LAD #30- Brown vs. Board of Education

This case was groundbreaking in the new wave of Civil Rights activists. It overturned the earlier ruling of Plessy vs. Fergusen, stating that it was legal for things to be ‘separate but equal.’ However, it was ruled that because they were separate, they were inherently unequal. The victory for Civil Rights activists helped to pave the way for many new Civil Rights Bills to be passed. However, not everyone accepted this new ruling; many people wanted segregation to remain in the schools.

LAD #29- Truman Doctrine

The Truman Doctrine, which was presented to Congress on March 12, 1947, was meant to assist both Greece and Turkey in their problems following World War II. Greece and Turkey were faced with Communist insurgents attempting to take over. These countries, recently liberated from the Germans, had no army, and no infrastructure, and thus were in danger of collapsing. President Truman asked Congress for $400 million to send to these two countries, in the form of aid, to keep them from being taken over. This was Truman’s first demonstration of his policy of containment, which was to contain the spread of Communism to other countries. By providing needed aid to these two flailing countries, Truman ensured they would not become communist. Truman also stated that the United States needed to act quickly, as the United Nations would move too slowly. Truman insisted that it was the very goal of the United Nations to stop countries from being taken over by coercion, and by allowing the Soviets to take over Greece, the charter was being broken.

LAD #28- FDR First Inaugural

He talks about all the negative things happening in America, and that the country is facing many difficulties, although they are mostly about material things. He said that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” He said the largest task the nation was facing was putting people to work, due to the massive unemployment percentages. It was also the Good Neighbor Policy, and that they would be favorable to other nations.

LAD #27- Schneck vs. United States

This was a Supreme Court decision where the question of whether a person had the right to speak out against a draft during wartime, in accordance with the rights mentioned in the First Amendment. Schneck was a Socialist, and he circulated flyers advocating the question of the draft. In the end, it was proclaimed that people did not have unconditional free speech, citing shouting a “fire in a crowded movie theatre” would go against the rights of the individual citizens.

LAD #26- Kellogg-Briand Pact

It is also known as the Pact of Paris, and it said that war could not be used as a foreign policy to solve problems. However, the pact was contradictory, for if someone broke the pact, war would have to be declared, thus going against its original purpose.

LAD #25- Wilson’s Fourteen Points

1. diplomacy main way to solve problems
2. freedom of sea navigation
3. equality of trade among nations
4. ensured domestic safety
5. open-minded adjustment of all colonial claims
6. evacuation of all Russian territory
7. evacuate and restore Belgium
8. French be forgiven for injustices in Alsace-Lorraine, French territory freed
9. settle dispute on Italian borders
10. Austria-Hungary given opportunities to flourish
11. Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro be evacuated and restored
12. Turkish part of Ottoman Empire assured secure sovereignty
13. independent Polish state erected, given access to sea, able to form own government
14. general association of nations formed, help smaller states

LAD #24- Clayton Anti-Trust Act

The first part of the act stated that it was illegal to discriminate to buyers and charge different prices to different people, because of their race. If this was discovered, the people who sold the item would have to revoke their discriminations. Workers could also not accept compensations or bribes from people. It became illegal to discriminate against one person when purchasing an item. It was also illegal to reduce the price knowingly, or to make personal sales. There could also be no disrimination in rebates or sales. These antitrust acts do not apply to labor unions. In conclusion, these acts made life better and more fair to consumers. It was also illegal to buy a stock with insider trading, in order to make a profit.

LAD #23- Keating-Owen Act

In the 1900 census, it was reported that nearly 2 million children were working in factories. This census helped to spark a new effort to end child labor, and was even more greatly heightened when the National Child Labor Committee hired Lewis Hines as a photographer in 1908. He photographed the horrendous conditions and its detrimental effects on children. Karl Marx and Charles Dickens were instrumental in bringing about worldwide attention to the problems of child labor. At first, in 1906, the government tried to use the government’s ability to regulate interstate commerce to curb the use of child labor, which banned the sale of products from anywhere that used child labor. This was signed by President Woodrow Wilson, but was later stated to be unconstitutional, saying that it overstepped the powers of the government. The Supreme Court’s rulings made little room for change in child labor laws, but later a constitutional amendment was added to give Congress the power to regulate child labor.

LAD #22- Wilson's First Inaugural

Wilson stated that there was a great system of government in America, but that evil has come with the good it has brought. America was so proud of all of its industrial achievements, but was ignoring the maladies it was causing its people. There was spiritual and physical strains on men, and the Government was using big business for its own selfish advantages. Wilson said that the nation had to face and repair the evil without disturbing the good. Many of the principles and acts of the government went against the rules of the country, but were practiced anyways. Sanitary laws, pure food laws, and laws determining conditions of labor all should be addressed by the government, as keeping the people happy is there responsibility.

LAD #21- Dawes Act

This Dawes Act stated that the lands in the reservations should be allotted to each individual, and that the President should allot the lands to each individual Indian. The reservation allotments were selected by the Indians, and they were negotiated by special agents appointed by the President. The United States would hold the allotted land, on the basis that it would benefit the Indians whom lived on it. Any Indian who adopted a civilized way of life was declared an American citizen, and the reservations were granted running water, with inspectors to make sure it was of good quality. Some of the tribes ere not included in this, but each tribe was given $100,000 with which to live on.

LAD #20- Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” Speech

This speech was delivered by William Jennings Bryan at the Democratic National Convention. It was over the issue of whether to allow for the free coinage of silver at a ratio of silver to gold 16:1. This would increase the total amount of money in circulation, and would thus help the cash-poor and debtors. Bryan was the forerunner Democratic nominee for president. He said that he wanted to speak to the people on the basis of saving humanity. It was widely that the Democrats were those who were supporters of silver coinage. He stated that all people were equal, whether they were a coal miner or a legislator in Congress. HE wanted to stand up against the gross possessors of wealth in the country. He was also one in favor of the income tax, as it took more money from the wealthy, who were more easily able to do away with it. He also thought that the government should be in control of money, and that power should not go in the hands of banks. He also stated that if the gold standard was a bad thing, that the United States should not wait to do away with it, but rather be the first to do away with it. Republicans thought that if the upper-class was prosperous, that their wealth would leak down into the lower classes. Many Democrats, however, thought that if you made the lower classes more prosperous, then it would leak up the other levels of society. Cities are in favor of the gold standard, for if you burnt them down, they would reappear. However, if you burnt down all the farms, everything would wither away. The country would no longer be able to function. Thus, Bryan was in favor of the silver coinage system.

LAD #19- Populist Party Platform

The Populist Movement came from the farmers’ alliances in the 1870’s and 1880’s. They soon became almost a third party, in accordance with neither the Democrats nor the Republicans. They opposed concentrated wealth, such as was seen in banks and big business, and thus were also against many of the achievements of industrialism. They wanted to have equal rights for men and women. They wanted labor unions, and wanted wealth to belong to those who earned it. They wanted a national currency, and free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold, under the restrictions to the ratio of 16 to 1. They wanted the amount of circulated money to be increased, and were in favor of an income tax. They wanted wealth to be in the hands of the people, and thus were against centralized wealth. They wanted government-owned railroads, telegraphs, and telephones. They demanded a free ballot, immigration quotas, shortened labor hours, were against the maintenance of a large standing army, and wanted to limit the tenure of the President’s office to be for one 4-year term.