LAD#30- Brown Vs. Board

In Ada Louis Sipuel vs. Board of Regents in 1948 and sweat vs. painter in 1950 the Supreme Court ruled that African American must be allowed to attend integrated law schools in Oklahoma and Texas. In Brown vs. Board of education of Topeka a 1954 case NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall challenged the doctrine of separate but equal form the Plessy vs Ferguson case of 1896. the court declared that separate educational facilities were inherently unequal. In 1955 the court ordered states to integrate “with all deliberate speed.”

LAD#29- Truman’s Doctrine

In February 1947 Great Britain notified the United States that it could no longer aid the Greek government in its war against communist insurgents. The next month president Harry S. Truman asked congress for $400 million in military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey. He argued in what became known as the “Truman Doctrine” that the United States must support free peoples who were resisting communist domination

LAD#28- FDR's First Inaugural Address

On March 4^th 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the 32^nd president of the United States, and began what would be the longest running presidency in the history of the United States. In the beginning of his speech he states that “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself” he means that the only thing holding this nation back is fear that slows our progress. He continues on to list the problems with the current government, the biggest of which being unemployment. However, he then lists the positives that are still present within this nation. In the next few paragraphs he states that money isn’t everything, and that his administration intends to help get the nation back on tract, and that their biggest challenge was to get people working again as that will jump start the nation. In the following paragraphs he lists other things that need to be done in addition to creating jobs. Nearing the end he states that this effort will need the help of all Americans and that with that, America will endure, it must endure. He concludes by basically restating that America will come back, and asks for the help of god.

LAD#27- Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact

The Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact was a quite interesting act that 62 countries signed, including America. The Act was signed on August 27, 1928, and outlawed war as a method of foreign policy. Also known as the Pact of Paris (apparently one of many treaties to come out of Paris). In mid1927, foreign minister of France, Aristide Briand, proposed that the U.S. government sign a treaty outlawing war between these two countries. Frank B. Kellogg, the U.S. Secretary of State, responded with a proposal for a general treaty against war, eventually this led to the Pact of Paris which was signed. All parties who signed agreed that settlement of any conflicts, regardless of any circumstances, these nations were to avoid war. Although 62 nations ultimately ratified the pact, its effectiveness was not very large by its failure to provide measures of enforcement, as the way to enforce it was to go to war, which was exactly what it outlawed, so ultimately it failed because it contradicted itself.

LAD#26- Schenck vs. US case

The Supreme Court Case of Schenck v. The US all started when a man named Charles T. Schenck was found to be telling soldiers who had been called up into the military by the draft not to show up. He sent out flyers to many of the draftees telling them to refuse to join, and to use peaceful action like petition, for the removal of the Espionage Act. Mr. Schenck was arrested in violation of the Espionage Act on June 15, 1917. The Supreme Court ruled that The Espionage Acts were Constitutional. “The court alleges overt acts in pursuance of the conspiracy, ending in the distribution of the document set forth.” Justice Wendell Holmes spoke the Court’s opinion and in a famous quotation he stated that Schenck was not protected under the First Amendment in these actions, “The question in every case is whether the words used at used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent.” As the court ruled, words spoken and actions taken during wartime are punishable even when they may not be during peace. Overall this was a very interesting decision by the court that has been looked back on numerous times since it occurred.

LAD#25- Wilson's 14 Points

From the time of the American entry into the war, Wilson had maintained that the war would make the world a safe for democracy. He insisted that there should be peace without victory, meaning that the victors would not be vindictive toward the losers, so tat a fair and stable international situation in the postwar world would insure lasting peace. In an address to the congress on January 8, 1918, he presented his specific peace plan in the form of fourteen points. The first five points called for open rather then secret peace treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, and a fair adjustment of colonial claims. The next eight points were concerned with the national aspirations of various European people and the adjustment of boundaries, as, for example, in the creation of an independent Poland. The fourteenth point, which he considered the most important called for a “general association of nations” to preserve the peace. The reception of the fourteen points was mixed in Europe, as there was a great desire to punish Germany. In the United States, however, many people opposed a peace plan that risked American involvement in another European war.

LAD#24

In the united states, the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914,was enacted to remedy deficiencies in antitrust law created under the sherman anti-trust act of 1890, the first Federal law outlawing practices harmful to consumers (monopolies and anti-competitive agreements). Passed during the Wilson's administration, the legislation was introduced by Alabama Democrat Henry De Lamar Clayton. This act made sure to show that all had discriminatory effects. If they did not follow these rules, a fine would be issued for five thousand dollars and any damages a customer suffers must be covered for their attorney as well as suit. People have the right to sue and file claims in their jurisdiction but these anti-trust acts cannot be applicable to labor organizations. This act lastly states that no one person can obtain any part of the stock or share capital from a business, unless the stock is purchased for investment, and many courts have pledged to prevent any violations of the workable Clayton Anti-Trust Act

LAD#23- Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

The tireless efforts of reformers, social workers and unions seemed to pay off in 1916 - at the height of the progressive movement - when President Woodrow Wilson passed the Keating-Owen Act banning articles produced by child labor from being sold in interstate commerce.

