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.