LAD/Blog #39: Brown v Board of Education

Linda Brown

The 1954 Supreme Court case, Brown v Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that segregating schools was unconstitutional. This overturned their original ruling in 1896 in Plessy v Ferguson, which set the precedent for "separate but equal" in segregating public places. Oliver Brown filed a class-action suit against the Board of Education of Topeka after his daughter, Linda Brown, was denied entry into an all-white elementary school. The case went before the U.S. District Court in Kansas that agreed the segregation violated the Fourteenth Amendment, but still upheld the "separate but equal" ruling.

The Little Rock Nine were another group of

African Americans that were integrated into a white

school and had the National Guard as protection.

LAD/Blog #38: Truman Doctrine

        Truman addresses the concern of aiding Greece in their reconstruction. The leadership of Greece had continuously been undermined by communistic men, and they were asking for American economic resources and advisors to oversee the reconstruction progress. Before, both Britain and the United States had been supporting Greece, but not to a great extent. Britain could no longer provide support, leaving the responsibility to the United States. Truman went on to explain that the American foreign policy was to support the free European nations in need, otherwise they might all fall and leave the world, again, in disarray.

The Marshall Plan, passed in 1948, was another financial

aid program to provide European nations with

a way to pull themselves economically out of the 

pit they put themselves in during WWII.

LAD/Blog #37: FDR's Executive Order 9066

Executive Order 9066

           FDR issued his Executive Order 9066 as a security measure for the United States after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The order basically gave the Secretary of War and Military Commanders the right to create military areas and relocate Japanese-Americans to them. In these areas, people were excluded and the commanders could impose their own restrictions. Plus, the President asked for the support of several Federal agencies, which was seen in "Home is a Horse Stall", where Sox was put into an internment camp created by the Federal government. Considering how bad the bombing was, I understand FDR's need for national security. I also believe that the internment camps took it too far by excluding the Japanese-Americans, most of whom had been born in the United States and were American citizens.

The Dawes Act of 1887 permitted the

selling of Native American land, 

while the tribes were being pushed

into reservations and excluded from

the decisions.

LAD/Blog #36: FDR's Declaration of War

US declaration of war

        On December 8, 1941, President Roosevelt declared war on Japan. The bombing of Pearl Harbor, "a date that will live in infamy" pushed the United States, once again, into a European war. FDR explained to the nation that he was no longer able to remain neutral in this fight and had to defend his country against the now hostile Japan. In the vote to declare war, Jeanette Rankin was the only one to vote against it, earning her the nickname "Japanette" Rankin and causing the rest of Congress to look down upon her.

This was similar to the United States declaring 

war in the Great War because like defending 

themselves against Japan, the US was defending

against Germany.

LAD/Blog #35: Home was a Horse Stall

Japanese Internment Camp

            Sox and her family were just one of the many innocent families pushed into internment camps by the American government. The hostility towards Japanese-Americans was absolutely unacceptable, even though thousands had been lost in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This was just another way for racist Americans to express their feelings in the name of patriotism. Store owners began to turn away Japanese customers, leaving them without food or clothing and violence sprang up once again. FDR officially made it clear to Japanese-Americans that they were unwelcome in the United States by issuing Executive Order 9066 and the Civilian Exclusion Order No. 27. Although it was very obvious that FDR was trying to keep American citizens from retaliating, but the Japanese internment camps could even be compared to the concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Sox and her family had to stay in an extremely small horse stall with nothing but straw pallets to sleep on. When they were moved once again, the barracks under construction made Sox very happy. The barracks were sadly such a blessing to these Japanese-Americans, who had everything taken away from them. These Japanese-Americans faced so much wrong after Pearl Harbor, all of which was not their fault. I feel extremely sad for these people who lost most of their possessions and the pieces they brought from home to remind them of their native culture.

Similar to the internment camps, Native Americans

were forced onto reservations where they were

forcibly controlled and assimilated.

LAD/Blog #34: FDR's First Inaugural

FDR's First Inaugural

            On March 4th, 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his first inaugural address to the American people. He began the speech by telling the citizens that the United States was facing some harsh conditions, but he would do his best to rise and meet those head on. FDR asked for their support through the dark times, saying that "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself". FDR outlined his plan to treat the Great Depression after the stock market crash as war, and mobilize the American Homefront to increase productivity and lower unemployment. He then mentions his good neighbor policy, changing the old one, to respect the rights and agreements of other countries. Concluding his speech, he asked for the public to trust him, as he was going to assume a lot of power in the coming years.

President Herbert Hoover was a lot

like FDR in that he tried to help

the United States during the Great Depression.

Unfortunately, for him, it was "too little, too late".

LAD/Blog #33: Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact

Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact signing

             This pact, also known as the Pact of Paris, was meant to outlaw war to prevent another global conflict. European nations and the United States realized that the Treaty of Versailles was not working in that prevention, so they tried another route to keep the peace. The pact is named after Artiste Briand, the man who proposed the treaty to keep war from between America and France, and Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg. In total, after several countries settled their debates on whether to ratify it, the pact was signed by sixty-two nations. To enforce this pact, the League of Nations would have to be strong in their willingness to break up and prevent fights from between countries. Their first test came with the Mukden Incident, where Japan invaded Manchuria, but nobody came to China's aid. It seemed as though the path towards another global conflict was inevitable.

Wilson's Fourteen Points of Peace, although
they mostly not used, outlined a plan
to keep the peace between countries
and prevent another world war.