LAD #37

LAD #37 Brown vs. Board of Education:
             
We are fortunate enough to live in a time of racial equality and acceptance. But once upon a time back in the 1950's things weren't at all are they like today. There was segregation everywhere. Including all the public schools. This was a time where the civil rights movement was continuing to blossom and grow throughout the nation. At the same time, there was a lot of resentment towards integration in the 'solid south' and other areas of America. Little miss Linda Brown protested because she wanted to go to the white school that was closer by. She was supported by the NAACP and won the case. This was a huge success because it proved that things were really beginning to change for the civil rights movement in America. Unrestricted freedom was now a goal possible to achieve.

LAD #36

LAD #36: Truman Doctrine
        The Truman Doctrine was created during the Cold War in attempts to stop the spread of communism. The U.S. was fine with keeping communism where is was, as long as it didn't go anywhere else. The U.S. offered to give a tremendous amount of money to Turkey and Greece so that they wouldn't fall to this form of government. It has been proved that communism rises from poverty and desperation. Both countries were not doing well and were surrounded by communist countries. The hope was that if we stopped these countries from being poor, they would not fall. This was proved to be very successful and later in the Cold War, Turkey, as sign of thanks allowed us to build missiles on their land.

LAD #35

LAD #35: FDR's Executive Order #9066
       Pearl Harbor caused panic throughout the nation in more way then one. The people of America were really shook up and worried constantly about another attack. This brought with it a lot of angst and racial tensions between the American people and Japanese immigrants or even Japanese Americans. Due to all this tension and horrible fear, the Executive Order #9066 was put into order. This was a terrible act, making it legal for Americans to collect and place all the Japanese in one specific place so that they could be watched. Even innocent civilians were taken from their homes and placed elsewhere. The act called for respect as well.

LAD #34

LAD #34: FDR's Declaration of War

        December 1941. Pearl Habor. The single event that brought panic and havic to the people of the United States. It was the straw to break the camels back as they say, and Roosevelt has finally had enough. So many innocent souls died in the attack and it was time to stand up for them and many others. Joining the war was going to single handedly get them out of the depression. Bring them out of this slump and introduce the industries to new products and fuel jobs and bring more money into circulation. During Roosevelts speech he addressed the key specifics to the event making sure that the people knew why they were going to war after all this time of burying their heads in the sand. He talked about Japans other horrible actions to other countries, to also let the people know that we were in this for ourselves and others as well. He was going to ensure American safety and claim victory for this beloved country.

LAD #33

                                                                                     LAD #33 - FDR's First Inaugural Address
             Towards the end of President Hoovers term the economy had taken an unfortunate turn for the worse and the public wanted to ensure a change in office that could better improve their condition. They looked no further then Roosevelt! He was a strong choice and during his address he attempted to calm the nation and inform them that he will do his very best to turn things around. His most famous quote is 'the only thing to fear is fear itself'! This truly demonstrated the kind of person he really was. He wasn't a forgotten presidents, he promised a strong government for strong people. He said this hard time in America would only make us stronger and help us to grow. Essentially he wanted to make sure something like this never happened again.

LAD #32

LAD #32 - Kellogg Briand Pact
         Otherwise known as the Kellogg Peace Pact was signed between the U.S. and 62 other countries. It was designed so that the countries coundn't use war at means of negociation. It was signed on August 27 1928 and was a very big deal. It was also designed to help fuel economies and bring other countries together. It was a very idealistic and basically a hope for peace throughout the world. The U.S. helped enforce the treaty and make sure it was kept in play.

LAD #31

LAD #31: Wilson's Fourteen Points

         Following the end of the World War in 1918, the leaders of Europe and the U.S. met without Germany to discuss war terms. Many of the European countries were very bitter and they wanted nothing but revenge for what Germany did to them and their countries. Wilson on the other hand looked back on American history and knew the harsh effects of beating down too hard. The south was still bitter for the way they were treated during reconstruction and he didn't want that to happen here too. He suggested fourteen points that he considered very reasonable and necessary. Things like freedom of seas, and no economic boundaries. It ended with the creation of a peace keeping organization in which all the countries would join and meet in order to keep problems at bay. Unfortunitely the countries being bitter as they were, through out all but the last point and developed the fluffy idealistic League of Nations, which was really no match for the issues that Europe still possessed. The U.S. was very upset with this and never signed the treaty. Surprisingly the U.S never joined the League as well.
           

LAD #30

              LAD #30: Schenck vs. U.S.

A while ago, an act was passed called "The Conscription Act of the Great War". Schenck wanted to get people together to resist the Act peacefully as he felt it was unconstitutional. He did so and ended up being charged of course with violation of the Espionage Act, because apparently he caused obstruction to recruitment of the military. Holmes spoke within the court stating that Schenck's words weren't protected under the First Amendment. He said that the way that each Act is to be interprited due to the individual situation. They confirmed that because the country was in a time of war, his actions at this certain point were dangerous to the people of America. Holmes opinion  was that congress could resist the problem, but Schenck could not resist the act.

