LAD #37

Linda Brown, a third grade African American girl, was the turning point in the fight against segregation in schools. Brown was forced to walk a mile to get to her elementary school despite the fact another school stood a matter of blocks from her house. Except the school was whites only, and Linda Brown and other colored children couldn't attend due to "separate but equal." Her parents took the issue to the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and they were glad the problem had finally come to light. For some time they had wanted to expression their views on the separation of black and white schools. Linda Brown was to act as the spark to help ignite the fight against segregated schools just as Rosa Parks was used in the bus boycotts. The NAACP brought the case to court in Brown vs. The Board of Education where they explained how the white school gives colored children the impression that they are inferior to them and therefore does not live up to the statement of "separate but equal." Judge Warren ruled in favor off the NAACP and declared the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson unconstitutional and for all schools across America to be desegregated, although the case did not end segregation as a whole.

LAD #36

In President Truman's address to Congress, he starts right off in stating that in order for Greece to survive on its own, it will need our help and guidance. He points out that Greece's wealth isn't as extensive as ours and they don't have the same opportunities that we take for granted. They have been continually taken advantage of and invaded by countless nations, unable to find their own voice in the matter. The Germans, despite being removed from Greek land, had destroyed everything. Villages were burned, railroads were ruined--the end result was the equivalent to Sherman's march to the sea. Truman continues to push on and states that Greece is unable to handle the situation and that we are the only ones willing to help them. America was their last hope, and Truman strived to make sure Congress understood that. He also points out that Turkey too needs their assistance and by helping them we can secure a stable environment in the Middle East. As a fellow independent nation who had fought tooth and claw to gain freedom, we should help others who desire that same goal. Truman stated that allowing these nations to lose their independence would be a crime. Finally, he asks Congress to allow military troops and personal to be sent to Greece and Turkey in order for them to give all the help they require. Failing now would mean putting the safety and peace of the world at risk, and Truman knows Congress would never allow that to happen. He concludes by putting his faith in them.

LAD #35

FDR states in the Executive Order 9066 that there were to be various areas of land under complete governmental supervision where anyone who lives and/or is moved to those areas would be provided with food, shelter, and military protection. Those, however, who were not intended to be placed in said land were to be kept out of the area by the military. FDR gave the military authorization to rush people, specifically the Japanese-Americans, into camps in order to keep them separated from the full blooded American people. America had just declared war on Japan and was still reeling from the impact of the Pearl Harbor massacre and a panic was beginning to set in. In order to help solve it, FDR allowed Executive Order 9066 to be set into place to help lessen the chaos. The Secretary of War along with the military was given free reign to do whatever they felt was necessary to keep the rules enforced and to make sure the Japanese-Americans remained within the camps.

LAD #34

Franklin Delano Roosevelt begins his demand for war by reminding his audience of the violent attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor after America had made it clear they would play no part in the war. Roosevelt stated that he and Japan had previously coexisted together in peaceful harmony and that their aggression towards the nation was not only uncalled for, but shocking. Japan had planned the attack on Pearl Harbor days before the actual attack, but they didn't stop there. Japan also continued to attack other areas of the world besides Pearl Harbor, quickly turning peaceful neighbors into vengeful enemies looking for retaliation for what had happened. Japan fooled them all, but Roosevelt plans to show the Japanese that they are not a nation to be trifled with. Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippine Islands, the Wake Island, and also the Midway Island also tasted the bitterness and desperation of the Japanese to not only be heard, but to attempt to weaken their enemies who had done nothing previously to them to call for such measures to be taken. Roosevelt assures the American people that although this will be a difficult task, the nation is more than capable of completing it and knocking Japan down a peg, thus ending its rein of destruction. Roosevelt wants to make sure that Japan will never be able to betray America like that ever again. He concludes his speech by demanding Congress declare a declaration of war against Japan due to the uncalled for and uncalculated attack on Pearl Harbor.

LAD #33

Franklin Delano Roosevelt opens his first inaugural address by stating that he knows the public expects him to make a statement on the present condition of the United States. He, unlike Wilson, no longer wishes to sugarcoat the present situation the nation is in, and therefore promises that he will tell them "the truth, the whole truth" with the hope of one day returning to normalcy. He gives his world famous line "all we have to fear is fear itself," claiming that the only issues America should be facing are things that can be met with the proper solution which he may provide. He assures the people that he will be the one to bring about prosperity nationwide and give as much support leadership wise as humanly possible for the nation's road to recovery. FDR talks of the economy and its struggle in pulling itself out of the ditch we'd all taken a part in digging, but states that he is glad the only problems facing the nation today are material things, and we should be too. He claims these things are nothing compared to what our ancestors and forefather's were forced to face. FDR wants to put people to work and offer jobs back to those who deserve to make a living. He wants to accomplish this and also stimulate the national resources of the country. He calls for strict supervision on all things banking, along with credits and investments. He wants to restore faith in currency and help heal those who had lost their entire life savings. He helps restore faith in the constitutional system among the American people, stating it still remains able to make great feats for the prosperity of the nation as a whole. He wants to unify the nation once more and assure the nation that the people of the United States have not failed. FDR finishes his first inaugural address by praying for luck upon the nation's move towards a better and brighter future in the coming days.

