LAD #39: Brown V. Board of Education

Brown V. Board of Education

• Marked the start of the Civil Rights Movement, in 1954
• Helped to establish the precedent that "separate but equal" was not equal
• In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy V. Ferguson that racially segregated public facilities were legal as long as they were equal
• Jim Crow laws were established to carry out the court's decision in the previous case
• Oliver Brown filed a suit against the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1951) after his daughter, Linda, was denied entrance to Topeka’s all-white elementary schools
• The US district court in Kansas ruled that the "separate but equal" pledge still held, but were willing to admit that the separation led to a "sense of inferiority"
• When a total of five cases had been made, the issue was taken to the Supreme Court
• On May 17, 1954, the court ruled that the schools were in fact unequal, but little was done
• The case was reopened for a second part in 1955
• 1957: President Eisenhower deployed federal troops, and nine students—known as the "Little Rock Nine"—were able to enter the school under armed guard
• Brown V. Board of Education sparked several other Civil Rights movements, such as the Montgomery bus boycott 
• Ultimately justices ruled unanimously that racial segregation of children in public schools was unconstitutional 

  

  The Supreme Court Brown V. Board of Education can obviously be easily related back to the case Plessy V. Ferguson.  Both dealt with cases of discrimination and segregation, but differed in the outcomes.  Without the court's decision of "separate but equal" in Plessy V. Ferguson, there would have been no need for the following case. 

LAD #38: Truman Doctrine

Truman Doctrine - March 12, 1947

• President Truman addresses the pressing issue of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union
• He recognizes that this issue has involved the foreign policy and national security of the nation, and that something has to be done about it
• Truman starts by talking about Greece and Turkey, and how relief from the US, in the form of supplies for their army, was being needed in Greece since Soviet troops had occupied the country after German forces were kicked out by Allied troops
• Turkey also needed aid form the US after WWII, along with several other Western European countries that were demolished by Germany
• Truman declares the US as a "promoter of democratic freedom," when describing how the US plans to aid the other countries, and also a "protector of the free world against the spread of Communism"
• This increases the idea of the US foreign policy of containment, and Truman uses this doctrine in order to request that Congress send $750 million with a small military force to both Greece and Turkey

  

  The way that the US carried out the Truman Doctrine can easily be related to US involvement in the Vietnam War.  Both of these actions by the US were taken in order to reinforce the foreign policy of containment.  Both of them show that the US was willing to go to extraordinary lengths to protect their country, and democracy. 

LAD #37: FDR's Executive Order 9066

FDR's Executive Order 9066

• Roosevelt authorized the Secretary of War (and other military commanders) to prescribe military areas
• The Secretary of War was also responsible for providing transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as necessary
• Granted the Secretary of War the use of federal troops and agencies, with the choice of using state troops and agencies
• Roosevelt authorized/directed Executive Departments to assist the Secretary of War and military commanders

• I can try to understand why Roosevelt feared Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but I think it was irresponsible and ignorant of him to give full power to the Secretary of War.  People aren't perfect and there was no guarantee that the head of this department would, in the future, make fair decisions that the president would have agreed with.  The part of the order with food and transportation, though, does seem better than the authority to forcefully relocate Japanese Americans to military zones.

Again, slavery in the US is one of the closest things to the terror the Executive Order 9066.  The rights of blacks and Japanese Americans were both compromised during these two different time periods, due to fear.

LAD #36: FDR's Declaration of War

FDR's Declaration of War: Monday, December 8, 1941

• December 7, 1941: "a date which will live in infamy"
• The US had been at peace with Japan until this day
• The distance from Hawaii to Japan proved the attack was deliberately planned
• The attack caused severe damage to American naval and military forces, with several lives lost
• Japan also attacked Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippine Islands, Wake Island, and Midway Island
• Roosevelt explains how this declaration of war is in the US's best interest of defense and victory

• The lone no vote in both houses was cast by Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress
• Rankin was a committed and dedicated lifelong pacifist
• She cast the sole Congressional vote against the US declaration of war on Japan
• Rankin was the only member of Congress to vote against U.S. involvement in both World Wars
• She cared little about the damage her own personal beliefs caused her political career and, besides being a pacifist, believed that Roosevelt had provoked the Japanese to attack in order to give him an excuse to join the European war against Germany
• Her nickname, developed after she voted against the US joining WWII, became "Japanette Rankin," as people believed she was not loyal to the US because of her pacifist beliefs in peace

FDR's declaration of war was obviously similar to Wilson's, as they both concerned major world wars.  They were also very similar in that up until then, the US had been strictly neutral and isolationist, and Americans really didn't even want to be swept up into the messy European war.  In both cases, though, actions taken by other countries ultimately gave the US no choice but to enter the war.  With Wilson it was the sinking of the Lusitania and Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmerman Telegraph, and for Roosevelt, it was the bombing at Pearl Harbor.

