Jesse Owens Research Paper

Zerelda Cole was sixteen when she decided to marry a baptist minister named Robert James(“Jesse James Biography.Com” 4). He contributed to founding the William Jewell College in Liberty. The two soon moved to Clay County, Missouri from Kentucky to run a small farm(“Jesse James Biography.Com” 4). Jesse James was born on September 5, 1847(“Jesse James” 2). His older brother Alexander Franklin James was born on January 10, 1843. Jesse also had a sister named Susan born on November 25, 1849 and another half sister named Fannie Quantrill Samuel born on October 18, 1863(“Jesse James (1847 - 1882)” 1). The family had a 100 acre farm where they raised sheep and hemp(Carlynn Trout 3). Robert James left the family to join the Gold Rush but unfortunately died at the age of 26. Jesse was 3 at the time and never saw his father again(“Jesse James” 1). Zerelda remarried but quickly divorced Benjamin

“Although I wasn’t invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn’t invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either.” - Jesse Owens. Jesse Owens was an African American athlete that won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics at Berlin during the Nazi regime. The 1936 Olympics was quite controversial because of the Nazi’s and their policies for minority groups like the Jews. It was so controversial that the United states nearly pulled out of the international spectacle. Germany wanted to use the Olympics to showcase their country. But Jesse Owens took much of the attention away due to his athletic display. Even with his legendary performance in Berlin, it didn’t change much of his status in the US as a black man. In the

Owens not only had to deal with how to get hired, but now had to deal with moving up north and also getting enrolled in school. When his family moved to the north, many other negro families were too, this time was known as the Great Migration (“Jesse Owens”). Owens' life had just taken a drastic turn, but Jesse would not let that get to him. His new neighborhood was very racially diverse and his side of town was also very unstable economically. Owens did not let any of this affect him and he pushed on and began his education. He was finally enrolled in school where he learned to read and write (“Jesse Owens”). He greatly enjoyed learning and wanted to learn all he could. He did not start off as the smartest in his class, but slowly worked his way there. School is also where he got the name Jesse. He was originally born James Cleveland Owens and he went by his initials J.C. and a teacher mispronounced his name as Jesse and it stuck with him (“Jesse Owens”). Shows how he is slowly becoming a different person since he is now beginning to get an education and focusing on other things besides just helping his family. School was not easy for an African American though. He did struggle and got angry a lot because he knew he could be learning a lot more, but his teachers were not giving him as much information as he wanted. He persevered through elementary school and went on to junior high and then high

Bo Jackson is often considered to be one of the greatest athletes of all time. An epic hero isn’t cocky or boastful. Bo never once saw his talents as advantages rather than gifts. He broke tons of records, and made a name for himself but never bragged. He broke records in highschool and had colleges drool over him. He excelled in pro sports as well. Even though he was widely recognized for being extraordinary he was never put into the hall of fame.

There are many people in the world who have made an impact on America. Many people are known for their strength ,courage, and willingness to fight for their beliefs. That is what Jackie Robinson and Jesse Owens have in common; they fought for what they believed in. They broke color barriers, set records, and changed American history. Although they bear some minor similarities, the differences between Jackie and Jesse are clear.

From a young age Bo Jackson could do things other children could not. Growing up, he played football, baseball, and track and was

Jesse James was born in September 5 of 1847 and raised in Kearny Missouri; he was the product of Robert James and Zerelda James. His father, Robert was a Baptist preacher and slave holder who died in California by contracting cholera. His mother Zerelda had remarried after Roberts’s death three times and fully supported and defended Jesse with his crimes. He had seven siblings one who was his partner in crime, his older brother Frank James. Jesse was raised pro-confederate and pro-southern which meant that he was not against slavery. Jesse James had followed in Frank’s footsteps and became a marauding bushwhacker (a confederate guerilla fighter) and joined the confederate guerilla led by “Bloody Bill”. Later on Jesse had joined Frank along with other confederate guerillas to rob stagecoaches and do raids.

Jesse Woodson James, is considered to be one of the greatest Outlaws in American history. Born in Kearney, Missouri, on September 5, 1847, James was the son of Zerelda Cole James and Reverend Robert James, a Baptist minister. The James’s were prominent hemp farmers that owned six slaves. In 1842, before Jesse’s birth, the family moved from Kentucky, Zerelda’s home, to Missouri. During that time, James father assisted in founding the William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, and then traveled to California to preach in the gold mining camps but became sick and died not long after arriving. Zerelda and her children, Jesse, his older brother Frank, and younger sister Susan, were consequently thrown into financial distress. In 1852, Zerelda married an older, wealthy man and moved in with him. The children were made to live with another family as her

He carried that hard work and determination in high school where he became an All American in football at his school while breaking multiple records and maintaining an exceptionally good GPA of 3.5. He actually didn’t start running track until the age of 16 and also became an All American in track and holds the school record in the 400-meter dash. After high school, he was offered a chance to continue his track and football career at the Boise State University, where he received a full scholarship for track and football continued his outstanding athletic success and grades.

Barry Sanders was, if not the best, one of the greatest football running backs in the history of the NFL. Barry was a hard worker at home, and that is what carried him in the game of football. This, in the end, is what helped him achieve a legendary status. In general, Barry Sanders was one of the most versatile football players, but was also a very quiet person on the inside.

Jesse comes from a Chicano family of six, Jesse being the oldest. Jesse was born and raised in East Los Angeles where he attended San Alfonso Catholic High School after being kicked out of varies schools and enlisting in the U.S Marine Corps. Jesse grow up in a conservative loving catholic home but regardless his family morals he love to get in trouble and used drugs considering himself the “Black Sheep” of his family. Jesse drugs of choose at that time was weed, speed, cocaine and alcohol.

The 1936 Olympic games took place in Berlin, Germany, when Jesse Owens was twenty-two. At that time, Adolf Hitler was the ruler of Germany. Hitler believed that the German or “Aryan” race was superior to all others and he intended to prove it in the Olympics. He did not approve of the Americans having black or Jewish athletes. The Olympics began on August 1, 1936.(Raatma 23) The first event that Jesse Owens competed in was the 100 yard dash on August 3. He finished first in ten point three-seconds, winning his first gold medal, which tied an Olympic world record

Some might say Jesse Owens is not controversial because he did not change the racism in America. Jesse Owens said “When I came back to my native country, after all the stories about Hitler, I couldn't ride in the front of the bus," Owens said. "I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President, either." This quote may be true, but Jesse Owens was influential and was an example that it does not matter the ethnicity or nationality, a hero is a hero.

Few athletes have transcended their sports to become a symbol of an era as did Jesse Owens. Enduring a childhood marked by grinding poverty in Alabama, Owens became a star athlete in high school after his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. His achievements earned Owens several lucrative offers to attend college as a track-and-field athlete, and he enrolled at Ohio State University in 1933. On May 25, 1935, Owens made national headlines for setting five world records and tying another record at the Big Ten Intercollegiate Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Although many historians consider Owens's performance that day the greatest achievement by any track-and-field athlete

The Olympics, an event where the most physically fit push themselves to the extreme to win against other nations. In 1936, Adolph Hitler and the Nazis held the Olympics in Berlin, Germany. American athletes had a hard time deciding if they should travel to Berlin and take part in the Nazi Olympics. The Berlin Olympics was a personal issue for the American team, which included Jesse Owens. He wasn't sure that he should join the team because of the views that were expressed by the Nazis. Despite this, he had a lot to show the world.