LAD #32

The Kellogg Briand Peace Pact was signed in 1928. It was created as a treaty to reestablish stability between the nations. Powers such as Great Britain, Italy, Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, and Japan in the coming year. The treaty called for war to no longer be used as part of the national policy. Those who agreed to the terms and signed the document were therefore agreeing to no longer use war, weapons, and militarism as it had been previously used and instead accept the change the pact projected. If any nation that had signed the agreement were to break that pact and use war as means of benefiting their nation, they would be denied all the positive things the treaty had to offer to them. The treaty was created as a means to slowly wane countries off of using war for their own self benefit and one day live in a world where people would no longer need that sense of violence. The document, having been written by S. of State Frank Kellogg and signed by President Coolidge, gave America the complete control to allow as many nations into the pact as they pleased.

LAD #31

Wilson's Fourteen Points were first presented in his speech to the American Congress in 1918. The points stated that there would no longer be any secret governmental agreements that others were unaware of, they would have access to all areas of the sea, all other countries were to decrease their weapons supply, and any decisions directly or indirectly involving American colonies were to be fair and just. It also stated that Germany should be removed entirely from Russia so they are able to build their own empire free of other nations' control, Belgium should be considered independent (as it once was before the war began), France should be freed and allowed to obtain its own areas of land it had lost, those native to Italy are allowed to reside there, self-determination should be created as an achievable mindset for those in Austria-Hungary whereas self-independence is prohibited in the Balkan states, the Turkish people should be governed solely by a Turkish government while non-Turks are to be governed by others, Poland should be named independent and allowed access to the sea, and finally, a League of Nations should be established so that political and territorial independence may be guaranteed to all states.

LAD #30

Schneck began sending circulars around with the letters mailed to drafted men, an act that began the issue within the government. It stated that the draft was bad and only put in place due to the government's own capital greed. It stated that they should not back down but rather find a more peaceful way to reform the Conscription Act. The government saw what Schneck had done as treason and conspiracy, eventually brining him to court. The decision was unanimous--Schneck could not be protected from what he had done and his right to freedom of speech could not be applied to the context of the situation. Holmes stated that every individual does in fact have their own right to freedom of speech, but when that speech presents a "clear and present danger," then those rules do not apply. By creating insubordination among the military ranks, Schneck was found guilty on all charges, unable to be protected by the rights of man any farther.

LAD #29

In the 1900s roughly 2 million children were found working long hours for jobs that paid very little. The Keating-Owen law regulated child labor and made it illegal for a company to sell products when the workers there were under a specific age. For example, children working in factories, shops, or canneries under age 14 and miners under the age of 16. Wilson passed the law and it remained in place until the government named it unconstitutional during the Bailey vs. Drexel Furniture Company court case over the idea that Congress cannot regulate trade. Although the law was removed from existence, the wrongdoings of child labor continued to be argued and regulated over the coming years.

LAD #28

Wilson begins his first inaugural address by stating that there has been a change in government. He elaborates on the history behind there finally being a large population of Democrats within the heart of the government. Wilson considers this, from the Democratic standpoint, to have been a success. Finally a political party was united in government, a fact he thought to be nothing but a positive turning point for the nation. He continues speaking of the past and the blood, sweat, and tears it took Americans to develop a government as mighty and respected as our own, eventually narrowing down his speech to the topic of the lives that had been lost to achieve this country of greatness. Wilson states that Americans became greedy in some sense and began spending, not money, but human lives on the cost of worldly desires. He states that our growth industrially is obviously a good thing, but having too much of it could turn corrupt and evil. Wilson points out that the government had been used for selfish reasons rather than its original purpose--"for the people, by the people, of the people." But he then changed pace and began moving towards the positive side of all the nation is about. He states that seeing the good with the bad is a great thing in order for them to move forward in worldly affairs. Wilson wants to slide one foot into the future while keeping the other planted firmly in the past--meaning he wants to chase the destiny of the growing nation while still keeping in mind the original bases on which it was created. He wants to maintain the ideas of human rights in such a way that remains untouched no matter how many years pass. Wilson understands how the government is the guiding hand for the people, and promises to guide them without failure towards a greater future.

LAD #27

The main purpose of the Clayton Anti-Trust Act was to start to push government back into the economic lives of people and therefore lessen the power of big businessmen throughout the nation. It begins by stating that those involved in commerce are not allowed to discriminate against others' price choices for their goods and services. Rockefeller had a habit of selling his products at cheaper prices in order to destroy his competition and run them out of business, an act that was now considered illegal thanks to the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. It declared monopolies illegal and stopped the shifting of prices in order to weaken opponents. The act worked to promote free trade by no longer allowing companies to purchase controlling stocks and decrease the impact big business has had on the nation since shortly after the civil war.