LAD/Blog #35: Home was a Horse Stall

Home was a Horse Stall

Reactions to Sox:

• I think it is really awful that, on top of being executed, the Japanese Americans felt forced to burn everything directly related to their culture, as it could be taken as a threat or a sign of collaboration with the enemy
• Sox's personal story also makes me think about these people were being treated as if they directly betrayed the US, instead of the reality where it was their home country
• I can't imagine living with four other people in a 9- by 20-foot enclosure, even if they were family, and especially in those unsanitary conditions
• Her good fortune as the assistant block manager also reminds me how others were not as fortunate

President Roosevelt's Executive Order: 

• The Executive Order 9066 allowed Roosevelt to establish "military areas" along the West Coast and limit activities of the people in those areas
• The Civilian Exclusion Order No. 27 (two months later) narrowed the focus of these restrictions to "all persons of Japanese ancestry, both alien and non-alien"
• These orders disrupted the lives of 112,000 people, two-thirds of them US citizens
• Evacuation orders were soon posted, and Japanese Americans had to prepare to leave (May 9, 1942 was leaving day)
• The exclusion order was lifted on November 11, 1944

1988 "Repair":

• The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was passed as an attempt for the government to try to compensate for all of the terror previously conflicted on the Japanese Americans
• With this law, each surviving person received $20,000 as a symbolic reparation for their hardship, and provided compensation for Aleut people of Alaska who were relocated from their homes after a Japanese invasion
• This act also established a fund for educating the public about the internment

The concentration camps of the Holocaust are probably the closest synthesis to the camps in the US in the 1940's.  But for US history, it can be said that slavery was pretty close.  People were trapped working for other people, in filthy conditions, and were greatly mistreated due to the color of their skin (the Japanese Americans were pitted against due to their nationality, even though they were US citizens).

LAD/Blog #34: FDR's First Inaugural

FDR's First Inaugural Address (1933)

• FDR's first inaugural address, which was very memorable, was made on March 4th, 1933

• One of the most famous quotes of his is right in the beginning of his speech: "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself"

• This quote was very inspirational and motivational for American citizens during this time period (the Great Depression)

•  FDR also mentions how it is very important that they focus on the existing truth, and brings up how the Great Depression really wasn't severe as rumors were making it out to be

• The address shows FDR's optimism, without the pure idealism or ignorance of previous presidents 

•  He carefully explains how the situation really isn't as bad, since everything was focused around materialistic things, substances that the American people really did not need to live, and how it could be much worse with other things such as disease

• FDR uses the current state of America to spread hope of the future while still acknowledging the struggles to come

• He also explains how other leaders before him fell short due to their fear, and how he aims to take action in a different way, with God's blessing

• "Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort"

George Washington's inaugural address was similar to FDR's first one, for several reasons.  First, both speeches were very memorable, as Washington was the first President, and FDR's was very motivational and during a time of economic downfall for the country.  In addition, both of them clearly outline their beliefs, along with actions they hope to take in the future to make the nation even better.  They focus on the truth of the situation they are in, and how they plan on making the best of it.

LAD/Blog #33: Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact

Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact (1928)

• This agreement to outlaw war was signed on August 27th, 1928

• AKA the Pact of Paris (the city where it was signed)

• Another international effort to prevent a future world war

• Nicholas Murray Butler and James T. Shotwell were two peace advocates involved in the
  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace organization

• French Minister of Foreign Affairs Aristide Briand proposed the peace act between the US and France with help from Butler and Shotwell

• President Calvin Coolidge and Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg were more wary towards the peace act, because it could easily turn into an alliance where the US would have to step in to defend France in case of conflict

• Because of this, Kellogg and Coolidge proposed turning the pact into one for all countries, not just between the US and France (which was well-recieved internationally)

• A total of 62 nations ended up signing the pact, including Germany

• It was also ratified by the US Senate with a vote 85-1

• There was ultimately no way to enforce the pact, or even define what "self-defense" meant for each country

• The first major test of this pact was in 1931, with the Mukden Incident, which led to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria (even though Japan had signed the pact)

• This incident proved that it was nearly impossible to enforce the act, especially for multiple countries 

• The legacy of the pact remains as a statement of the idealism of the time period

• Kellogg won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929 for his work on the pact

Wilson's 14 points were very similar to the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact of 1928.  Both of them were very idealistic, with a goal for world peace with the pact and Article X of the Treaty of Versailles, also known as the League of Nations and Wilson's fourteenth point.  The common problem with these two things was also that there was no real way to enforce the ideas of peace, causing them both to be unsuccessful.