LAD/Blog #25: The Dawes Act

General Allotment Act/Dawes Severalty Act (1887)

• passed under President Grover Cleveland's first term
• allowed Cleveland to survey and divide up lands in reservations in "severalty" to any Indian on the land
• Cleveland was allowed to do this whenever he felt the land could be useful for agricultural purposes
• also gave him the power to redistribute land, so nothing was set in stone
• in some cases, the head of an Indian family could choose the land
• granted US citizen rights to some Indian tribes
• the amount of land a family gets is based on the head of the family's gender, age, and family status
• act of assimilation, excluded the 5 Civilized Tribes
• further allowed the government to purchase any excess Indian land and sell it to American settlers
• the act failed due to the poor quality of the land, and lack of Indian's experience with a farming lifestyle

The Morrill Act/Land-Grant College Act of 1862 was very similar to the Dawes Act of 1887.  The Land-Grant provided grants of land to states so that they could finance the establishment of colleges that would specialize in "agriculture and the mechanical arts."  Both acts allotted specific pieces of land, but to different groups of people, for different reasons.  This promoted education within the country, and also elevated the quality of education.  The act provided each state with 30,000 acres of Federal land for each member in their Congressional delegation.

LAD/Blog #24: Populist (People's) Party Platform

THE POPULIST PARTY (1892)

1.  The Preamble:

• created during a time of corruption and upheaval for the country
• period of increased censorship by government
• two great classes: tramps and millionaires 
• the value of silver has been decreased in order to form a solely gold-based currency
• the country has lost sight of many things due to the constant rivalry between the two political parties 
• party seeks to restore the government of the Republic to the hands of the ''plain people'' (the original class)
• many similar core values to the original preamble of the Constitution
• believed in increasing the power of both the government and the people

2.  The Platform:

• Omaha Platform was drafted by Ignatius Donnelly of Minnesota
• declared union labor forces should be permanent from that day forward
• believed people need to work to earn things, "if any will not work, neither shall he eat"
• favored strict civil-service regulation
• demanded a national safe, sound, and flexible currency
• believed the government should alter transportation (the railroads) to favor the common man
• land is the heritage of the people, and therefore should not be monopolized

3.  The Resolutions that made up the Expression of Sentiments:

• demanded a free ballot and fair count in all elections
• supported fair and liberal pensions to ex-Union soldiers/sailors
• demanded enforcement of the exiting eight-hour labor law
• wanted to limit both the President and Vice President to one term only

As the current President of the United States, Donald Trump is a great example of a modern populist candidate, even though the party was created in 1892.  He ha lots of appeal to the center, and the broadness of which help him win the election in 2016.  Trump was greatly supported by the South and Midwest, both of which are mainly populist areas.  Trump is indifferent to the issues of sexual orientation that animate the declining religious right, even to the point of defending Planned Parenthood.

LAD/Blog #23: McKinley's War Message

Summary:
William McKinley starts his message by saying how this is his response towards the Cuban Revolution (against Spain).  He also explains that he chose to get further involved in ending this conflict due to the connection between it and the Union.  Trade has suffered greatly during this conflict, money provided by the US has been lost, and Americans are becoming tired of this lifestyle.  All of these things convince McKinley to ask Congress for the declaration of war, in order to put an end to the conflict sooner.  He tries his best to convince Congress to either make a treaty or compromise, or promote one side over the other in order to speed up the process.  Later on, though, McKinley states how he would rather still remain quite neutral throughout this whole process, instead of siding against Cuba.  He stresses the importance of the alliance between Cuba and the US, and how both countries rely on each other for different things (interdependence).

Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality can be used a synthesis for McKinley's War Message because both deal with the US's struggle to remain neutral when various obstacles in the war.  Washington's proclamation introduces the idea of neutrality, stating its importance for the future of America.  McKinley believes in his, saying that the best way to resolve this conflict would be to remain mainly neutral, in order to ensure the conflict doesn't get any worse.

LAD/Blog #22: Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth

Summary:
Andrew Carnegie starts off by discussing the issues in the economy regarding the relationship between the different classes.  The gap between the upper and lower class had gotten much larger due to the changing economy.  However, he also thought that this change was necessary and beneficial, for progress within the nation.  One of the major problems was that wealth was not being distributed equally, but was rather allotted by the government to a small group of citizens.   Carnegie stated that in an effort to remove, or belittle surpluses of wealth, methods such as giving to charity, personal spending, inheritance (passing it down to the next generation), or donating the money for public uses, could not be viable options.  Because he disproved of these methods, he then suggested imposing death taxes as a means to provide state proper share of the fortune, while at the same time allowing many people to have a lot of wealth.  Andrew finishes by declaring that it is the responsibility of the upper class to set good examples and do what is best for the people and the economy as a whole.

