LAD #37 Brown v. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education challenged the prior Plessy vs. Ferguson case that stated that separate but equal facilities were constitutional. In Topeka Kansas, a young, black student named Linda Brown was required to walk three miles each day to get to her school, even though there was a school much closer to her home. The closer school was mandated to be for white students only. For Brown, and many like her, this rule was very unfair, given the proximity of the white school to her home—she was prohibited to attend the white school simply because of her skin color. The school board claimed they were just being realistic and suggested she just learn to accept the segregation. Her parents disagreed and argued that it was wrong to segregate their child in this manner. Ultimately the case made it to the Supreme Court where the judges had to determine if it violated the fourteenth amendment or not, as it related to equal rights. The final decision stated that it actually was unconstitutional since it discriminated against the girl solely because of her skin color.

10 years after the victory in Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed, outlawing discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or other.

LAD #36 Truman Doctrine

Following the hostilities of WWII, a battle of ideologies broke out between the United States and the USSR. Both nations wanted to assert their power and their governmental influence over the developing countries around the world. This was essentially capitalism vs. communism. The Truman Doctrine concerns the developments in post-war Greece. After the war, the country was in deep depression and disillusionment. The Soviets blockaded Grecian interests and prevented reconstruction, as well as staging a few terrorist attacks. With relation to the inaction of Britain and the UN, Truman asserted the need of the US to supply food and finance to the Greek nation so that they would have the aid they needed in their struggling country. Also addressed was the fact that Turkey needed to be spurred on in democratic ideas and win the majority in a post war nation. As a result, the US would be safeguarding freedom and democracy around the world. This led Truman to ask Congress for 750 million dollars and a contingency of American military men for Greece and Turkey for modernization.




This is similar to when the United States militarily tried to aid Korea and stop Communism.

LAD #35 Executive Order #9066

On the grounds that the success of WWII depended on the prevention of foreign espionage in the United States, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared that the Secretary of War is authorized to construct military areas in which "any or all persons may be excluded", and gave the Secretary discretion to who should enter these areas. Additionally, FDR stated that the Secretary is authorized to provide food, transportation, shelter, and other accommodations for these groups. The Secretary was also granted power to enforce compliance with these laws by use of federal troops. This extreme executive order was brought of due to the panic after Pearl Harbor, and the tensions created between many Americans and Japanese Americans.


This is similar to the Jim Crow laws only recently outlawed in America. This was used to separate and isolate a specific race, and created a lot of racial tension.

LAD #34 FDR's Declaration of War

On December 7th, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. President Roosevelt made a request to Congress for America to declare war against Japan to protect their citizens. Roosevelt had absolute confidence in two things: First, that American armed forces were superior, and second, that the people of the nation would come together to fight against the Japanese. The President asked Congress to consider what might happen if the Japanese were not punished for their harmful actions against the United States. Roosevelt insisted that the Japanese attack on Hawaii, as well as the other aggressive acts occurring, like Midway and Hong Kong, meant that the Japanese had no intent of a peace treaty with the US. Roosevelt insisted that war was necessary to protect the American people. With this, The US entered WWII, but also helped pull us out of the Great Depression.


This is similar to James Madison's declaration of war against the British in the War of 1812 after the US grew weary of the British still holding influence over them.

LAD #33 FDR's First Inaugural Address

A little over 80 years ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave his first inaugural address when he first came into the presidential office. His goal was to tell everyone the entire truth of what the Great Depression meant for the country and its people. He assured Americans that it did not have to be as damaging as it was perceived as so far. Overall, his address was very optimistic, though he kept it realistic. He did acknowledge that the country was in devastation at the time being. He also acknowledged every problem in the country that led to the depression, knowing that once they were brought to light, they could begin to be solved. His suggested solutions included decreasing the cost of the government as well as making farmed goods more valuable. He concluded by saying that the United States had not failed as a democracy, but elected a strong leader to pull them out of a crisis.

Lincoln, like FDR, during his second inaugural address, took over the presidency in a time of turmoil and scared citizens. And like FDR, Lincoln did an outstanding job of assuring the people that they would be okay, and he would help them out of a scary time.

LAD #32 Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact

The Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact was passed in 1928 by several countries, including Germany, France, and the United States. This eventually turned out to be a complete failure, though it began with high hopes and good intentions. The idea was that the treaty would encourage a more peaceful way of dealing with conflict diplomatically with the countries that signed, rather than barbarically go to war immediately. The United States became the unofficial leader of this agreement as it progressed, and allowed other nations to join the treaty. However, there was something fundamentally wrong with this pact. Any international agreement can only be successful if it has international military support to back it up. This, unfortunately, did not. Without military support, they could not enforce the pact if a country decided to break it.

One of many reasons that the League of Nations failed is because it had no military support, like the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact.

LAD #31 Wilson's 14 Point Plan

At the conclusion of The Great War, President Wilson drafted a solution that he had hoped would maintain peace with all nations and truly keep to his campaign "A war to end all wars". Wilson's goal was to end the war in a forgiving and charitable way. With this in mind, he came up with the 14 Point Plan. 14 idealistic approaches which he hoped he could maintain postwar. Most important was his last point, the proposition of the League of Nations, a peacekeeping organization with representatives from all nations.

