LAD #37 Brown vs. Board of Education

Summary of the Supreme Court Case Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954:

Little Linda Brown, a young black girl living in Topeka, Kansas, was forced to walk a mile to school through a railroad yard, while a segregated white school only blocks away. Her father appealed to the local NAACP, who used the opportunity to challenge the segregation of public schools in Topeka.

At a U.S. District Court, the judges agreed that the black schools were certainly not equal to the white schools. However, they ruled in favor of the Board of Education because of the Supreme Court precedent of Plessy vs. Ferguson.

Brown and the NAACP appealed to the Supreme Court in 1951, and the case was combined with others challenging public school segregation from around the nation. The Supreme Court heard the case in 1952 and 1953, but were unable to reach final decisions. Finally, on May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren read the unanimous decision of the judges, which stated that the segregation of children based on race deprives the minority group of equal educational opportunities. Thus, the "separate but equal" ruling in Plessy vs. Ferguson was overturned, and it was decreed that the plaintiffs in the case were being deprived of equal protection of the law under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Thus, the desegregation of schools across America was ordered. However, although this was an enormous step, school desegregation was still a long ways off. The case did not abolish segregation in public facilities either. However, it did set a precedent that paved the way for integration and the civil rights movement.

LAD #36 The Truman Doctrine

Summary of the Truman Doctrine, in President Truman's March 1947 address before a joint session of Congress:

In his address, Truman emphasizes that the United States needs to aid in the reconstruction of Greece. Greece had nearly all of its financial assets and resources destroyed during WWII, and since the war its government has been defied by thousands of Communist-led armed men. The government is requesting American economic aid, and American advisors to help distribute the aid and supervise the country's reconstruction. Both America and Great Britain had previously been supporting Greece, but to inadequate levels, and Great Britain is no longer capable of supplying aid.

Truman states that Turkey also requires American support. He goes on to discuss the implications of U.S. involvement, saying that the foreign policy of the United Sates is to "create conditions in which we and other nations will be able to work out a way of life free from coercion." He states that the UN was founded to "make possible the lasting freedom and independence for all its members." Then he claims that the U.S. protested the violation of the Yalta agreement in Poland, Bulgaria, Rumania, and other nations. Thus, the U.S. must take immediate action to save Greece and Turkey. Truman proposes spending $400,000,000 to provide authority and assistance to Greece. If Greece falls, than Turkey may also fall, and if both fall, they would have a profound effect upon the other despairing free nations of Europe. As Truman said, "The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. They spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty and strife. They reach their full growth when the hope of a people for a better life has died. We must keep that hope alive."


"The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms."

LAD #35 FDR's Executive Order #9066

Summary of FDR's Executive Order #9066:

On the grounds that the success of WWII depends on the prevention of foreign espionage in America, FDR declares that the Secretary of War is authorized to construct military areas in which "any or all persons may be excluded", and he gave over to the Secretary the discretion to who should enter these areas. He states that the Secretary is authorized to provide food, transportation, shelter, and other accommodations for these groups. He also grants the Secretary the power to enforce compliance with these laws, and grants them the usage of Federal troops.

The wording of this order is very remote and unspecific. Never once is the word "Japanese" used, nor is any suspect group mentioned.

LAD #34 FDR's Pearl Harbor Address (Declaration of War)

Summary of FDR's Pearl Harbor Address to Congress, Dec. 8, 1941:

In a brief but potent message to Congress, FDR summarizes the events of the"...date that will live in infamy...". He mentions not only the Japanese naval and air attack on Pearl Harbor, which cost a great deal of American lives, but also reveals that the Japanese had been deliberately deceiving the U.S. in the recent peaceful diplomatic negotiations. He addresses the scope of the Japanese offensive, who also attacked Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippines, Wake Island, and Midway Island on the same day. He concludes by asking Congress to declare that war opened between Japan and the U.S. when Japan attacked the day before.

LAD #33 Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural

Summary of FDR's First Inaugural Address, March 4th, 1933:

FDR opens by stating that "...the only thing we have to fear is fear itself...", asserting that the unjustifiable terror of the economic times has been preventing the "retreat" from converting into an "advance". He states that in tough times, the nation will be led out by the people's support of a frank and vigorous leader. He then briefly mentions the economic woes confronting the nation at the time, and he states that America has confronted difficult times before.

