James Weldon Johnson Essay

In an off-season full of talk about Eddie Lacy’s weight, the return of Jordy Nelson, and moving Clay Matthews back to the outside in his natural position, the re-signing of running back James Starks has certainly flown under the radar.

George Washington Lane was born to Jonathan and Mary Colley Lane 1806. George was either born in Cherokee or Ogelthorp County Georgia. In 1818 George moved to Limestone County Alabama with his mother Mary Colley Lane. George earned an elementary education after arriving in Alabama. He read law under Judge Daniel Coleman and was admitted to the bar in 1826. George was then elected probate judge of Limestone County, Alabama and then was elected circuit judge, he served that office for sixteen consecutive years. George represented Limestone County on several occasions in the legislature. On October 3, 1834 George Married Martha Nicholas Davis the daughter of Captain Nicholas Davis. George and Martha had 11 children, Robert Wilson Lane, George Gale, Nicholas, Mary, Kate Gaston, Belta Colley, May Fern, Charles Paul, and Hector Davis are the children listed in the 1840 census. Seven of George’s children lived to adulthood. The 1840 census of Limestone County Alabama lists George as head of a household of 48. George owned 44 slaves. George Washington Lane was a highly respected and successful farmer, lawyer and politician at the beginning of the anti-slavery movement. As the anti-slavery movement increased, George is said to have freed all of his slaves soon after the secession debates in Montgomery were held. George was strongly opposed to secession. George was convinced that secession was a mistake, and to let everyone know how he felt, he hung a union flag over his door. Apparently George’s beliefs were well known and had found their way to Washington around April of 1861. At that time it is said that he was appointed Federal Judge of

James Earl Carter Jr. born on October 1, 1924 was born in Plains, Georgia to James Earl Carter Sr. and Bessie Lillian Gordy. HIs father a peanut farmer and his mother a registered nurse. By the age of ten he started working in his dad store and enjoyed listening to baseball games and politics on the radio with his father. His parents were deeply religious and took him to church and sunday school each week. Carter attended Plains High School, an all white school, and became the first on his father's side of the family to graduate from high school. After high school, Carter went to Georgia Southwestern Junior College and studied engineering. He then went to the Georgia Institute of Technology and enrolled in the Naval ROTC program. After a while he applied and was accepted into the Naval Academy and served time in the navy. In 1962 after the Supreme Court ruling on Baker v. Carr he decided he might have a chance at running for office, so he ran for the Georgia State Senate and

Calvin Johnson has been the best wide receivers in the NFL in his whole career being 6’5” 240 he is the toughest receiver to cover and his stats prove it. As seen in the picture from CBS sports. In 2012 he had 1,964 yards which is the most ever in a season in the entire history of the NFL and with his stats not dropping that much a lot of people thought he still has a lot of time left to make an impact in his career. Except he announced a couple weeks ago saying that he was retiring at only age 30. Many people have there opinions on why he is retiring although he has not completely said why he is retiring.

Born on October 4, 1822 Rutherford Bircher Hayes, called "Ruud" as a child, was named for his father and grandfather. His American roots traced back to 1680's New England. Five years before Ruud’s birth, his parents fled the poor economy there and resettled in Delaware, Ohio, just north of Columbus. They secured a farm, established a whiskey distillery, and built a house in town. But Ruud’s father died in July 1822, leaving Sophia Bircher Hayes—already mourning the recent loss of a daughter—with two children and a third on the way. The future President was born ten weeks after his father's death. He was often sick as an infant. When Ruud was only two, just as his health improved somewhat, his nine-year-old brother drowned

In April 1861, war broke out across the United States, and it would become known as the Civil War. During the Civil War many individuals stepped up to the plate, one of these individuals was Hiram Ulysses Grant. Hiram Ulysses Grant was born on April 27, 1822 in Pleasant Point, Ohio. His parents, Jesse Root Grant and Hannah Grant, quickly moved his family to Georgetown, Ohio ("Ulysses S. Grant," n.d.). Jesse Root Grant, his father, worked as a tanner and businessman. During his childhood, Grant was very timid, but he managed to keep average grades in school ("Ulysses S. Grant," n.d.). After his primary years of school, Ulysses’ father sent him off to military school at West Point. Upon his arrival at West Point Grant’s name was put down as

James Polk was the 11th president of the United States, James Polk was 10 years when his parents crossed the Appalachian Mountains. James Polk was born November 2, 1795. James Polk

Johnson became the 36th President of the United States a few short hours after the assassination of JFK. Known as one of the greatest political persuaders of the times, he sought the “Greater Good” of the people. James Madison was the fourth president of the United States. Although he was president, he is better known as the “father of the Constitution”. He led our fledging nation through the difficult War of 1812.

