LAD #37 Brown v. Board of Education

In the 1950s, there was still much racial segregation in schools, that did not allow blacks and whites to be taught together. Linda Brown, a third grader in Kansas was forced to walk 1 mile everyday to get to her black school, even thought the white school was very close. Later, her father tried to enroll her in the white elementary school, however the principle did not allow it. He then went to the NAACP and they were eager to help. In the district court, the NAACP argued that the blacks not being able to go to the same schools as the white makes them feel inferior, thus no longer have an "separate but equal" feel. On the other side, the BOE fought that they were preparing the black kids for the segregation they would have later in life. Because of the unfair ruling, Brown and the NAACP appealed to the supreme court. After a long time in the decision making of the court, they struck down the "Separate but equal" idea of the Plessy v. Ferguson. This was the first steps into desegregating schools.

LAD 36 - Truman Doctrine

On March 12 1947, President Harry Truman addressed Congress on behalf of the raising tensions of communism. He states the economic help needed from Greece and Turkey and it is the utmost importance to help them in order to contain the threat of communism. He states how they, especialy Greece is troubled by the economic conditions from World War II. He explains how the Greek government is not strong enough to defend themselves from communism and America is the only democratic nation that can help them. The nations that are falling and are close to Soviet Russia need our attention desperatly, and it is very important for America to turn our attension to the Greeks immediatly. He asks congress for  $400,000,000 in order to assist Greece and Turkey, he also asks for resources in which he can help them as swiftly as possible. Truman ends his address by saying "The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms". Thus although he never says the word "containment", this is the start of America's new foreign policy of containing the threat of communism.

LAD 35 Executive Order 9066

In Roosevelt's Executive order 9066, he states that they need to be against the espionage act and other acts that have led the the espionage act. He asks the Secretary of War and the Military Commander to be in charge of this operation. He continues to state that there are some necessary provisions such as medical care needs to be accessed in order for this to go on smoothly. However he does not want to go against the Executive Order 8972 and it will not stop the work of the FBI. He ends his order by stating the date and the placement of this issue. Although he didnt speak about the Japanese people, he does make his argument clear.
  

LAD #34 FDR's Declaration of War

FDR begins his address by stating that the United States was attacked on December 7th 1941, the day prior. He speaks of the peace between Japan and the US prior and how he felt that this was abruptly changed. After meeting with the Japanese government and speaking about this peace, the Japanese bombed Honolulu. He continued to talk about the past relationship with japan and figured that they must have been planning this attack for a while. America was upset that the Japanese went against their will and their peaceful  times and attacked America. He concludes by asking congress to declare war on Japan, this opened War and brought America into the second world war.

LAD #33 FDR's First Inaugural Address

During the social and economic boom of the 1920s, the political side of the president HardeningCoolidgeHoover, took a more lazzi faire approach. After "black Tuesday  and Hoovers lack of effort, Americans were ready for a change. Franklin D. Roosevelt  Teddy Roosevelt's 5th cousin, came into office at a rock bottom time in American history. FDR had the hard task of bringing america out of this depression. In Roosevelt's Inaugural Address, Roosevelt is very optimistic about America coming back strong. Roosevelt said, "...the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Roosevelt delivers his plan in order to have america jump back up, the New Deal. He embodies the idea of government regulation and no more lazzi faire approach. He plans to employ all those who are unemployed by the creation of government projects. Roosevelt came out as a strong man and a man that has come to answer each and every Americans wishes. And he assured America that everything will be back to normal soon.

LAD #32 Kellogg Briand Peace Pact

In 1928 the Kellogg Briand Peace Pact was approved by the United States Senate and President Calvin Coolidge. This pact was created by Coolidge's secretary of state, Frank Kellogg and the French foreign minister Briand. This pact was one of those things that sound really good on paper, but when they come to mean something, it would not work. It outlawed war as a foreign policy except for measures of defense. This pact contained some remnants of President Wilson's 14 points, however although this was pasted it would have created a "too ideal" world. Unfortunately like, "Cool Cal's" presidency this pact made little impact because of failed attempt to keep away war, (Due to the outbreak of World War 2).

LAD 31 Wilson's 14 Points

At the close of World War 1, on January 8th 1918, Wilson gave his 14 points. These points were meant to reassure the people that the war was needed and was promoted to promote peace and prevent another world war. Wilson wanted to promote the countries unity in order to prosper. A summary of the fourteen points follows:
1.  Public Diplomacy rather than private/secret.
2. Freedom of the seas during war and peace
3. Equal Trade conditions
4. A reduce of the size of National armies
5. Readjust the colonial claims
6. Evacuation of Russian Territory in order to create peace prosperity
7.  Evacuation of Belgium in order to restore it.
8. Freedom of French Territory
9. Adjust Italy Territory.
10. For the people of Austria-Hungry to have free opportunities
11. Montenegro, Romania and Serbia to be evacuated and restored
12. Minorities in Turkey protected and a free passage of ships in Dardanelles
13. Poland Independence
14. League of Nations formed in order to avoid any future conflict

LAD 30 Schenck v. United States

On March 3rd, 1919, the Schenck v. United States created a historical decision. Schenck was accused of  his socialist views and his conspiracy of violating the Espionage Act. He was attempting to stop recruitment of the military. Schenck felt that he had these rights based on the first amendment, freedom of speech. When he went to the Supreme court, the United States won the case unanimously. Supreme Court Chief Justice, Holmes said that Schenck's remarks were impeding the war effort and that his efforts were creating "a clear and present danger". During war, Holmes, as well as, many other American's believed some liberties must be put on hold for the sake of the country. This landmark decision set the standards of civil liberties during war.