LAD #29

               LAD #29: Keating-Owen Child Labor Act
               In 1916 Senator Beveridge proposed the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act which was passed shortly after. The purpose of the Bill was to regulate child labor in factories around the country. It also banned the sale of anything sold by companies endorsing child labor (e.i. employing children under the age of 14 and also mines employing those younger than 16). Children were also not allowed to work more than 8 hours a day. The government had the power to control interstate commerce which helped them control the Act. President Wilson was of course all for the bill as it helped remove some of the evil and corruption from America. Unfortunitely, congress dubbed it unconstitutional. The Act got people thinking about how much child labor needed to be removed, even though it took a very long long time to get it regulated and ended.

LAD #28

             LAD #28: Wilson's First Inaugural Address:
During the election of 1912, there was a decisive split between Roosevelt (the progressive candidate) and Taft (Republican) and the win actually went to Wilson (the Democratic nominee). Representing the lower classes and the working people of American won him a lot of votes in the end. Wilson could see all the evils that were coming with the industrialization and he wanted to stop it. He said this needed to be a time to restore what used to be. He promoted better working conditions, higher pay, and a happier common man. Wilson knew there was a lot of regulation that needed to be done, especially in the food market (thus leading to the creation of the Pure Food and Drug Act). He wanted a society based on morals and respect. Things needed to return to the way they were. Wilson was extremely hopeful and dreamed of the best for America.

LAD #27

         LAD #27: The Clayton Anti-Trust Act
In 1914 Congress passed the Clayton Anti-Trust Act due to the seeming failure of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. It restricted the power of companies, and banned them from doing things like lowering there prices to destroy places that couldn't even compete. It also didn't allow for rebates, inter-corporate stock holdings, and of course exclusive contracts. The Act was far more successful and for many reasons. For one, unions were no longer allowed to get in the way of the economy, for example the restriction of trade. But the document also made many forms of peaceful protest very legal. The Act has played a big part in lawsuits against big businesses over the years.

LAD #26

LAD #26: Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream Speech'

         Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., Martin Luther King spoke out to over 200,000 civil rights activists and supporters about the dream of that glorious day where they could all be equal in this world. Where racism and inequality was a thing of the past. Despite the fact that things were supossed to be entirely equal between the classes of race, still standing a century after the civil war the black population was still being oppressed and King was determined to have their voices heard. He prays for the Negros to stand up and join in with the white man to bring about a happier future. Two groups living peacefully side by side. No more segregation, no more hatred, where the color of skin was a cover of some discarded book. He closes his speech brilliantly, with the point of the one thing we all want the most. Freedom.

LAD #25

   

LAD #25 - Dawes Severalty Act

         The Dawes Act of 1877 (passed in 1887)was put in place to turn the tribal lands of Native Americans into individual properties. The act basically allowed the president to take the land away from natives and re-divide it. Pieces of land were split into sections. Head of families got 1/4 a section, single persons over 18 and orphan children received 1/8 a section. Patents were to be delivered to verify ownership of land, and the land would be theirs forever after five years (whereas before government had partial ownership). Natives also had to option of applying to work for the US government and becoming an official citizen. It was clear that the government was still trying to assimilate the natives and this proved an opportunity to do so. There became a excess of lands which would be purchased by non-Native American settlers and by railroads.

LAD #24

LAD #24 - William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech

        The "Cross of Gold" speech was delivered in 1896 by William Jennings Bryan, the Democrat from Nebraska. He was well liked by the Democratic National Convention and following his speech he was them nominated to run as a candidate in the 1896 as well as the 1900 and 1908 elections. Bryan all together supports the working man. He claims that the work done out west is just as important as the work done by the business man. He in turn applauds Andrew Jackson, and his efforts for  trying to return the government to the hard working people of America. Bryan wanted to address the main money issue that was primarily being debated and quite the hot topic. He believes the coinage of silver would make a great impact and endorses the idea of silver versus gold ration at 16:1. Because of his passion and support behind the idea, his party became known as the silver democrats.

LAD #23

LAD #23 - The Populist Party Platform

The Populist Party first and foremost was against big business. It began in the 19th century from an alliance of farmers fighting for better conditions and protection of their rights. During elections the Populist party actually became the 3rd independent party and proved well supported. The party saw the corruption of big business and was disgusted by the thousands of neglected poor working class being used to make even more for the very wealthy. On top the that populists took things out on other parties, saying that they weren't taking great enough actions towards all the madness. Bottom line, it was time government became more involved and helped the common people. The government should also tame the big telephone and railroad companies, to make sure the average American is still being benefited. They also tapped into immigration restrictions so that more jobs could go to the real citizens of the country, rather then immigrants from other countries. The party in turn found that Labor Unions identified perfectly with the parties beliefs and were highly encouraged. The platform in which they stood on, was the platform of the people.

LAD #22

LAD #22 - McKinley's War Message
        The main point of McKinley's message was regarding the Cuba vs. Spain war in which America was currently neutral. His main concern is the effect of the war on the American people and all the issues that have occurred because of it. Cuba itself was a necessary asset to the trading market for America and therefore caused problems on an economic scale as well. There were many brutal fighting practices during the war and the American people were becoming agitated. McKinley states that he wants the war to end as quickly as possible and says America has a right and a duty to protect its men and it also feels it owes those rights to Cuba as well. He therefore wanted to intervene to make peace, and he puts the decision into Congresses hands. His philosophy is that something must be done because things arnt getting any better.