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The five nations came together and created the Great Law of Peace. The Great Law has been passed down for generations and survives today. More than just a blueprint for government. The legacy of the Great Law can be found in all of our daily life and government but the real legacy is the proof that we benefited from a culture that was more advanced and here before us. -
Harriet Tubman was born between 1820 and 1822 and escaped slavery in 1849 using the Underground Railroad.
Tubman did not found the Underground Railroad. -
In 1824, the Bureau of Indian Affairs was founded to oversee the land taken from indigenous people who were “forced off their ancestral lands and placed on reservations.” -
1840 Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, two American abolitionists, attended an antislavery convention in England. -
The Declaration of Sentiments helped women gain the right to vote. This had a great impact on the social and political structure of the country. This document helped persuade both men and women that women should have same rights as men. -
In 1861, the Civil War began and in 1862, Harriet Tubman traveled south to Port Royal, South Carolina to support the Union’s efforts. Montgomery enlisted Tubman to join the river raid. -
On June 1, 1863, Union boats carrying Union spies, troops (many formally enslaved people) and Montgomery sailed up the Combahee River in South Carolina to “destroy plantations, confiscate goods and liberate as many people as possible” (p17). The raid would not be successful if it was not for Tubman’s ability to recruit spies, gain the trust of the enslaved and black communities and her knowledge of the River. The Raid was the largest liberation of enslaved people in American History. -
In 1889, Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr opened Hull House which was a settlement house dedicated to serving and improving the lives of immigrant people in Chicago. -
On March 3, 1913 the first march on Washington DC occurred when more than 5000 women marched in support of the suffrage movement. -
On July 28, 1917, the NAACP organized a silent march of 10,000 black people in New York City to protest the violence, discrimination and lynching of black people. -
On May 21, 1932, the first of the WWI vets marched on Washington DC and set up camp. Eventually 25,000 jobless vets would join the Bonus Army march to receive back pay promised to them for their service in WW1. -
By 1935, many New Deal agencies were formed. Five of the programs focused on artists. One such program, the Federal Theater Project (FTP), provided jobs to all those involved in the theater. -
In June 1937, the controversial play the Cradle Will Rock was shut down by the government.
Although Harry and Hallie tried to be free of censorship many plays were considered controversial. -
January 1939 Billie Holiday sang the song Strange Fruit.
Strange fruit was basically is a protest song about black lynchings in the south, but Jazz allowed Billie Holiday to sing it in an entertainment setting. -
On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed an executive order 9066 which “ultimately authorized the military to round up and remove 120,000 people of Japanese descent from their homes and forced them into prison camps.” -
By 1950, the Bureau adopted a “new policy of termination to break up the reservation system, disband tribes, sell Indian land and relocate Indians to urban areas so they could assimilate by losing their distinct identities and becoming like normal Americans-aka white Americans” -
In 1952, Ed Roberts contracted polio which left him a disabled quadriplegic. However, Ed did not let his disability get in the way of living his life. The most significant act he did was to protest the lack of enforcement of Section 504 by bringing together hundreds of disabled people for a sit-in at federal buildings. It received national attention and brought in non-disabled people to become aware of the inequality disabled people faced regarding accessibility -
In 1953, the American Library Association issued the freedom to read statement which stated “the freedom to read is essential to our democracy.” (p 73). America has over 17,000 public libraries which “are more than just a place to read and borrow books: they are sanctuaries of free thought and speech.” -
In the late 1960’s, The Third World Liberation Front was founded by different ethnic groups.
These groups were organized by those “who’d long been marginalized from mainstream American life” -
On May 2, 1963, nearly 1,000 black children and teenagers marched on the streets of Birmingham, AL to protest the city’s segregation policy. This march was part of several civil rights marches that occurred during this period and emphasized the nonviolent civil disobedience that was exhibited in earlier civil rights movements.
The children marched, knowing they would be arrested and met with violence but hoped that their activism would inspire change. -
On March 6, 1968, Chicano students in East LA organized a walkout from their high schools eventually leading to over 15,000 students protesting racist and unfair school policies towards Mexican Americans. The protest was known as “Blowouts''. -
In 1969, 79 native people arrived in Alcatraz by boats and occupied the abandoned island for 19 months. They sought to “exert their right to claim unused federal land.” (p7) As a result, the native peoples also created a community on the Island and learned about their Indian heritage and cultures. -
Around 1981 Earth First! Was founded as a radical activist organization committed to saving the world’s oldest trees. As a result of Earth First! Protests and the Redwood Summer, the “Headwaters Forest Reserve was created, preserving 7,500 acres of ancient, pristine forests”. (p 32) -
November 1990, “Californians would vote on a bill called Forest Forever that would restrict clear cutting.” (page 31).
As a result, the corporations began to clear cut as many trees as possible before the bill would pass. -
2013, July 13, the verdict was read and was found not guilty for George Zimmerman, a white male, who killed TrayVon Martin, an unarmed black teenager who was walking home. After this not guilty verdict, Alisha Garza expressed her grief with a post on FaceBook which got the attention of Opal Tometi. -
On August 9, 2014 Michael Brown was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson Missouri. 2014 also saw several other black men unarmed by white police officers. blacklivesmatter appeared everywhere during the protest in Ferguson. -
On February 14, 2018, one of 24 school shootings in 2018 took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglass. This shooting sparked a movement by students to change gun laws.
The students at MSD, started a social media campaign and announced a March for Our Lives to take place in Washington DC. The activist students used the media to gain the attention of the entire country.