first Roman Catholic president and the first president to be born in the 20th century.
 
Although Kennedy’s achievements were limited by his short tenure (he served less than three years in office), his influence was still felt both nationally and internationally. His decisions during the Cuban Missile Crisis may have prevented war.
 
Kennedy remains one of the most popular Presidents in U.S. history. His eloquent expression of the best of American values and his call to service resounded with his generation and those that followed. John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery next to his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy. An eternal flame burns at his gravesite.
 

 
September 7, 1813: The United States gets a nickname - The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied barrels of beef to the United States Army during the War of 1812. Wilson stamped the barrels with US for United States, but soldiers began referring to the grub as “Uncle Sam’s.”
The local newspaper picked up the story and Uncle Sam eventually gained widespread acceptance as the nickname for the United States federal government.
In the late 1860’s cartoonist Thomas Nast popularized the image of Uncle Sam with a cartoon character giving him a white beard and stars, but that figure is not the one we know today it is the famous poster of Uncle Sam ‘I WANT YOU’ painted by James Montgomery Flagg.
 

 
August 6, 1965: Johnson signs Voting Rights Act - On this day in 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the voting Rights Act, guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote. The bill made it illegal to impose restrictions on federal, state and local elections that were designed to deny the vote blacks.
In a speech to Congress, Johnson outlined devious ways in which election officials denied Africa-American citizens the vote. Blacks were told that they had the date and time or wrong polling place, forced to take literacy tests and various other tactics.  Learn more about the Voting Rights Act
 

 
June 4, 1919: Congress passes the 19th Amendment – On this date in history the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees women the right to vote, was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. It was the fulfillment of work begun in 1869 when the National Woman Suffrage Association, led by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was formed to push for an amendment extending voting rights to women. Learn more about the 19th Amendment.
 

 
1862: Cinco de Mayo – During the French Mexican War, a poorly supplied and outnumbered Mexican army under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeats a French army attempting to capture Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east-central Mexico. Victory of the Battle of Puebla was a great moral victory for the Mexican government. Mexicans celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla as Cinco de Mayo, (May 5th) a national holiday in Mexico. Read more about this historic battle.
 

 
South Africa holds first multiracial elections – On April 27, 1994 more than 22 million South Africans turned out for three days of voting to cast ballots in the country’s first free multiracial parliamentary election. An overwhelming majority elected the African National Congress (a political party) leader Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa, a position he held until 1999.
 

 
“The Star-Spangled Banner” becomes official – On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer while detained on a British ship, composed the lyrics to the “The Star Spangled Banner” after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812.
 
Throughout the 19th century, “The Star Spangled Banner” was regarded as the national anthem by most military branches. On March 3, 1931 President Hoover signed it into law. Learn more about the origin of the “The Star Spangled Banner.”
 

 
Fifteenth Amendment Extends the Right to Vote – February is Black History month which recognizes the significant contributions African American Heritage has made and continues to make in areas as education, sport, medicine, art culture, public service economic development, politics and human rights.
February 3, 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was passed, granting African American men the right to vote.  Learn more about the Fifteenth Amendment