LAD #26

Dr. Martin Luther Kind Jr begins his famed speech by acknowledging that the march on Washington will be recorded as the greatest demonstration of freedom in American history. He then takes on a Lincoln-type voice as he states "five score and seven years ago" and begins talking of the Emancipation Proclamation signed during the Battle of Antietam by the president himself. He talks of the proclamation finally freeing blacks from the burdening chains of slavery, but a mere century later they are still not free. In this day and age they are bound by the rules of Jim Crow laws and "Whites Only" drinking fountains, restaurants, bathrooms, and more. Negros, despite slavery no longer holding them down, are now shunned and discriminated against in their own homes. They have been backed into a corner of solitude by the society they were thought to be a part of. Martin Luther King Jr continues by saying how America has broken her long standing promise of equality and a new life, therefore giving Negros country-wide a feeling of frustration towards those who put them in the position they are. He says how all black people want is to have the "security of justice" and to eradicate the discrimination among the color barrier. He takes a shot at those who considered their peaceful march to be Negros simply "blowing off steam" and says that they will neither rest nor back down until they are granted the citizenship they rightfully deserve. People asked when the Civil Rights Movement and those involved in it would be satisfied, to which Martin Luther King JR. replied "we can never be satisfied so long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied." He continues to speak of the great injustice the whites had continually forced upon the black man. He then states that he has a dream of his own that is deeply rooted in the American dream to once again establish the connection between Negros and the country built upon the righteous belief of freedom. "I have a dream," he presses on with one of the most famous lines in all of history, "that one day my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not by judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today." He concludes his speech by commanding not only the audience but those listening who opposed his viewpoint to "let freedom ring" and allowing there to come a time when Negros can finally say that they are free at last once more.

LAD #25

The Dawes Act was the removal of Indians in America to preselected Indian reservations. Each Indian would be given a specific spot of land to call their own and do what they wished with. The head of the family was the person who took on the most amount of land, which was to be expected at that time period. The document continued to explain just how much each Indian would be given land-wise. The select number of Indians who did not receive an assigned reservation to live on could journey anywhere in the United States to live, while those already assigned reservations were stuck living there for the next 25 years. After that only those in the seat of president could decide whether or not to allow Indians more time on the reservation they were assigned.

LAD #24

Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech was a tactic to sway the American people to support the free coinage of silver. The Democratic party was swimming against the tide during the time, the rest of the country wanting to stray away from bimetallism while they wanted to absorb it. But Americans, wanting to stay in touch with the time period, chose to remain trapped in a world ruled by gold along with a number of other countries at that point in history. Bryan continued to state how America wouldn't be alone for long since it was most likely their switch to silver would soon be followed by other countries such as Britain. Bryan continued to state how the destruction of a city would just lead to another rising in its place, but the destruction of a farm meant it would never rise again. Suffering would be inevitable after that and people would only rush to their rescue. Bryan finishes the speech by stating how they cannot--shall not--"crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." (italics added)

LAD #23

Factory conditions grew continually worse after the rise of big business post civil war, leading to the creation of groups such as the Populist Political Party who stood up against corporate greed in order to create better working conditions for the lower classes. The party continued by drafting a document that stated all the impact big business had left on poverty stricken immigrants and the working class. They explained the slums people were living in along with the unionizations taking place. They continued to explain their belief that silver should be used as the number one currency in America, going back to the much debated concept on paper money or coins. Populists considered the government to have failed its people and it to be as corrupt as the big businesses that'd left the country in shambles. They want there to be unionizing of labor workers and no longer monopolized land controlled by powerful businesses. They embodied the idea of a better life for those living in the slums and working with machines that have killed more people than they can count. The party came to an end around the early 1900s, but their fight was not forgotten and continued to grow through those around them searching to better the lives of immigrants and union workers.

LAD #22

After the Cubans revolted against the Spanish, the government, attempting to keep the US out of war for the time being, declared an ultimatum in which the Spanish would stop all forms of fighting and offer an armistice to the Cubans who'd revolted against them. McKinley wanted to push further and completely stop the fighting in Cuba, bringing his ideas to Congress a mere two days after the ultimatum with Spain. He stated that "in the name of humanity. . . the war in Cuba must stop" and continued to inform Congress in all they'd accomplished with Spain two days prior. McKinley reminds Congress about the destruction of the Maine and stated how the war raging on in Cuba is close to compromising their own peace and protection. McKinley believed it was their duty to do something about the conflicts. He pressed stating how if Spain were to leave their promise to end the hostile fighting broken, the conflict would still exist. McKinley's words for peace through force became a reality after Congress agreed to join the fight from the side of the Cubans, plunging America into war a mere three years after their policy of isolation had been put in place.