Lyndon B. Johnson was born August 27, 1908, in Stonewall, Texas Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., a politician, farmer, cotton speculator, and newspaper owner, and Rebekah Baines Johnson, a homemaker and sometime newspaper editor (Smallwood). He was he first born of five children. Johnson started school school near his home along the Pedernales River in the Texas hill country at age four. Although at age four, Johnson attended the nearby one-room, one-teacher Junction School, his formal education began in 1913 when he was enrolled in first grade in the Johnson City Elementary School. He also attended a school in the small community of Albert. Johnson’s father, Sam Johnson, was a small-time farmer whose first love was politics; he served several terms in the Texas legislature. He also was able to gain a measure of financial security which allowed him to re-enter politics. In 1917, he won a special election and regained his seat in the Texas legislature. Johnson was introduced to the fascinating world of politics as small boy. When Sam Johnson decided to move, Johnson then transferred to high school nearby Johnson City. He did exceptionally well as a student. He was elected senior class president, was a leader of the school debate team, finished second in a graduating class of six, and gave the student oration at graduation. Johnson’s classmates recall that he always wanted to be the leader and always wanted to

Thomas Stonewall Jackson was born in Clarksburg, Virginia, on January 21, 1824. After graduating 17th in his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He served in the Mexican War and won two brevets. While he was in Mexico, Jackson became a Presbyterian. A friend said that, "He never smoked, he was a strict teetotaler and never touched a card." In 1851, Jackson was recruited to teach at the Virginia Military Institute. His students called him Deacon Jackson, while others compared him to Oliver Cromwell.

William was born in 1727 over in Stratford, CT. William graduated from Yale in 1744 and a few years later he won a master of arts degree from Yale and an honorary masters from Harvard. His father wanted him to become a minister, but William wanted to go into law field. William largely learned the law by self-educating, and he had admittance into the bar. Where he launched his on practice in Stratford. In 1749 he married Anne Beach, a daughter of a local businessman. William ended up having five daughters and six sons with Anne and sadly many of their children have passed away at an early age. In 1750’s William began his public career as a militia officer in Connecticut. He served in the lower house of the colonial assembly in 1761 and 1765. After having a career there Johnson decided to work for peace between Britain and the colonies and to oppose the extremist Whig faction. In 1779 Johnson got his first rap sheet and got charged with communicating with the enemy, but he eventually cleared himself and was released. Once all the wars have subsided he went back into his political career. In the Continental Congress between 1785-87, he turn out to be the utmost popular and influential representative around. He played such a huge part in the Constitutional Convention. He adopted the Connecticut Compromise, and oversaw the committee of style, as well as he worked for ratification in Connecticut. Johnson contributed to the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789 and took part in the new government. Although a couple years later he decided to resigned mostly because he dedicated most of his time to the presidency of Columbia college and he finally had the time and energy to establish the school on a stable basis and employed an acceptable faculty. Johnson ended up retiring from the college in 1800 and sadly a few years later his wife passed way. But that didn’t stop him he married a new lady named Mary

     Andrew Johnson, the 17th president, was born in Raleigh, North Carolina on December 29th, 1808. At the young age of three years old, Andrew’s father. Jacob Johnson passed away while drowning in an attempt to save the life of Editor Henderson from the Raleigh Gazette in 1812. Andrew’s mother, Mary Johnson, worked hard as a seamstress and washerwoman in order to support Andrew and his three brothers, and her; but she was unable to afford to send them to school. From the age of 14 until 16 he worked as an apprentice to a tailor but talked to his mother and stepfather about moving and starting a new life. He then opened a tailor shop in Greenville, Tennessee, married Eliza McCardle on May 17, 1827 and

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), was a highly talented and celebrated African American writer. He was a poet, songwriter, novelist, literary critic, and essayist. Along with his wide-ranging literary accomplishments, Johnson also served as a school principal, professor of literature at Fisk University, attorney, a diplomatic consul for the United States in Venezuelaand Nicaragua, and secretary for the NAACP from 1920-1930. He is considered one of the founders of the Harlem Renaissance and the first "modern" African American.

Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2,1908 in Baltimore,Maryland. His parents were William and Norma Marshall and his brother was William A. Marshall. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a railroad porter. His parents pushed him and his brother to get their education. His father was fascinated with trials and took Thurgood to as many public trials as he could. “Marshall’s exposure to the law and the Constitution was unusually early”(Thurgood Marshall)

Later in life they would cause of him to be rejected for a teaching position. He attended the Lichfield Grammar School where he would succeed in the study of Greek and Latin despite the fact that he felt different because of the poverty his family suffered. Samuel Johnson read as many books as he could from the bookshop when he working with his father. Later, he would attend Oxford where he astounded his tutors and classmates with his knowledge. He was a conservative whom was alienated from the liberal intellectual circles (Green). In 1733, he relocated to Birmingham to live his with friend Edward Hector, a surgeon supporting himself by writing for the Birmingham Journal and translating the historically significant and politically controversial Jeronymo Lobo’s Abyssinia. While in Birmingham, Hector introduced Johnson to a Harry Porter, a wool draper. Johnson married his widow less than a year after the demise of Porter; she was twenty one years his senior.