He then declares that, "This Nation asks for action, and action now." His first objective is to put people to work. In his own words, this, "...can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources."


FDR also recommends the re-distribution of land, to shift the load slightly from the terribly overburdened urban centers. This task would be helped by efforts to raise the value of agricultural products, prevent the foreclosure of farms, and government initiatives to supervise the construction of transportation, communications, and utilities to these areas.


FDR necessitates the supervision of banking , and also the end of "...speculation with other people's money...". He also states that he will impress his agenda upon a special session of Congress. Furthermore, he declares that the re-establishment of foreign trade is of secondary importance to re-establishing the American economy at home. Nevertheless, he stresses the importance of establishing a "good neighbor" policy with foreign nations. He also states that during this time, there may be need for a "temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure", meaning he may need to bend the powers of the Constitution briefly to help fix America's woes.


He ends with the appeal, "In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come."

LAD #32 Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact

Summary of the Kellogg-Braind Peace Pact of August, 1928:

A treaty signed between U.S. and other powers, including Great Britain, Italy, and Germany immediately (for a total of eleven nations) and by France, Poland, Belgium, and Japan within a year. It provided for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy, and that should any nation that signed the treaty resort to war for national benefit, that nation would be denied the benefits of the treaty. Furthermore, the hope of the treaty is that the nations who did not sign it would eventually follow the example of the signed powers and themselves renounce war. The United States would be responsible for holding the original Treaty and adding any other nations to the Pact as they wished to be included.

A little more than a year following the signing of the treaty, forty more nations became parties to it.

The Treaty was created by Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and signed by President Coolidge, and then was later reaffirmed by President Hoover and his Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson.

LAD #31 Wilson's Fourteen Points

Summary of Wilson's Fourteen Points, as delivered in Congress on January 8, 1918:

Wilson first discusses how the Central Powers are willing to "discuss the objects of the war and the possible basis of a general peace." However, he states that while Russia presents a definite statement and program of principles for which to make peace, the other powers seemed more concerned with merely retaining all of the territory that they had conquered. The Russian representatives broke off negotiations.

According to Wilson, the peace of the world relies upon the ability of the powers to negotiate peace out in the open, and not behind closed doors. Furthermore, he asserts that the poor and desperate Russians, under attack of Germany, desire to know the war aims of the Central Powers. He hopes that in some way America and the Central Powers could help the Russians to attain liberty and peace.

Wilson expresses again the importance of the "processes of peace" being created in the open with no secret understandings. He says, "The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is the day of secret covenants..."

He then claims that, in ending the war, "we" (is he referring to America, or to the Central Powers?) only demand that "the world be made fit and safe to live in; and particularly that it may be made safe for every peace-loving nation which...be assured of justice and fair dealings by other peoples of the world as against force and self-aggression."

He then presents his Fourteen Points, which include, "Open covenants of peace" (Point 1), "Freedom of the seas" (2), "The removal of economic barriers among consenting nations" (3), "The reduction of national armaments" (4), and "Adjustment of colonial claims" (5), general adjustments of national boundaries (6-13) (with the theory of Self-determination being discussed in relation to the people of Austria-Hungary in 10), and finally Wilson's concept of a League of Nations "for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity" for all nations formed under the 14th article.

Wilson also makes it clear that he does not want to punish Germany, but instead to grant it "a place of equality among the peoples of the world".

He concludes be recognizing the principle of justice that is common in all of his Fourteen Points, and the fact that there is no longer doubt in the concrete terms of his war aims. In conclusion, he asserts that the people of the United States stand behind these principles.

LAD #30 Schenck vs. U.S.

Summary of the case Schenck vs. U.S., March 1919:

In the case, American socialist Charles Schenck had been distributing thousands of fliers encouraging young men to evade the draft for the Great War, claiming that the draft was violating the Thirteenth Amendment because it enforced "involuntary servitude" and that the war was motivated by "capitalist greed". Schenck was charged with violating a newly erected Espionage Act in that he was trying to incite insubordination in the military and naval forces. 

