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

As a result of this court case, these two children could now go to the same school together.

Linda Brown and her father Oliver tried to enroll her in a white elementary school that was closer to her house, rather than the far away black school. He appealed to the NAACP for help, and in the ensuing court case the argument was that segregation made black children feel inferior and therefore was not "separate but equal," and the other side replied that school segregation was just preparing children for the segregation they'd face in their later lives. The court felt compelled to rule in favor of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, even though they had evidence that the statement wasn't actually true. The decision was appealed to the Supreme Court, which eventually ruled under Chief Justice Earl Warren that segregation had no place in public schools, and thereby struck down the longstanding Plessy v. Ferguson decision and required desegregation of public schools in America. However, this did not provide for any desegregation of other public places such as bathrooms or restaurants.

LAD #36: The Truman Doctrine

President Truman presenting his speech about the "Truman Doctrine"

In this speech, Truman states that America had received an urgent appeal from the Greek government for financial and economic assistance, and that providing them with this help will ensure that the country stays as a free nation. After liberating forces entered Greece, they found that the country was in ruins and its economy had suffered immensely. A minority group took advantage of this situation and turned it into anarchy that made rebuilding the economy impossible, so much so that Greece doesn't even have money to import goods necessary of its own survival. The communist-led terrorist groups make it hard for the government to retain control, to which Truman argues that the United States has to help Greece's democratic government because no other country is able or willing to. He also says that the United Nations will not be able to provide the needed type of support quickly enough as the situation calls for urgent actions. Truman also believes that Turkey, a neighboring country, needs help as well, though in different ways than Greece. Truman claims that although Turkey has asked for financial aid from Great Britain and the U.S. before, it was now important to help them in order to preserve oder in the Middle East. He states that America will not be able to accomplish its goals as being a leading member of the U.N. if it doesn't attempt to help both Turkey and Greece with their problems, because having totalitarian regimes forced on people against their will is a violation of the Yalta Conference. Truman believes tat it's the United States' duty to support people who are resisting such totalitarian regimes and support their right of self-determination. If America doesn't support these countries now, he warns, the effects of them falling will have far-reaching consequences on the entire world. He ends by asking Congress to provide $400,000,000 to aid Greece and Turkey as well as send American civilians and military members to assist wit reconstruction.

LAD #35: Executive Order 9066

A poster that shows the forced evacuation of certain military areas in the country. These evacuations affected primarily Japanese-Americans.

In this executive order, FDR authorizes the Secretary of War to create military areas in different parts of the country where he or his officers deem fit and necessary for stopping espionage and sabotage of the war effort. He also gives them the power to determine who is exempt from these military areas and who is not, and also places the Secretary of War in league with local governments to provide food, shelter, clothing, hospitalization, and other basic needs of people who were in the military areas. FDR also allows the use of federal troops or other federal organizations as a means of getting people to comply if they are disobeying the order. Although this executive order was only for the creation of military zones, it cleared the way for the creation of internment camps, where people of America's enemies' descent were placed, which were largely populated by Japanese-Americans who were suspected of being spies or being hostile to the country they lived in.

LAD #34: FDR's Declaration of War

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, asking for a declaration of war before Congress

FDR first states that America was suddenly attacked by Japan, with o prior warnings, and the two countries had even been engaging in diplomatic relations. And although Japan then broke off diplomatic relations, the message sent by the Japanese Ambassador to the United States had no hint of war. But FDR assured Congress tat due to the distance between Hawaii and Japan, the attack had to have been planed out beforehand, and the Japanese government was trying to deceive America with false statements of peace. He also mentions Japanese attacks on other Pacific islands, all occurring within 24 hours of his speech. Their surprise offensive coupled with the loss of many America lives leads him to ask Congress for a declaration of war, saying that the American people will win through to absolute victory from their determination.

LAD #33: FDR's 1st Inaugural Address

A photograph of FDR being inaugurated as President

FDR states that America needs to face its problems honestly- and that the only thing they had to fear was "fear itself."He addresses the problems the American citizens are having from the Great Depression, including the failure of currency to keep up with the supply and demand of the country and the great numbers of people who are unemployed. He says that the bankers have been ineffective, and that their efforts to improve the situation have only worsened it and they suggest no good ways for getting the economy back on its feet. FDR asserts that the way to restore everything is to apply social values that are more noble than only seeking for a monetary profit and that immediate action is what the nation needs to have in order to get itself out of the Depression. He also recognizes that putting people back to work on projects that will help the country is the logical first step, as well as greatly increasing government involvement in these projects and keeping a close eye on banking, credits, and investment to prevent a tragedy like this one from reoccurring. FDR further says that these actions, and placing other countries' needs after the United States' intends to recover the country, not act out of nationalistic ideas. He says that everyone needs to be willing to make sacrifices towards the common good if people want these goals to become a reality, and also warns that even though the normal government functions should be enough, he might have to change some things around if nothing is working, notably the balance of power in the governmental branches. FDR concludes by stating that he will face this emergency as if it were a war, and asks for the guidance of god in his coming days in office.

LAD #32: Kellogg-Briand Pact

The signing of the Kellogg-Briand Pact

This treaty, signed in Paris on August 27, 1928 stated that the United States and other countries would not use war as a national instrument anymore. The countries that were at the meeting were the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom/Great Britain, Belgium, France, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. This was to take effect on July 24, 1929. The actual treaty states that the leaders of all the above mentioned countries would recognize their duty in the world and stop using war as a national policy, and condemn it as a solution to international disputes, because the good relations that existed between the countries now would be sustainable. If countries wanted to settle something between them it would have to be done diplomatically, and if a country did use war to further its own national interests then it would be denied the treaty's benefits. It was also America's job to make sure that every country that signed and any subsequent countries later would have materials needed to ratify or adhere to it.

 Other countries that signed on before it went into effect were: 
 Afghanistan, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Rumania, Russia, the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Siam, Spain, Sweden, and Panama.

Countries that were added to the treaty later were: 
Persia, Greece, Honduras, Chile, Luxemburg, Danzig, Costa Rica, and Venezuela.

LAD #31: Wilson's Fourteen Points

Wilson giving his speech about the Fourteen Points

Wilson opens with talking about the peace proceedings at Brest-Litovsk that were happening among the Central Powers, which were broken off due to disagreements between the countries regarding territory captured in war. He makes a few statements about the current conditions there, and then reveals he is going to list the United States' opinions on what should be done, at the request of the Russian people:

1. Diplomacy should proceed frankly and in public view- no more secret agreements
2. Absolute freedom of navigation on the seas outside of territorial waters, unless an international agreement is made otherwise
3. Removing economic barriers and establishing free trade among willing nations
4. National armaments will be reduced to the minimum for domestic security
5. An impartial adjustment to colonial claims, where the opinions of the colonial population will be as strong as the government that colonized them
6. An evacuation and settlement of questions about Russia that would let it build itself up without unwanted interference from other countries, and help when it wanted it
7. Belgium should be evacuated and restored without limiting its sovereignty
8. French territory should be freed and restored, and Alsace-Lorraine returned to it
9. A readjustment of Italy's borders to be clearer
10. The citizens of Austria-Hungary should be allowed to develop autonomously
11. Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated and restored, Serbia given a route to the sea, and the relationships between the Balkan states be clearly defined and examined
12. The Dardenelles should be opened and the non-Turkish parts of the Ottoman Empire be given opportunity to develop by themselves
13. A Polish state should be created, with an access to the sea, whose independence be internationally guaranteed
14. A league of nations should be formed to ensure independence in other countries

Wilson ends by emphasizing that justice, for all nations, is the most important thing that has to arise from the end of WWI.