Do You Know Your History?

Did you know that…

• Claudette Colvin came before Rosa Parks, and she was only 15 years old? Read more HERE.

• Alexander Graham Bell did not invent the telephone? Antonio Meucci, an Italian immigrant, began developing the design of a talking telegraph or telephone in 1849. In 1871, he filed a caveat (an announcement of an invention) for his design of a talking telegraph. Due to hardships, Meucci could not renew his caveat. His role in the invention of the telephone was overlooked until the United States House of Representatives passed a Resolution on June 11, 2002, honoring Meucci’s contributions and work. You can read the resolution (107th Congress, H Res 269) on Congress.gov.
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony advocated against black men getting the vote before white women? At a pivotal convention in May 1869, Frederick Douglass argued that the American Equal Rights Association should support the 15th amendment while continuing to fight for women’s suffrage. Stanton not only disagreed, she gave an address filed with racist stereotypes about the male immigrants and formerly enslaved men whom the amendment would enfranchise. Read more HERE.
• Islam was embraced by early Americans?  “Morocco’s Sultan Muhammad III was the first head of state to formally recognize the 13 colonies’ independence from Great Britain, in December 1777. Following the Revolutionary War, Jefferson, Adams, and the sultan signed the U.S.–Morocco Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1786. After more than 230 years of conflicts and crises, it remains the longest unbroken treaty in U.S. history.” according to Jacopo della Quercia writing HERE.
• The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 eliminated immigration from China? The US government passed legislation that prohibited Chinese immigration for ten years and declared Chinese immigrants ineligible for naturalization. Many Americans on the West Coast attributed declining wages and economic ills to Chinese workers. Although the Chinese composed only .002 percent of the nation’s population, Congress passed the exclusion act to placate worker demands and assuage prevalent concerns about maintaining white “racial purity.” The Geary Act went into effect on May 5, 1892. It reinforced and extended the Chinese Exclusion Act’s ban on Chinese immigration for an additional ten years. It also required Chinese residents in the U.S. to carry special documentation—certificates of residence—from the Internal Revenue Service. Immigrants who were caught not carrying the certificates were sentenced to hard labor and deportation, and bail was only an option if the accused were vouched for by a “credible white witness.” Read HERE.