Welsh+Period+2+Amendment+26

__** 26th Amendment **__
Welsh Period 2 By Akihiro M., Jennifer P, Mike M.

**Essential Question:** How did the issues which prompted the creation of your amendment compare with the issues they are applied to today?
 * Amendment 26** states that:

Section 1- The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

Section 2- The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment 26 was ratified on July 1, 1971
 * 1. When was the amendment ratified?**

This amendment was created because of the Vietnam War. Some of the people who fought in this war didn't have the right to vote and they said, "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote."
 * 2. Why was this amendment created?**

They chose 18 because former president, Franklin D. Roosevelt had lowered the military drafting age to 18 and it was only fair to allow 18 year olds to vote.
 * 3. Why did they choose 18 as the voting age?**

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon.
 * 4. Who came up with this amendment?**

This amendment is still important today because it's very important that young people participate in voting.
 * 5. Why is this amendment so important today?**

This amendment got approved by Congress and then it got sent to the state legislatures. After that, all of the needed three fourths ( seventy five percent) of the states ratified it.
 * 6. How did this amendment get ratified?**

It took 107 days for this amendment to get ratified. This amendment was the quickest to be ratified by congress.
 * 7. How long did it take for the amendment to get ratified?**

Before Amendment 26 was put into effect, only white men over the age of 21 who owned property were given the right to vote in the United States.
 * 8. Before this amendment was ratified, who was allowed to vote?**

This amendment was basically ratified in the Supreme Court.
 * 9. Where was this amendment ratified?**

The Vietnam War was taking place, and at that time the drafting age was 18, but those eighteen year olds who were sent to war were not allowed to vote.
 * 10. What was happining in the country when the amendment was passed?**



**Current Event:**

**Source:**[|click for current event article]
 * Title:** "Time to lower the voting age to 16"
 * Author:** Fei Chen
 * Date:** October 07, 2008

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more that forty percent of sixteen to nineteen year olds work. This means that all of these teenagers pay taxes. Since these teenagers pay taxes and everything, and some of them don't even have the right to vote, shouldn't they be given that basic right? Teenagers who pay their taxes should be allowed to vote even if they haven't turned eighteen yet. When the American Revolution was taking place, the people didn't want to be taxed without representation. It doesn't make it any different now. These teenagers should be represented in votes. Some people think that eighteen is the worst age to allow teens to start voting because they are starting to go away to college, moving out, and joining the military. If we allowed sixteen year olds to start voting at a young age, this might encourage them to vote as they become older. At first in our country, the voting age was set at twenty-one, the twenty-sixth amendment allowed eighteen year old to take part in voting. In a couple of states like Maine, Maryland and Ohio, they allow seventeen year olds to start voting if they turn eighteen by the general election. Some countries like Brazil, Cuba and Nicaragua permit sixteen year olds to vote. In July 2007 Austria also lowered thier voting age to sixteen. My opinion about this is that, all these countries have lowered thier voting age, why should we, what difference would it make. At the age of sixteen, most teens are likely to make good decisions, and they are getting more mature at this age. I think that we should lower the voting age, it might even make a good change for our country.

By: Jennifer


 * Title:** "Exit Polls: Obama Wins Big AmongYoung, Minority Voters"
 * Author:** Joe Von Kanel & Hal Quinley
 * Date:** Tuesday, November 4, 2008
 * Source: [|Click for article]**

The exit polls from Tuesday showed that Barack Obama was strongly supported by young voters on his way of becoming the next President of the United States. The fact that Obama was supported by young voters can be proven by how the polls showed that 68% of the voters from the age 18 to 24 voted for Obama, and only 30% from that same age group voted for John McCain. Obama also beat McCain with the age group of 25 to 29. The amount of voters in the age group of 25 to 29 that voted for Obama was 69%, while McCain got only 29% of those voters. The only age group that McCain got on his side was the sge group of 65 and over, even though it was still pretty close. The percentage of the voters of age 65 and over that McCain was able to get on his sied was 54%. The percentage of the voters from the same age group that were on Obama's side was 44%. Based on all these information, I think age plays a huge role in elections. I think it really is important for young people to actually vote. I think it was a really good thing for the United States to make the 26th Amendment come into effect and letting people from the age of 18 to vote. If the 26th Amendment was never made, and young people couldn't vote, it would definetely change the outcome of the election greatly.

-by Akihiro

Title: Old enough to Fight Old enough to vote They changed the fighting age to 18 beacause we needed more soldiers in Vietnam. They wanted to fight and wanted the right to vote also. The goverment decided because they were fighting when they were 18 they should give them the right to vote. Then in 1971 they lowered the voting age to 18 from 21. That gave 11 million more people in the U. S. the right to vote. The Vietnam war was the main reason they changed the voting age. This amendment is still important today, millions of 18 year olds vote every 4 years. It is so important today because when you are 18 you are considered to be an adult and can make your own choices. You are also considered to be mature and smart and you end school then so you know how to listen to speeches and make the right choice and vote for the right guy.