LAD #37: Brown vs. Board of Education; Topeka, Kansas

Linda Brown, a young African American, walked approximately a mile everyday in order to catch a bus to go to her school. Linda, however, could have very easily attended a white elementary school seven blocks away, but she was denied enrollment into the school due to her race. Oliver Brown, her father, accompanied by thirteen other parents decided to bring the issue to the courts. Brown rightfully argued that black schools received only a third of the funding as white schools. "They did not have the most current textbooks, not enough school supplies, and overcrowded classrooms." Yet, the court room, dominated by whites, referred to the Plessy v. Ferguson in which the doctrine of separate but equal had been defended. The NAACP would not face defeat that easily. Rather, they decided to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. On October 1, 1951, many cases appealing the same thing were combined into one trial; the hearings would begin on the October 9. The Browns argued that black children attended black schools in order to keep them different from everyone else. The case continued for several months. However, after one of the justices, the case had to basically begin once again. Finally, after two years, the ruling was made in favor of the Browns; segregation of schools was outlawed. Tensions between blacks and whites ensued for some time, however, making the path to segregation a rather grueling one.

LAD #36: The Truman Doctrine

The Truman Doctrine was an address for the national security and foreign affairs of the United States, and also Greece and Turkey. The United States received an urgent appeal from Greece for economic and financial assistance, and if they did not receive aid it seemed as though they would not survive as an independent nation. Greece, never being a wealthy country and lacking many natural resources, and it has "suffered invasion, four years of cruel enemy occupation, and bitter internal strife;" it was even stated that the "Germans had destroyed virtually all the railways, roads, port facilities, communications, and merchant marine. More than a thousand villages had been burned. Eighty-five per cent of the children were tubercular. Livestock, poultry, and draft animals had almost disappeared. Inflation had wiped out practically all savings." A militant minority, tragic conditions, and human exploitation have made economic recovery seem impossible for Greece. Too, the Greeks were seeking to resume purchases of the bare essentials that were unavailable at the time. The Greeks also asked the United States for political aid; "the assistance of experienced American administrators, economists and technicians to insure that the financial and other aid given to Greece shall be used effectively in creating a stable and self-sustaining economy and in improving its public administration." Truman tells the joint session of Congress that the aid the United States has already provided for Greece is inadequate and that the United States, as a self governing democracy, must do more for Greece. The British had been helping them previously but they can no longer offer economic support after the 31st of March. Turkey is another nation that Truman mentions "as an independent and economically sound state is clearly no less important to the freedom-loving peoples of the world than the future of Greece." Turkey was better off than Greece, but Truman claims that Turkey needs aid also. Turkey is seeking this help in order to maintain security and stability throughout the Middle East. Truman says: "We are the only country able to provide that help." "The disappearance of Greece as an independent state would have a profound effect upon those countries in Europe whose peoples are struggling against great difficulties to maintain their freedoms and their independence while they repair the damages of war." Truman then requests from Congress "assistance to Greece and Turkey in the amount of $400,000,000 for the period ending June 30, 1948" and "$350,000,000 for the prevention of starvation and suffering in countries devastated by the war." Too, he asks Congress for supplies, commodities, and equipment for the two nations, as well as to authorize the detail of American civilian and military personnel to Greece and Turkey. 

LAD #35: F.D.R.'s Executive Order 9066

Franklin D. Roosevelt starts immediately by stating and citing that he has the right to do everything in his power to protect the United States "against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities." In this opening paragraph, Roosevelt states that he authorizes the construction of military areas in any location, ones that can house any one that may be helping the government of an enemy. Too, it also reads that the military officers need to respect the liberties of the detainees and must provide to them sufficient transportation, shelter, food, and other accommodations. Roosevelt then places the Attorney General in charge of all of these camps. The president gives power also to the commanders of the camps, such as the implementing of federal troops and the aid of state and local agencies. Roosevelt authorizes departments in charge of "hospitalization, food, clothing, transportation, use of land, shelter, and other supplies." The president then closes the letter, stating that this order cannot be changed unless stated explicitly by him.

