LAD#37: Brown v. Board of Education

Summarize.
In the 1950's, the idea of separate but (supposedly) equal was still very prominent in the school system. In Topeka, Kansas, a little black girl in third grade had to walk over a mile to the black school every day when a white school was only a short distance away from her home. Her father, Oliver Brown, attempted to enroll her in the white school, but the principal of the school refused, so he went to the area's NAACP head and asked for help. McKinley Burnett was eager to take this chance to challenged segregated schools, and went to court against the Topeka Board of Education. They argued that black schools were often inferior to white schools and thus were not equal, while the Board argued it just prepared black children for the segregation they would face in adulthood.

This case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where it was combined with other cases challenging school segregation in other states. In 1952 the Court first heard the case but failed to reach a decision, but in 1953 they heard it again and decided that though the school may or may not be technically equal, the inferiority it gave to black students made it unequal, and thus struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine set by Plessy v Ferguson, at least in schools.

LAD#36: Truman Doctrine

Summarize.

Truman opens by addressing the Congress with his belief that the national security is threatened, and one part of this also concerns Greece and Turkey. The Greek government had sent an appeal to the US for economic assistance. Though peaceful, they had been ravaged by WWII and for a time a militant minority took power, but now they find themselves barely able to sustain themselves and require help to reconstruct. They are also currently being threatened by communist terrorists which they cannot fight against. Truman believes the United States must be the one to supply the assistance Greece so clearly needs. The United Nations would not be able to supply the immediate action needed, and no other democratic country is willing or able. Though it has made mistakes, Truman insists that no government is perfect but we should supervise the usage of any assistance we give to them. Truman also believes Turkey needs support in order to modernize themselves, support they have asked for but that only the US could give them.

Truman believes that a primary foreign policy of the United States is to create a world free of coercion, which is what WWII had been fought and the United Nations formed for. However, he states, many nations had recently had totalitarian regimes forced upon them. He believes the United States must be the one to assist free people in making their own choices, not having a choice forced upon them. Should Greece be taken over by an armed minority, Turkey would surely fall tot he same fate, and soon after the entirety of the middle east, and it would be disastrous not only for them but for the world.

On that note, Truman asks Congress to take immediate and resolute action to assist Greece and Turkey, and investment that would surely be more than worth it by saving free people from totalitarian rule.

LAD#35: FDR's Executive Order No. 9066

Summarize.

Justified by the need to take every possible defensive action during a state of war and by his authority as commander in chief, FDR authorizes the Secretary of War and his designated commanders to restrain certain people as they see fit in military controlled areas. FDR also authorizes them to take whatever action necessary to accomplish this, including the use of federal troops, and directs all of the executive department to assist the Secretary of War in this endeavor. 

LAD#34: FDR's Declaration of War

Summarize.

FDR first speaks of the previous day, December 7th, 1941, the "date which will live in infamy", when the United States was attacked by Japan. Previously, Japan and the United States had been in good relation, working for continued peace, but while doing so the Japanese were secretly planning this attack that destroyed a good portion of America's naval forces and took many American lives. Meanwhile, Japan also was launching a massive attack in the Pacific.

FDR then asks that the United States do what is right in defending themselves, and through absolute victory, never again be threatened by such hostilities. He ends the speech by asking Congress to declare war on Japan.

LAD#33: Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address

Summarize.

FDR opens by stating that he will do just as the people expect from him by speaking very frankly about the times, as he is not afraid of these problems, nor should the people be. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself". He then points out that these problems are thankfully only material, within the economy, the greatest of which is that unemployment has skyrocketed. However, he points out these problems did not come from lack of substance, but rather lack of competence from those who controlled it in the form of credit.

FDR then says that action needs to be taken. First, by finding jobs for people. Secondly, by redistributing the economy to raise the value of agricultural endeavors and lowering government taxes. And lastly, by setting up a system so that an economic depression of this magnitude can never happen again; namely by supervising banking and creditors and ending speculation of money. He promises to immediately put into effect this plan of action.

He then encourages something of isolationism while the nation puts itself back together economically, and encourages the American people to turn to and help each other in order to recover. He then also describes that the greatness of the Constitution comes from its flexibility, and he admits that he may need to use that flexibility in order to take action swiftly and effectively. He ends by asking God to protect the American people and help guide him as the country's leader during these times.

LAD#32: Kellogg Briand Peace Pact of 1928

Summarize.

Treaty between the United States and other world powers (including Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Ireland, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, and the Czech Republic) denouncing war as a foreign policy, in support of the welfare of mankind. Instead, national policies toward one another should be conducted through peaceful negotiation. Representatives for each country included Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg as the representative for the United States, and Aristide Briand as the representative for France, among others.

Article I states that each country within the treaty shall condemn war as a means to solve international problems or as any sort of foreign policy. Article II states that each country withing the treaty shall only use peaceful means to solve problems. Article III describes the ratification process of the treaty.

LAD#31: Wilson's Fourteen Points

Summarize.

Delivered by President Wilson to Congress on January 8th, 1918, the speech begins by answering the European powers and assuring the country that the Great War was being fought for moral reasons and as the war to end all wars, to create a world fit and safe to live in. Wilson then gives his fourteen points, or the United States' idea of how to create world peace. Briefly;

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.

Wilson concludes his speech by encouraging that all powers must act as one to allow safety and peace throughout the world. He also urges not to harshly punish Germany, but to allow it to remain among the world powers.