Brown vs. Board of Education LAD #30

Brown vs. Board of Education was a supreme court trial that ultimately ended in a decision that would change America forever. It happened in Topeka, Kansas where, third grader, Linda Brown wished to go to an all white school which was seven blocks away instead of being forced to walk a dangerous long route to get to an all-black school. NAACP supported Linda Brown and they challenged the school board claiming that segregation all though seperate, is not equal. NAACP claimed that segregation in schools and segregation in general was making black children feel inferior to whties. Although the they lost at a local judicial level they ultimately repealed the case all the way to the supreme court. Ultimately Justice Earl Warren ruled that segregation wasn't fair or equal and ordered that from then on public schools be integrated.

Truman Doctrine LAD #29

On March 12, 1947 President Harry Truman gave his address about the Truman doctrine to a joint session of congress.The Truman Doctrine was a new american foreign policy which was created to stop the spread of connumism and give money and other aid to the countries of and near Greece and Turkey. Greece had been invaded by enemys and later was threatened of being overcome by thousands of communists. Greece at the time also lacked natural resources along with other goods because of the previous invasions and so Truman urged Congress to provide 400 million dollars in order to contain communism in Greece and prevent it from spreading to other countries. He also gave money and aid to Turkey, again in an effort to prevent communism from taking over. Naturally the leaders of these nations wanted to maintain democracy but the nations had been destroyed by war and were now feeble, powerless and starving so aid needed to be given. Truman felt that if this was not accomplished then communism would endanger democracy and peace throughout the world.

FDR's First Inaugural LAD 28

In President FDR's first inaugural address he wished to reassure the nation that the Government hadn't abandoned it's people and that a new deal will soon be given to Americans. FDR urges the American people to trust the government as it will soon bring the nation back on track.He states "let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” He next states that the causes of the Great Depression have been taken care of by public opinion and now he states that he firmly believes that the primary task to get the American people back to work. He also talks about how internation trade is an important part of American life and economy and before anything gets fixed, domestic trade must be fixed and then international trade after it. He also goes on to say that the New Deal will bring about great changes in government policy and that the days of lassiez fair are over.

Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact LAD 27

The Kellogg Briand Peace Pact was created in order to end war forever. The Pact prohibited countries from utilizing war as a way to settle disputes between them and other nations. The creators believed it was an amazing idea because the "War to end all Wars" had recently ended. The treaty was signed and kept open so that other nations could join. Yet naturally even though the treaty had great intentions they were goals that were unattainable. The treaty stated that any nation who violated the treaty would lose the benefits of the treaty. It was an ironic pact because if a treaty violated the pact by using war as an instrument to settle disputes, the nations in the treaty would have to punish the violating nation through war.

Schenck V. United States LAD 26

Shenck Vs. United States is a decision confirming the earlier decision that Schenck and Baer are to be convicted for conspiring to interfere with the draft during World War 1. The defendants argued that they should be allowed to disperse their red pamphlets because it is their right under the first amendment of freedom of speech, they argued that the Espionage Act violated this first amendment. The court believed that Congress had every right to suspend these rights because it was a time of war and they're job was to protect the country. The defendants were ultimately convicted because the justices compared the defendants actions to falsely shouting fire in a theater which would cause panic and naturally danger for the panicked crowd.

Wilson's Fourteen Points LAD #25

President Wilson listed his fourteen points in a speech given to congress. The speech gave Wilson a position of moral and fair leadership among the european allies as he did not want to punish the surrendering Central Powers. Wilson began the address by stating that the terms that the Germans gave to the Russians were unacceptable as the central powers told Russia that they could have peace while maintaining freedom but in return they would lose all the land that the central powers had occupied during the war. Wilsons point reflect his idea that peace should be made fairly to not make enemies for the future while maintaing liberty. Wilsons points stated that treaties and agreements between countries should be made public, freedom of the seas must be maintained, any barriers of trade that exist in europe should be taken down, protection of soveriegnty and self determination and several other poitns that dealt with maintaing democracy and freedom for all nations in the world.

Clayton Antitrust Act LAD #24

The Clayton Antitrust act was created to fix the problems that the Sherman Anti-trust act had which was that often times it didn't work against trusts but instead hurt unions. In the act is states that any commercial group or industry is not allowed to fix prices or discriminate to make extra profits. Furthermore the antitrust act strengthened the power of groups that were finghting against bad trusts like the Interstate Commerce Commision. If a trust was found to guilty of violating rules from the clayton anti-trust act then a court may order for the trust to be borken. Ultimately the Clayton Anti-trust act stopped the practices of unfair treatment of workes, fixing of prices and other negative issues and problems that were occuring with the corruption going on at the time.

Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 LAD #23

The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 placed limits on the hours that children could work and forbade the interstate sale of goods which are produced by child labor. A census in 1900 revealed that 2 million children were working in unsafe conditions. Social reformers began to condemn child labor and several items were published showing the horrors of it including the novel "Oliver Twist."
The first child labor bill banned sale of products from any facility that had children who were under the age of 16 years working during the night or for more then 8 hours a day. Yet two years after it was passed, the supreme court ruled that the act was unconstitutional.

Wilson's 1srt Inaugural Address LAD #22

In his inaugural Address, Wilson starts about by explaining that there has been a change in government because their has been a shift from republican to democrat in various branches of government. He explains that the Nation wishes to use this democrat party to better the united states as a whole. Furthermore, he speaks of the beauties of our country like the long standing freedom and even the wealth brought about by the industrial revolution. Yet he also reflects on the negative parts of our country like the waste, including human lives, that happened to gain material wealth in the industrial revolution. He states that the country has now set better standards to live by which will help the welfare of the nation has a whole. He goes on to speak about the positive changes that were different in the past and speaks of making peace in Europe.

LAD #21 The Dawes Act

The Dawes Act was created to reorganize government owned indian Reservations into Private property for indians. In the Dawes Act, it states that each head of the family gets a quarter section while persons over the age of 18 got 1/8th of a section along with orphans who were under the age of 18. Lastly 1/16th was given to all the other people in the family. The Dawes act also creates rules for other indian tribes that want to join the reservation. It also states that after the reservation is reorganized into private property, indians can apply to be American citizens which then allows them to work jobs that are paid by the federal government. The indians are also allowed to sell their land. The dawes act closes by explaining that a patent will be given to each indian which states that after five years that reorganization is complete, the land will be only owned by the indian and any other previous contracts or ownerships because void.

LAD #20 Brians Cross of Gold Speech

In the Speech William Jennings Brian began by explaining that one of the biggest problems at the time was that fact that their wasn't enough money in circulation because at the moment America's currency had to be backed by the dollar and so only gold was accepted as currecny. He explained that if silver was again placed in currency at 1/16 the value of gold then this extra money would help poor farmers. Brian made it clear that Farmers, who made all their sales and bussiness transactions in one small amount of time out of the entire, needed large amounts of money for these sales and buys. Yet with only gold backing the dollar, customers didn't have enoguh money which means Farmers couldn't sell as much of their products and on the other side they couldn't buy necessary equipment as a result of lack of money or too high pricces. In his speech Brian used these points to point out the current problems and identify solutions which would work.

LAD #19 Populist Party Platform

In the Populist Party Platform, the populist party explains the problems which they see in the current gilded age. They start out by calling out corruption in government as the main problem. This corruption is either making people poor or making them millionares, with nothing inbetween. They also point out that an enormous problem is the removal of silver which is helping the bankers but hurting the farmers. The party then goes to list their demands which are as follows, That there is a permenant and functional labor union for every worker in the country. Next that "robber barrons" or great industrialists dont take money from their companies in personal profit when the money should really go to the employees. Lastly the Party demands that railroads become property of the citizens of the united states and be put under supervision of the American government.
Next the Party goes on to say that they will change the economy by putting silver back into the currency and creating an income tax. The party also includes ways in which they will reform transportation which is that the government will take adminstriation of all railroads, telgraphs and telephones companys.

LAD #18 McKinley's War Message

Mckinley's War Message was a speech given by McKinley which summarized why he believed the war in Cuba was a great concern for America. He pointed out that war was a nuisance to American citizens as it had been going on for over half a century. Furthermore enormous amounts of money had been spent on the war. Ultimately McKinley states that without a decisive victory, neither opposing side will gain the upper hand and come out victorious in the final outcome of the war.
McKinley states that the two options are to either pick a side or approach the war as neutral. McKinley feels that the conflict is upsetting trade and neutrality would help. He feels that the deaths and causalities and other various humanitarian issues are the entire world's problems and there are already enough interfering neighboring countries that are causing useless bloodshed. Finally McKinley reminds America of the sinking of the U.S.S Maine and states that it's time for Congress to declare war if they feel it's necessary to do so. McKinley also stated that Spain was expected to reach an armistice in cooperation with Americans.