LAD #34: F.D.R.'s Declaration of War

Franklin D. Roosevelt, president during the year 1941, was astonished to learn that on December 7, Japanese fighter planes had hailed death from the skies at Pearl Harbor. The planes killed 2,335 military soldiers, but failed to destroy major targets like the U.S. Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers. Roosevelt, on the very next day, assembled Congress and gave one of the greatest speeches in American history. Here, he delivered an oration so powerful that it rivaled even Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and Martian Luther King's "I have a Dream" speech. He starts of the address with it's famous line, "Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." He explains that the United States was at peace with Japan and Japan wanted to maintain peace in the Pacific. Roosevelt stated too that the attack came one hour before the Japanese Ambassador delivered a message that revealed no threat of an attack at all. To Roosevelt it was obvious that this attack was premeditated for many weeks. Ironically, the Japanese government was misleading the United States at this time by making it appear as though they were hoping for a continued peace throughout the Pacific. Many Americans lost their lives at Pearl Harbor, and Japanese forces also attacked many other islands such as Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippine Islands. Roosevelt proclaims that we the American people must defend this nation no matter how long it takes; he does not hesitate to assert that, regardless of the danger, "we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God." War then was declared on December 8, 1941 on Japan and three days later the United States entered war also with Italy and Germany.

LAD #33: F.D.R.'s First Inaugural Address

Before Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, the economy of the United States was declining rapidly. Businesses were failing, banks were declining, and Americans who had once experienced comfortable living conditions now found themselves on the streets. "Hoovervilles" were constructed outside major cities and numerous impoverished, dirt people crawled the cities in search of work. Wilson, horrified of the conditions, could do nothing but wait. Even after Franklin D. Roosevelt had been elected, he boosted the spirits of the American people through the power of his first inaugural address. He begins his speech by asserting that "our distress comes from no failure of substances." The new president claims that this is to show the people that the failures of the past years is not something they could control. "We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep." He continues to assert that the money changers that were the sole reason for the failure of the banks had fled, but people can work together to restore economic order. This implies that F.D.R. has faith in the country to overcome the greed that had once consumed it to become stable once again. He also calls for action at that very moment in order to help the struggling economy. The president exclaims that the American people must recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and shift their focus from the spoils of industry to the promise and growth of agriculture. Instead of Wilson's ideas of letting the people solve the problems of the nation through hands off policies, F.D.R. decides to take initiative and offer solutions to the people of the nation. 

LAD #32: Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact

In order to promote the welfare of mankind, this pact declared the renunciation of warfare as an instrument of national policy. With this renunciation, it was meant to promote friendly and peaceful relations between nations as well as institute unions between the more civilized nations of the world. It explicitly states that any nation that resorts to war to promote its national interests should not gain the advantages and benefits of the treaty. To be put into place as soon as possible, the treaty declared condemnation of "recourse to war for the solution of international controversies."Afghanistan, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Kingdom of the Serbs, Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Siam, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Panama were all signers of the Pact. "Convinced that all changes in their relations with one another should be sought only by pacific means and be the result of a peaceful and orderly process, and that any signatory Power which shall hereafter seek to promote its national interests by resort to war a should be denied the benefits furnished by this Treaty."

LAD #31: Wilson's Fourteen Points

Wilson's Fourteen Points focus primarily on calling for an international policy of open relations and peace.  "The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is also the day of secret covenants entered into in the interest of particular governments and likely at some unlooked-for moment to upset the peace of the world." Too, he urges the American people to come together through a new sense of national unity, stating that "all the peoples of the world are in effect partners in this interest." Together, his fourteen parts are as follows:

1. Calling for diplomacy,

2. Freedom of the seas both during peace and war,
3. Equal trading conditions throughout the globe,
4. A reducing of national arms,
5. The adjustment, impartially, of colonial claims,