LAD #29 Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

The Keating-Owen act was passed in 1916 based upon Senator Albert Beveridge's proposal in 1906. Beveridge proposed, with the help of the government, to interfere and fight against child labor. This act was pushed on by Edward Keating and Robert Owen. It banned the sale of products form ANY factory that employed children that were younger than 14, or any children under the age of 16 that worked in a mine. It also wanted to ban the sale of products from factories that employed children under 16 that were working for more than 8 hours. The law was successfuly passed until 1918, when it was declared unconstitutional by the supreme court decision of Hammer v. Dagenhart. It was declared so because the court did not believe the federal government could interfere with interstate trade. This Act was a stepping stone for the Fair Labor Standards of 1938, which set standard laws for employment, and allowed laws for children to work.

LAD #28 Wilson's First Inaugrual Address

Woodrow Wilson was elected president in 1912, and his first part of his address, addressed the recent changes in government and the new laws that stopped business corruption. Wilson, being a democrat was thrilled with the fact that mostly democrats held federal power, and thrilled by the success of his party. Wilson tells all Americans that he will take a fresh start in governing America, and it is the utmost important to keep it strong. Wilson pushes that America is a great country with a great moral standing, it is is important to stay away from the evil in the outside world. While America was bombing industrially, the American Government took a step back, and it is the utmost importance to have to government intervening. Wilson finishes his speech exclaiming that the Americans need to realize the costs and effects of industrialization  in order to create a better country.

LAD #27 Clayton Anti-Trust Act

The Clayton Anti-Trust act was passed in 1914 in order to eliminate corruption in businesses. This act stopped businessmen from charging unfair prices to different customers. This set a non-changeable price for a product no matter who was buying the product. This act was not supposed to stop normal businesses or stop prices from fluctuating. If this was to happen, the government had the right to intervene in order to stop the discrimination. This act was put in place as a back up to the Sherman Anti-Trust act, and was a more descriptive in that it stopped discrimination in business. Also this act pushed for competition in business, in order to keep a fair market for customers.  The main goal of this act was to prohibit big businesses from making monopolies and creating corruption throughout America.

LAD #26 Martin Luther King Jr. "I Have a Dream"

Martin Luther King starts off his speech speaking of the Emancipation Proclamation. However he is very upset about  the conditions in which the African Americans are faced with. King in Washington says that today they are ready to cash in their check, which was promised to every american citizen in 1776. King continues to use the phrase "I have a Dream" to make this powerfull statement fill the hearts of each and every citizen that is there. King also "reminds America of the fierce urgency of Now", and that there is "no time to...take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism". However he does not want the African Americans to use non-violence. He pushes them to continue fighting untill they have the same rights as every other american. He dreams of a time when former slaves and slave owners can be friends, and black children and white children can sit together and play. This speech was a influential speech that goes down in history and has been heard by millions.

LAD #25 Dawes Act

The Dawes Severalty Act of 1877 was based upon native American's rights. After being forced onto reservations, this act allowed natives to own land on those reservations. Because there was very little land on the reservations, there was restrictions on how much land an Indian can own depending on their size of their family and age. The natives also got to pick where their land would be, however if two people picked the same plot of land, it would be divided and then they would also be allowed to pick another piece of land that would equal the land that they lost. This all seems great, but there was more restrictions, including, if you didnt pick your land in 4 years, the government would pick it for you. The native americans were given patents for their land and now were granted protection under the law as well as punishment for crime. In addition, if a native american was no longer associated under a tribe, they would be granted citizenship, for some tribes, like the Sioux and Iroquois, were not given this opportunity. This law shows how the American government wanted to be able to know where and who all of the Indians were in a way making it seem like they were doing something kind.

LAD #24 Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech

On July 9th 1896, William Jennings Bryan gave his Cross of Gold Speech at the Democratic Convention. Bryan began his speech by appreciating the American Worker, and how much they have done to keep the country going. Bryan, a "Silver Democrat" believed the way to fix the hurting economy was to replace the money system with silver instead of gold, because of it's availability. This was not only going to help the economy, but the average American farmer as well. Jennings emphasized that doing this would help all Americans that were hurting because of the overtake of big business. And this was important because it would help a majority of the population, instead of the "1 per-centers" that ran the businesses. With this change in standard, farmers would easily be able to pay off their debts because silver is 1/16th of the price of gold. Bryan also said to benefit the people, an income tax must be emplaced. Bryan ends his speech by saying, "You shall not crucify a man upon a cross of gold."

LAD #23 Populist Party Platform

The Populist party or better known as the "People's Party". In the 19th century, the Populist Party arose from the former farmers alliance as a new independent party. The Populist were usually farmers from the south and they were against big business because it hurt the farmers increasingly. Also they opposed money being in the hands of very few wealthy people. The Populist believed that workers during the industrial age were being denied basic rights and this created even more corruption in Washington. While supporting workers, they also supported workers forming Unions to protect themselves. Populist were against immigrants coming to America and taking jobs from Americans. The other parties were unable to take any action and the populist party believed that the only way to fix the government was to put the money back into the hands of the "Plain People" However they supported the government interfering to create public transportation as well as communication.  And that is the Populist Party.