Schenck then appealed to the Supreme Court on the grounds that the Espionage Act violated his First Amendment rights. However, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a pioneering opinion that stated that an individual's Freedom of Speech was not guaranteed when the speech would cause "clear and present danger", as Schenck's did by creating military insubordination during wartime. The Supreme Court voted unanimously against Schenck. this ruling has since been overturned.

LAD #29 The Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

Summary of the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916:

Passed in 1916, the Act was a result of Senator Albert Beveridge's 1906 proposal, which was to use the government's role to regulate interstate commerce to fight against child labor. The Act, sponsored by Edward Keating and Robert Latham Owen, banned the sale of products from any factory that employed children younger than 14, or from any mine that employed children under 16, or from any factory that made children under 16 work more than eight hours. The law was passed and effected until it was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the 1918 case Hammer vs. Dagenhart, because the law overstepped the government's power to regulate interstate trade.

LAD #28 Woodrow Wilson's First Inaugural Address

Summary of Woodrow Wilson's First Inaugural Address, March 4th, 1913:

Woodrow Wilson, the Democratic candidate, won the Presidency in 1912 when the Republican vote was split between the incumbent Taft and the Third-party candidate Roosevelt. 

In his Inaugural Address, Wilson addresses the gradual change in the government to favor the Democratic Party. He explains this by claiming that the nation needs the Party to interpret and change the nation's plans and point of view. He then lists the good and great aspects of the nation, from the genius of its individuals to the structure of its government. He cites that bad has come along with the good, noting especially the human cost and suffering brought about by America's enormous economic expansion. He claims that now the government's and the nation's job is to cleanse and correct the evils brought about by the heedlessness of the country's industrialization. He details the issues that need to be resolved, ranging from the need to alter the foreign tariff, the banking system, the industrial system, and the agricultural system. He stresses the importance of renewing and conserving the natural resources that are being exploited by industry. He also discusses how the government needs to protect its citizens' lives with sanitary laws, pure food laws, and labor laws. He stresses that the economic system will be fixed, and that "Justice, and only justice, shall always be our motto." He ends the speech, "Today is not a day of triumph; it is a day of dedication."

LAD #27 The Clayton Anti-Trust Act

Summary of the Clayton Anti-Trust Act, 1914:

The act outlaws price or service discrimination in commerce that tends to lessen competition or create a monopoly. The Federal Trade Commission is permitted to issue an order to terminate the discrimination. Also, any person who is found to be granting discriminating rebates in order to eliminate competition can be charged up to $5,000 in fines or could be imprisoned for up to a year. Furthermore, a worker injured by a violation of the terms in the Act is permitted to sue his company, with three-fold the price of the damages plus the cost for the suit and a reasonable attorney. The United States is also allowed to sue a violating company in similar circumstances.

It also establishes that the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce, and thus that nothing in the Act should be used against the existence of labor and agricultural unions.

LAD #26 Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Speech

Summary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech", given from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963:

King starts by acknowledging how 100 years ago Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. However, 100 years later, the black man is still the impoverished outcast in society. He claims that they are all in Washington today to "cash a check", which had been promised to every American by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence. However, in the past when the black man has attempted to cash the check, it has always returned marked "insufficient funds".

King also "reminds America of the fierce urgency of Now", and that there is "no time to...take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism". He foretells that "those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual."

However, he also speaks to his people, warning them that "In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds." He states that "We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence." He also asserts that the Negros cannot develop a distrust for all white people; that both of their fates are inextricably tied up together.

He states that the Negros will never be satisfied as long as they are victims of police brutality, as long as they cannot stay in the same hotels as whites, as long as they cannot vote or voice their opinion for government. He makes a shout-out to all of the present victims of persecution in the crowd, who were persecuted for creatively standing up for their rights. He encourages them to "continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive."