6. Evacuation of the Russian Territory and aiding Russian Government,

7. Freedom for Belgium,

8. A correction by France for the wrongs done against Prussia in 1871,

9. Readjusting the territories of Italy,

10. Free opportunity for the people of Austri-Hungary to autonomous development,

11. Evacuations of the countries of Montenegro, Serbia, and Romania,

12. Dardenelles permanently opened to free trade and freedom to Turkey from the Ottomans,

13. Erection of a free Polish State,

14. And mutual guarantees of territorial and political stability and independence for small nation states.

LAD #30: Schenck vs. United States Case

Due to the  “mailing of printed circulars in pursuance of a conspiracy to obstruct the recruiting and enlistment service”, “an unlawful use of the mails for the transmission”, and for an “offence against the United States...to use the mails for the transmission of matter declared to be non-mailable,” Schenck was found guilty on March 3rd, 1919. Congress, stating that Schenck's documents posed as a threat and a serious danger, had a right to halt their distribution despite his first amendment right to free speech. With regards to the testimony, it was claimed that Schenck was the general secretary for the socialist party and was in charge of the headquarters from where the dangerous documents were being distributed. “The document in question upon its first printed side recited the first section of the Thirteenth Amendment, said that the idea embodied in it was violated by the Conscription Act and that a conscript is little better than a convict.” Schenck’s primary intentions were: “"Do not submit to intimidation” and “Assert your rights”. His socialist document was to prevent the draft. “It denied the power to send our citizens away to foreign shores to shoot up the people of other lands, and added that words could not express the condemnation such cold-blooded ruthlessness deserves”. Due to the fact that these were distributed in times of warfare rather than peace, they were considered to be outside of the realm of acceptable practice. “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic. It does not even protect a man from an injunction against uttering words that may have all the effect of force.” Schenck obstructed the recruiting forces, that was his crime.

LAD #29: Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

In the year 1916, the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act limited the number of hours that a child could work and forbade the sale of goods produced through child labor to be sold across state borders. Ranging from young children to smaller teens, a census showed that nearly two-million girls and boys were working across America at the beginning of the twentieth-century. This finding called for an end to be brought to child labor. Muckrakers such as Lewis Hines used photography of children fixing dangerous machinery and working in filthy coal mines to further this movement. Many influential individuals, such as Carl Marx and Charles Dickens, sided with these muckrakers against child labor. Dickens used his works of literature, such as Oliver Twist, showing the lives of young orphans working and living in poorhouses in London. First proposed in the year 1906, the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act "banned the sale of products from any factory, shop, or cannery that employed children under the age of 14, from any mine that employed children under the age of 16, and from any facility that had children under the age of 16 work at night or for more than 8 hours during the day." Eventually being passed by Congress and instituted by Woodrow Wilson, the act was later found to be unconstitutional in the Supreme Court case of Hammer vs. Dagenhart. It was not until the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, an Act still in place today, was an effective labor act set into motion in the United States.

LAD #28: Wilson's First Inaugural

Woodrow Wilson begins his first inaugural address by praising the industrial success and political integrity of this country. But he states that Americans are wasteful; the spiritual and physical costs of natural energy and human life have not been effectively evaluated. "But the evil has come with the good, and much fine gold has been corroded." Essentially, Wilson is claiming that the United States Government is not doing its duties to properly protect its citizens. "With the great government went many deep secret things which we too long delayed to look into and scrutinize with the candid, fearless eye. The great government we loved has too often been made use of for private and selfish purposes, and those who used it had forgotten the people." With regards to this, the president claims, "our duty is to cleanse, to reconsider, to restore, (and) to correct the evil without impairing the good, to purify and humanize every process of our common life without weakening or sentimentalizing it." He reminds the American public that the governments duty is to serve both the humble and the powerful, using justice and fair play to do so. Directly addressing an unjust tariff, restricting the industrial system, a corrupt bank and currency system, as well as a misuse of natural resources, he seeks to restore security to a vulnerable society. Calling for patriotism, he ends his speech.

LAD #27: The Clayton Anti-Trust Act

In order for the government to gain an increased level of control on business, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act was set in place. The administration of Woodrow Wilson passed the Act after Henry De Lamar Clayton, Jr., a Democrat from Alabama, introduced it. This act helped to set the basis upon which businesses are regulated today. In the past, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was the only means through which big businesses could be monitored. Using this act, Theodore Roosevelt was able to become the nation's first trust buster. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act, passed in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission Act, was used to regulate the behaviors of large corporations with regards to the law. Unlike the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which effectively hindered the actions of the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor, the Clayton Anti-Trust Act cannot be used against labor unions. Due to its national heritage, Major League Baseball was one of the only corporations left untouched and unregulated by the Clayton Anti-Trust Act. Now, unlike in the past, strikes, pickets, and labor unions could be enacted against big businesses without interference from the government.

LAD #26: "I Have a Dream"

Martin Luther King, mirroring the words of Abraham Lincoln, begins his speech with the reality that five score years ago the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, giving the blacks previously contained by slavery a beacon of hope for years to come. Yet, one-hundred years later, Martin Luther King asserts that these African Americans are neither free nor treated fairly. King states that the people have gathered here upon the day of his speech in order to follow up on a previous note. "The note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the 'unalienable Rights' of 'Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.'" Using the analogy of a check and a bank, King asserts that whites have marked "insufficient funds" for their benefit on their check of freedom. King wishes to cash the check that is far overdue for blacks, "refus(ing) to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. (He) refuse(s) to believe that there is insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation." He wants to secure freedom and enable blacks to enjoy the riches of justice. Blacks deserve their freedoms issued under the Emancipation Proclamation, and King asserts that they cannot wait any longer or use gradual methods in order to gain what they desire. Rather, King states that a revolt will continue until the "bright day where justice emerges." They will fight for their freedom with dignity and pride, but they must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence." King procliams that he has a dream that is "deeply rooted in the American dream." This dream is that African Americans can live peacefully with their white brothers and sisters and that his children can "one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." He concludes the speech by repeating the words of an old African spiritual; "'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"' 

