LAD #37: Brown vs., Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas

Third grader, Linda Brown, had to walk a mile in a dangerous and rough area to get to a black school when there was a public school one block away. The separation of schools was made legal by the “Plessy vs. Ferguson” court case. The case states that as long as the schools were separate but equal they were okay. However, many believed that the schools were not as equal as they were promised to be. The defense argued that the segregation was preparing the colored children for the segregation that they would face the rest of their lives. Eventually, the Supreme Court overrode the ruling and united the schools. Although some backlash occurred, it was a great step towards quality.  

LAD 36: Truman Doctrine

The American government did not want to leave the Greek government alone due to the utter destruction they faced after being liberated from German control. The Greeks did not have any funds to rebuild and asked for assistance before they were taken over by communists. The Unites States is eager to supply that assistance because they do not like communism and do not want it to spread. The United States had more money than most other countries. Even the United Nations was unable to help. The Greek government had been running in chaos. In addition to Greece needing help, Turkey was also in need. Truman felt it was America’s duty to preserve order out in the Middle East. However, a major problem was that many people did not want any more government involvement. The U.S. needed to give the money or more detrimental issues and problems could come up. 

LAD #35: FDR's Executive Order #9066

After the horrific bombing on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt and the American people were cautious when dealing with any Japanese. The wariness was mostly directed to the Japanese living in America because people thought they might be spies relaying secret information back over to Japan. Because of all the paranoia , FDR's Executive Order #9066 was put into action. FDR's Executive Order #9066 set up concentrated military areas that held Japanese families. This was they were far and isolated from the American citizens. Nearly 120,000 Japanese were held in these relocation camps. Some other ethnic people were imprisoned here however the camps centered their attention on the internment of Japanese.

LAD #34: FDR's Declaration of War

President Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war against the Japanese soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. He was confident in the United States armed forces and relied on the fact that people of the nation would come together to fight against the Japanese. When FDR brought the declaration to Congress, he asked the members to think about what could happen to the nation if we let the Japanese off the hook with no punishment. Not only had the Japanese acted aggressively in Pearl Harbor, but also at Midway and Hong Kong. With all of these violent acts under their belt, they clearly were not looking to make a peace treaty with the U.S. any time soon. Roosevelt's main argument to Congress was that war was necessary in order to protect the American people. In addition to protecting the people, declaration of war on Japan would enter the U.S. into WWII and also end the Great Depression.

LAD #33: FDR's First Inaugural Address

On March 4^th, 1933, former New York governor, Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his inaugural address. First off, he says that the nation will be revived and flourish once again. This speech is also where he spoke the famous line of “the one thing we have to fear is fear itself.” With the support of the American people he believed America as a nation could achieve anything it wanted. Roosevelt discusses the issues of the rising taxes and the inability to pay them. He also understood the hardship that the farmers were facing; they could not find markets to sell the produce too and therefore they were very poor. Farmers were not the only poor ones. Many people were unemployed; FDR’s goal was to get people back to work. With the help of communication and transportation, people could return to work in the industrial growing cities. Besides the domestic problems, FDR also talked about the foreign policy. He wanted America to be seen as a “good neighbor” just like how it was with Teddy Roosevelt. FDR closes by saying that his main job is to listen to what the people have to say.

LAD #32: Kellogg Briand Peace Pact

The Kellogg Briand Peace Pact was created just after the end of The Great War to outlaw future war between nations. Several countries signed this pact, including the United States and France, saying that they would not go to war with each other. It the countries stuck to their promise then major world conflict would not be an issue again. There was a hope that by creating this treaty, other countries not part of this treaty would make their own peace treaties with other nations. The main goal of this pact was to avoid war and create different ways to solve conflict that came up. Each country that signed this had their government promise that they would respect the pact and avoid future problems at all cost.

LAD #31: Wilson’s 14 Points

At the finish of The Great War, President Woodrow Wilson created his fourteen points in order to create peace at Versailles. His plans were lenient because he knew that forgiveness and charity towards all would be the most effective strategy. Sadly, the other Ally forces thought his solution was not harsh enough to tame the vengeful Germany. Wilson’s fourteen points included the removal of economic barriers, equal trade, no private diplomacy, a reduction of arms and military, future colonies would be able to determine their own sovereignty, lastly the League of Nations would be formed. Despite all of the restrictions, the Allies still demanded more. In the end, Wilson made several compromises in order to include the ones who wanted to be in the treaty.