LAD#22- Wilson 1st augural

On Tuesday, March 4, 1913, Woodrow Wilson gave his first inaugural address. He began by pointing out the dramatic change in government. The House, Senate, Presidency and Vice Presidency were all dominated by Democrats. The question on most American’s minds was; “What does the change mean?” Wilson stated that the Democratic Party hoped to use their power to “interpret a change in its (their) own plans and point of view.” He pointed out the greatness of American life; the material aspects, bodies of wealth, diversity of energy, industries, as well as moral force are all examples of the richness and greatness of life. Wilson then pointed out that with greatness comes evil. The riches brought inexcusable waste and no one stopped to thing of conserving nature. The industrial achievements overshadowed the cost of human lives. The government seemed to have forgotten the people. In the hurry to succeed, Americans forgot to look out for others, including future generations. The duty of the current party is to “cleanse, to reconsider, to restore, to correct the evil without impairing the good, to purify and humanize every process of our common life without weakening or sentimentalizing it.” Wilson seeks to restore the nation to its original standards. The chide items that need to be altered are as follows; tariffs, baking and currency systems, industrial system, body of agricultural activities, and undeveloped watercourses. As a nation, cost and economy have gone unstudied. The service of health has also gone unstudied and unperfected. Wilson promised to deal with the economic system, and modify it as necessary. He will seek justice, and only justice. Wilson stated that the nation is entering a, “new age of right and opportunity.” He dramatically ended his speech by calling upon Americans to aid him in bringing humanity back to the country.

LAD#20- William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech

In 1896, Bryan defeated incumbent president Grover Cleveland to win the Democratic Party nomination for president. Just thirty-six, Bryan managed to attract the support of mainstream Democrats as well as disaffected third party Populists and Free Silverites. His moving "Cross of Gold" speech, delivered prior to his nomination, lambasted Eastern classes for supporting the gold standard at the expense of the average worker. Bryan's stance directly opposing conservative Grover Cleveland, united splintered Democrats and won the handsome "Boy Orator of the Platte" the nomination. In the speech, Bryan told his belief in the silver industry of the United States. He thought that silver should be distributed in a ratio of 16 ounces of silver for every gold ounce even though the standard market ratio was 32 to 1 and yelled out “you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold”.

LAD#19- The Populist Party Platform

During the late 1890’s the emergence of a third party other than the democrats and the republicans began to take shape in the Populist Party. Their platform included Popular Election of U.S. Senators as provided in the Constitution (Article I, Section 3), senators were selected by the state legislatures, not by popular vote. It was believed that business lobbies exerted inordinate influence over the selection of these officials as well as Direct Democracy. The Populists urged the adoption of the initiative, referendum and recall as means to give the people a more direct voice in government. They also felt that the Government should have ownership of the railroads due to anger against the railroads for alleged price discrimination was so intense that the Populists advocated for federal appropriation. More over, the Populists viewed the graduated income tax as a means to pry loose a portion of the tremendous wealth of the nation's most prosperous citizens. A "graduated" tax meant that the rate of taxation would increase as one's income increased. Finally the populists felt there was a need for a Banking Reform because much of their economic hardship had been caused by bankers' unfair practices. They proposed to end the national banking system, a point of view not widely held.

LAD#21- Dawes Act

In 1887 the Indian reform movement in America took action with the creation of the Dawes Severalty Act. American policy toward Native Americans has always had tension between attempts to assimilate and attempts to remove. The Dawes Act, in some ways, represents both desires. Finally, the U.S. Congress, after years of trying to satisfy pro-settlement forces and protects Native American interests, wrote and passed the Dawes Act in 1887. In the act it made established tribes to break up into individual families instead. In addition the act was set up to Americanize the Indians by making them convert to Christianity and other white customs.

LAD#18- McKinley's War Message

The Spanish government sincerely wished to avoid war with the United States but faced tremendous internal problems coupled with a military situation in Cuba that had gotten out of control. In order to appease the Americans without provoking backlash in Spain, it agreed to two of the main conditions that the United States had laid down as necessary to gain peace in Cuba and although McKinley knew of these concessions when he went before Congress on April 11, the president had already decided to give in to both popular opinion and the pressure from his fellow Republicans and opt for war. In the address to the congress he first acknowledged the fact that the growing conflict with Spain and Cuba was getting out of hand and that although the united states had always kept the policy of neutrality during the conflict it had become to interfere with the lives of those in America. He began to realize that the actions taken by the two opposing sides had left them in a stalemate and the fighting would continue until some action was taken by an outside party. Although the United States under McKinley did what they could to be that influence peacefully, the president finally accepted the fact that war was needed to resolve the conflict.