LAD #25: The Dawes Act

The Dawes Act clearly requests the provision of land to Native Americans on various reservations. Too, it calls for the extension of the "protection of laws of the United States and the Territories over the Indians." The Act states that the president has the power to call the assessment and land for any grazing and agricultural purpose. The entire purpose of this is to remove the concept of a communal tribal land holding and replace it with individually maintained and owned properties. Although many did not wish to allow Native Americans to gain citizenship, this was all done in attempts to assimilate many of these Native individuals into American society. For example, if "his residence (is) seperate and apart from any tribe of Indians therin, and has adopted the habits of civilized life, (he) is herby declared to be a citizen of the United States, and he is entitled to all rights, privleges, and immunities of such citizens." Under the act, the Secretary of the Interior was also deemed the power to issue any restrictions or laws he saw fit in order to secure the equal distributions of lands to Native American inhabitants on a reservation. These rights, however, were not to be extended to the "territory occupied by the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, and Osage, Miamies and Peorias, and Sacs and Foxes, in the Indian territory, nor any of the reservations of the Senecac Nation of the New York Indians in the state of New York, nor to that strip of territory in the state of Nebraska adjoining the Sioux Nation on the south added by executive order." Conclusively, the act did not encompass too many Native American groups and did very little as a result.

LAD #24: The Cross of Gold

In the "Cross of Gold" speech delivered by William Jennings Bryan to the Democratic Convention in Chicago in the year 1896, he logically and effectively integrated the values of the Populist party, specifically those of the coinage of silver and gold. Although his Democratic ideals combat the more Republican views of the era, he asserts that the only issue that he wishes to address there is the question of money and the opinions of the common man that are not being protected by big business and the government. He claims that the Republican economic views have far too long favored the entrepreneurs and robber-barons of the era, leaving the agricultural practitioner at the mercy of long hours and low wages. Despite continual Republican condemnations for issues that Bryan is accused of for being "unconstitutional," he holds true to his party values and the basis upon which this nation was founded. One such instance of Bryan being adamant comes about when dealing with the issue of an income tax law. He believes that if individuals are to partake in such a binding law that their security must be guaranteed by the government as it is clearly dictated in the United States Constitution. Bryan is again accused of holding the same views as Jackson with regards to the B.U.S. and the income tax law, as well as Jefferson in regards to his belief that money is a function of the government and not the banks. But the inconsistencies of the Republican Party as well as increasing foreign influences allow for Bryan to effectively argue for the introduction of the gold standard, successfully merging the Populist and Democratic parties.

LAD #23: The Populist Party Platform

In reaction to the rise of big business within America the Populist Party Platform, claiming to represent the political desires and rights of the common working man, devised a "Declaration of Independence" condemning the atrocities present within cities and hopes for self-protection by the abuses of big business. Also, the use of silver as an acceptable form of currency is advocated for, stating that the restriction of which is a tool of the government to maintain the power of the large businesses. Assertions are made in which it is argued that agricultural productivity allows for billions of dollars to be generated on account of crops, yet these crops depreciate the value of the dollar, leaving those that produce the raw materials for finished goods in a ring of depression and falling prices, prompting poverty. Simply, these common men seek to restore the power in business and government to the hands of those that it gains its power from; the people. In the following section they declare their policies and potential resolutions. They firmly stand for the use of silver and gold coinage, legalizing of union labor forces, and government ownership of industries such as railroads, telegraph, and telephone. Conclusively, they want fair rights for polling and ballots that will ensure political safety.