The Bank of the United States (the BUS) was very similar to Andrew Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth.  For example, both obviously dealt with money, but more importantly, the unequal distribution and benefits of money.  Carnegie explained in his book how a lot of money was given by the government to a select few citizens, instead of being distributed equally throughout the country.  Similarly, the BUS benefited the North more than the South during the 19th century, with more of the deposits being made by the North.  The North was more industrialized, and therefore had a stronger economy and flow of money than the South, which relied more on crops and slave labor.  Because of this, it was argued that the BUS did not support the South enough, and this actually played a role in the causes of the Civil War.

LAD/Blog #21: Emancipation Proclamation

Summary:
Lincoln's proclamation was made on January 1, 1863.  He proclaims that all slaves in the states rebelling against the Union are now free, and that it is now the government's duty to preserve and maintain their freedom if anyone refuses to acknowledge it.  These slaves have now been given their freedom back, and can and will be treated as such people.  Lincoln also makes it clear that these free slaves can join the army if they so desire, to fight back and help preserve the Union.  With more rights, now these former slaves can live their lives and earn wages for themselves from a job.  Lincoln even lists several states that the proclamation applies to, as to avoid any confusion or controversy by the people and the government.  He does lay down some limits though, saying that these now free slaves should not be involved in any unnecessary violent unless it is for their own defense.  Lincoln firmly believes in this decision of his, saying that this was a step in the right direction for the US, and that it would be carried out immediately.

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 was actually quite similar to the Declaration of Independence of 1776.  For example, both of these significant documents dealt with issues of freedoms and the will of the people.  In the Declaration of Independence, the people of America declared themselves as free from Great Britain, because they believed this was the best choice for them, given the circumstances.  Similarly, Lincoln's proclamation stated that slaves in rebelling states were now free, and he made this decision with the best interest of the Union in mind, as the Civil War was still raging on at this time. 

LAD/Blog #20: Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address

 

Summary: 

Lincoln's 2nd inaugural address was shorter than the first one, since the initial oath had already taken place.  He reflects on how previously, four years ago, all focus and attention went towards the potential of civil war.  Lincoln explains how he viewed everyone to be on the same page, trying to avoid the potential of upcoming war.  Both parties seemed to be against the war, but ultimately were further against keeping the nation together the way it was, and so the war went on.  With one eighth of the country's population belonging to slaves, it was unsurprising that there was conflict, mainly in the South.  Both parties, while against the Union in some way, also looked for a different way to solve the conflict, though, one that did not involve war.  Lincoln explains how the previous prayers to God seem to have been ignored, yet he still has faith that this war will not end in two separate countries, and that God continues to listen to their pleas.  The president ends his speech by saying that he believes God will allow them to continue their fight for unity, and help them establish national peace.  

Washington's Inaugural Address was very similar and different to Lincoln's 2nd Inaugural Address.  For example, both speeches discussed ideals of unity and peace, and potential or existing conflict.  Washington's address warned the country of potential conflicts with other countries outside of the US, saying that the best thing for the country would be to remain neutral.  The irony, within Lincoln's speech, is that the conflict is within the US itself, and this war was not brought on by any foreign affairs.  Both addresses discuss these issues that the US has, and stress the importance of not letting those issues divide the United States.

LAD/Blog #19: The Dred Scott Decision

Dred Scott V. Sanford
The Dred Scott case began in 1847.  The case was later taken to the Supreme Court in 1857.  Scott was a slave in the South, mistreated and unable to read.  During his life he married another slave, Harriet Robinson, and had two children.  His owner, John Emerson, was married to Irene Sanford.  When Emerson died, Scott and his family were under the control of Sanford, who often lent them out to other families if she did not have a currently use for them.  The court case was created when Scott and his family filed suit against Sanford for their freedom in 1846.  He had lived in free territories before but had never tried to be completely free, and felt that it was about time he earned his freedom.  With no money or education, it was fairly hard for Scott to achieve this on his own, but he thankfully had the support of his first (previous) owner.  The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that a slave, even in a free state or non-slave territory, would still not be deserving of freedom or citizenship.  Besides this, the Supreme Court also ruled that the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which stated that territories west of Missouri and north of 36°30' latitude line were free states, was now unconstitutional.  This decision pushed the US even further towards civil war, bring lots of debates and controversy.  Chief Justice Roger Taney, in making his decision, ignored the written guidelines of the Constitution, and many people believed that he was biased in his ruling and beliefs about African American citizenship.  Nevertheless, Taney stuck to his opinions that a slave remained a slave even in free territories, and that they would never be citizens of the United States. 

The Supreme Court cases Dred Scott V. Sanford and Plessy V. Ferguson were very similar.  Both cases dealt with issues of unequal rights.  Scott fought for his freedom from slavery, but unfortunately did not receive it due to Roger Taney's ruling.  The issue of slavery remained in the US for years to come, bringing on the Civil War and many smaller conflicts as well.  In Plessy V. Ferguson, the idea of "separate but equal" was created, as discrimination grew more prominent in the US.  However, the similarity lies within the reality, that things indeed were separate for white and black people, but they were not equal at all.  Both of these cases were extremely controversial, and revolved around issues regarding civil liberties and rights.