He then proclaims his famous phrase, "I have a dream". And I will include the lines, not because I am lazy in my summarizing, but because they are powerful and moving and I'll enjoy reading them again:

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will 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.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!³

LAD #25 The Dawes Act

Summary of the Dawes Act, adopted by Congress in 1887:

The Act gives the power to the President to divide up the communal tribal lands held by the Native American Indians, and split them up into shares for each individual. The amount each Indian receives is determined by his age, gender, and family status. The President may perform this function whenever the land of reservations is deemed advantageous for agricultural purposes. Furthermore, it allows the government to purchase any excess Indian lands and sell them to American settlers. In addition, the Act provides for the assimilation of Indians into American culture. The Act excludes the 5 Civilized Tribes and several others. Finally, it makes it clear that the government retains the right to build railroads, highways, and construct telegraph lines through appointed Indian lands.

LAD #24 William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech

Summary of William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold Speech, July 9th, 1896:

Bryan opens by saying that, as a person, he could run against the talented politicians for the Democratic nomination. However, he claims that the race is a matter of principle, and that it is the humanitarian principle which he supports that is running. He claims that every working man is a businessman, and that the hard-working, Westward-moving pioneers are as supported by the party as the Eastern Elite. he speaks to defend families against "the encroachment of aggregated wealth". He supports the Democratically-introduced income tax law that was recently declared by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional. Against common Democratic beliefs, he supports the governmental control of money and banking. He discusses in great depth the issue of the free silver over the Republicans's gold standard. He discusses how the Republican nominee, McKinley, is losing popularity because his party once endorsed the gold standard, but now only supports it until international decisions change to bimetalism. He is thus confidant that his party will win in the Presidential election. He then completes his speech by describing how the Democratic party supports the struggling masses of workers who build the country's wealth. He says that the U.S. should turn to bimetalism before other nations and lead the world, as opposed to waiting for other nations to adopt it first. He concludes:


"Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, 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 #23 The Populist Party Platform

Summary of the Platform of the Populist Party as of July 4th, 1892:

In the Preamble, the Populists give an inflamed introduction to their beliefs, primarily emphasizing how they pledge to correct two primary evils: the broad degeneration of society to build up the few wealthy bond-holders, and the faults of a solely gold-based currency.

In their official platform, they lay out their more specific goals if they were to be elected:
That labor unions will be permanently supported,
That wealth belongs to the laborer who earned it,
That the government will start managing railroads,
And that any land held unnecessarily by railroads or by aliens be reclaimed for use by legitimate settlers.

Financial Aspirations include:
Demands for the unlimited coinage of silver in addition to gold; for a graduated income tax; that money remain in public circulation, with the government taking only what it needs; and that savings banks be established by the government for public deposits.

They also make a list of resolves, including to support ex-Union soldier pensions, to sympathize with the workingman for shorter hours, to provide for the direct election of senators, and to support the income tax to reduce tax strains on domestic industries, etc...

LAD #22 President McKinley's War Message

Summary of President McKinley's War Message to Congress, April 11, 1898:

In 1898, Cubans had been fighting the Spanish for independence for three years. In March, the U.S., who had been neutral up to this point, demanded that Spain grant an armistice to the Cuban rebels. On April 9th, Spain sent a cable agreeing to the demands. Nevertheless, two days later, President McKinley presented a War Message to Congress to fight on the Cuban's side against the Spanish, only briefly noting at the end of the message that Spain had already agreed to suspend hostilities. Eight days later, Congress adopted a joint resolution to go to war with the Cubans against the Spanish.

In his speech, McKinley cited the loss of American investments in Cuba and the "irritation, annoyance, and disturbance of our citizens...[which] shocked the sensibilities and offended the human sympathies...". He states that intervention is justified "in the cause of humanity", to protect the rights of American citizens in Cuba, because of the damage to commerce and trade, and on the grounds that the conflict is a menace to American peace and an expense to the government. He then contemplates what kinds of intervention America could take, and notes that America has for several years already attempted to pacify the two nations into peace and prosperity. He cites extensively the destruction of the Maine by Spanish forces (although it has since been found that the ship sunk due to internal engine issues). Finally, he requests Congress to grant him the power to "secure a full and final termination of hostilities between the government of Spain and the people of Cuba...", and the ability to secure for the island a stable government. Finally, he mentions how Spain notified America two days ago that they were suspending hostilities in Cuba, and includes that he hopes Congress will take this fact into account.