LAD #22: McKinley's War Message

President McKinley asserts his belief that the war between Cuba and her Spain should be brought to a close as quickly as possible in his address to Congress in April 1898. McKinley firmly believes that the constant insurrections between Spain and Cuba are harmful to America's trade, the United States' capital investments there, and the frantic mindsets of so many American citizens. McKinley strongly urges Congress to end the war by any number of means necessary, including neutral intervention so long as a forceful annexation can be avoided. When thinking about the rationality of this option, McKinley realizes that if American is forced to choose either Spain or Cuba to support during this era of conflict, he would most likely side with Spain to end the hostile and revolutionary acts of the insurgents. A neutral resolution, however, would be much more justifiable given the time period, yet it would involve a much more difficult four step process to achieve. Primarily, the United States would have to recognize its relation with the conflict closely to the liberties of the people living within the region. Thirdly, any call to protection must be made legal by any injuries on the country itself (for example things such as trade blockades or American Bloodshed). Lastly, the United States would be called in to terminate any hostilities that would endanger the well being of America itself. Conclusively, the two nations, having spheres of influence both economically and socially with America, the United States had a duty to pacify Cuba in the end

LAD #21: The Gospel of Wealth

Andrew Carnegie addresses the benefits of a seemingly unbalanced system of Big Business within a capitalist America in his "Gospel of Wealth." Carnegie acknowledges the increasing gap between the poor, unskilled workers and the prosperous industrialists such as himself as a fundamental component to a growing society, downplaying his title as a corrupt robberbaron. He then goes on to offer solutions for the promotion of a distribution resources among the wealthy and to improve the administrations that would monitor this in order to ensure the prosperity of the human beings around him during his lifetime. First addressing the European policy of primogeniture, he says that the limited cash-flow that this encourages is rather nullified by the reality that iot is narrow-minded, limiting the guaranteed passage of a father's wealth to his first born son, thus disturbing and probing conflict in regards to a constant competence among individuals within a state due to deprivation of money. Carnegie subsequently addresses that after a man's death, death taxes should be placed on his estate and tangibles so that his wealth is not wasted on another generation but rather redistributed among the public. Ultimately, Carnegie argues that men should not hoard their money, but rather invest it in development and infrastructure to aid those less fortunate, a virtue that he upheld through his support of libraries and the establishment of the Carnegie Institute of Technology, with Carnegie-Mellon bearing his name.

LAD #20: Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation declares two primary things. Firstly, it requires that any black persons currently bound by the institution of slavery in the Southern states is to be forever free in the Northern Union and that they are to be fully respected and deemed as such by military personnel. Secondly, it provides a list of states in which this proclamation applies. Although some regions throughout Louisiana and Virginia (such as New Orleans) do not have to comply to the contents of the legislation, a list of states composed of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia must adhere to the proclamation. In these regions, claims Lincoln, the slaves once indebted to the institution of slavery are now fully freed of servitude and have rights to be fully maintained in the North.

LAD #19: President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Throughout his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln addresses the issues that Civil War has brought upon the security of the Union. He asserts that prior to the war neither the Union nor the Secessionists truly wanted war. This is due to the reality that there had been many motions for peaceful diplomacy between the two sides that would not result in bloodshed in order to attain what the South was seeking. However, a minute extremist view soon infected both sides and spurred into warfare. With the war starting, neither side truly saw how long the armed conflict would take to resolve, and this precipitated into the main similarity between the North and the South for years to come. Individuals from both sides, seeking to be victorious in their wartime endeavors, sought the aid of God in order to attain this goal. Lincoln claims that this is useless because none of the nations prayers have been answered thus far. Lincoln is unsure about what will happen in the end for this war, and designates this uncertainty as God's plan for the course of the nation. Conclusively, his speech is meant to drive the people of the North to continue their efforts to maintain a coherent, unified nation.

LAD #18: Dred Scott Supreme Court Case

In the appealed case of Dred Scott vs. Sanford, the Supreme Court decision brought forth by eighty-year old Chief Justice Roger B. Taney agreed with the side of Sanford. These agreements were made on the grounds that Scott, as a slave and a child of parents that were forcefully emigrated from another country to the United States, was not a citizen of this sovereign nation and was thus not entitled to the numerous liberties engraved within the Constitution. Glancing solely at the Constitution for his guidance, Taney claimed that their was no contrast between an enslaved individual and any other piece of property. In accordance to this, not only was Scott wrong in his pursuit of equal protections and liberties under the Constitution, but also that he had no right to sue either a State or Federal court. Also, Sanford was, under the Constitution and his God given rights, entitled to treat Scott as nothing more than a material possession. Too, because Scott was indeed the property of Sanford, Taney had no choice but to ensure his ownership over the enslaved man. This action challenged the entitlements possessed within the Missouri Compromise as Scott lived in Illinois, a free state, but was still considered to be property. Likewise, this took away any chance for Scott to be able to sue in a court controlled by the state of Missouri. Conclusively, Taney deemed the Missouri Compromise as nothing more than unconstitutional.