1. Public diplomacy and negotiations
2. Absolute freedom of the seas
3. Removal of economic barriers and creation of equality in trade
4. Reductions by all nations of their armies to the lowest point consistent with public safety
5. Adjustment of colonial claims to the interests of both the inhabitants of the colonies and the colonial powers
6. Russian independence and evacuation of it's territory by other powers
7. Evacuation and restoration of Belgium as independent
8. Evacuation of France and the return of the Alsace-Lorraine territory to France
9. Readjustment of Italian borders
10. Independence of multiple nationalities in Austria-Hungary
11. Evacuation of the Balkan states and allowance for them to be independent along lines of established nationality.
12. Protection of minority states in Turkey and free passage through the Dardanelles by all nations
13. Independence for Poland, including free access to the sea
14. A "League of Nations" should be formed to allow security for large and small powers alike.

Later on, Wilson's 14 points proved to be rather unsuccessful, as the other Allies found them to be too lenient, and they wanted a more severe punishment for their German foes. As a result, he was forced to compromise practically all of his 14 points except his most cherished League of Nations.

This is similar to Lincoln's 14 Point Plan because many were not satisfied with the lenience of the plan, and desired a harsher punishment for the perpetrators.

LAD #30 Schenck v. United States

Charles Schenck, and American Socialist, began spreading posters and mailing draftees about dodging the draft at the start of The Great War. Schenck believed that the draft was a direct violation of the thirteenth amendment, as he interpreted it as demanding "involuntary servitude". He urged his targets to support his cause by petitioning the Conscription Act. Because of this, Schenck was charged with promoting insubordination in the military as well as violating the espionage act, which declared it illegal to interfere with military efforts, war efforts, or recruitment. During the trial, Schneck argued that he maintained the freedom of speech with the first amendment, making his efforts legal. However, the court decided against him in a unanimous decision, saying that in this case he did not maintain freedom of speech as it presented a "clear and present danger". Many recognized that during a war time such as this, the government expanded its power over the people. This decision was later overturned.
The Sedition Act of 1918 limited freedom of speech far past what was normal. It made it illegal to cast one's personal opinion on governmental action. Thousands were prosecuted over this before it was overturned.

LAD #29 Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act was passed in 1916 in response to the census of 1900, saying that two million children were working in the United States. The bill was passed based on the power that the government had on the regulation of interstate commerce. Overall, it prevented children under a certain age to work in certain conditions. Children under 16 could not work in mines, at night, or for more than eight hours a day. This was ruled unconstitutional in Hammer v. Dagenhart by the Supreme Court on account of the fact that it overstepped the government's purpose of regulating interstate commerce.


The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 also helped create child labor laws, as well as normal labor laws.

LAD#28 Wilson's Inaugural Address

Woodrow Wilson first took office in 1912. In his inaugural address, he discussed the changes that had been occurring in the previous government. The majority of the government representatives at this point were Democratic, meaning the government would be very efficient in passing lows because they shared opinions. Wilson believed that this was a good idea because it was a fresh new ideology to run the country by. He believes that life in America had improved, but there was still suffering, and at times the government would disregard this for economic advancements. He also promises to resolve important issues including the financial system, tariffs, big businesses, workers rights, and sanitation. He believed that with the democratic populous in the government, the country would benefit.


Franklin Delano Roosevelt was also very successful in getting a lot done with Congress, as both were also democratic.

LAD #27 Clayton's Anti-Trust Act

The Clayton Anti-Trust Act of 1914 was another action by the government to restrict big businesses. This was created to break up big trusts and monopolies that were harmful for american competition and industry. This act made it illegal to discriminate prices between products and services of similar value if it promoted a monopoly or other big business tactics that were corrupt. This also prevented big businesses and companies holding large portions of certain industries to dramatically change their prices with the intention of driving out competition to create large monopolies. Additionally, other countries could no longer buy large portions of stock of corporations or businesses. Overall, the power of big businesses were weakened, and the power of the federal government was strengthened.

This is like the Sherman Antitrust Act, that also moved to eliminate trusts and monopolies of big businesses.

LAD #26 MLK's "I Have a Dream" Speech

In Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" Speech, he begins by referencing the act of former President Abraham Lincoln--sighning the Emancipation Proclamation and freeing the slaves. This was a huge step in the right direction for many African Americans, but according to MLK, they are still not truely free. King lists many issues that African Americans face during this tumultuous time period. He makes the analogy that they are "cashing a check" at the capitol--their right to life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness. He continues the check analogy by saying that they are getting the message that there are "insufficient funds". He encourages his fellow advocats to keep cashing the check because the "bank of liberty cannot go bankrupt". He stresses that the time for change is now, and his acts of civil disobedience will continue until they see change. He restresses that no acts of violence or crime should be committed under the name of equality. Finally, he proceeds to the most well known part of his speech. He has many dreams, like for his children to live in a country that "does not judge them based on the color of their skin, but the content of their character". Lastly he references the famous patriotic song "My Country 'tis of Thee". His dream is for "freedom to ring" everywhere in America.




This speech is similar to Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" speech because it demands equality and justice for all, not just white men.