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The Murder of Lincoln
This great event marks the beginning of a new tide. Abraham Lincoln, largely considered one of the best presidents of all time is shot behind the head while attending a play at Ford's Theater. The cowardly culprit, John Wilkes Booth, was a known actor who had been associated with an interest group who was known for their Southern sympathies. A polar juxtaposition, Lincoln was an advocate for freedoms concerning enslaved peoples,while Booth hoped to continue the South's emancipation from the US -
Susan B. Anthony is Arrested for Illegaly Voting
Susan B. Anthony, an avid advocate for freedoms, was arrested in Rochester, New York in a barbershop after she had voted. She fought for freedom in multiple aspects: suffrage, equality, womens' rights, and other social problems. At the time, suffrage was not extended to women--so she was fined, but not arrested. She never paid that fine even until her death. She also worked to get the 14th Amendment passed. Sure enough, the vote was granted to women. -
Espionage Act of 1917: A Test of Government Control
With the start of the Great War, there was a feeling of distaste of the foreign. Many Americans had become familiar to fear of anarchists and Bolsheviks. They and other politically charged entities spoke out and acted against the war and draft rules. So America could further control speech and dedicate itself to the war effort, the Espionage Act was passed to deter and reprimand all those who spoke against the War. The provisions made the punishments more severe for "seditious language." -
The First Red Scare
BolsheviksA new voice of the worker has been heard. Along with the governent control of new, progressive ideas--the Anglo nation was scared of the minority factions gaining control of the nation.... A farcical notion...A lot of imprisonment, illegal search and seizures, radical deportations occurred in the terms of silencing free speech. An hyper-nationalist blemish on our nation. -
Schenck v. United States
The Secretary of the Socialist Party of America, Charles Schenk was arrested and brought to trial against his help in the spreading of publications regarding criticisms of the draft. His actions were punished under the Espionage Act. Schenck, while under constitutional protection from the 1st Amendment, was an example of the limiting speech and the search of freedom within America. This court case is where the "clear and present danger" phrase was made popular as a means to give Congress power -
The Indian Citizenship Act
On this day, President Coolidge gives citizenship to all Indians born inside the territorial U.S. Most forget about the plight of Native Americans in their struggle for equality. The focus has always been taken away from the Indigenous American tribes. Moved off their lands, tribes were either wiped out or marginalized in the expansion of America. Still, an inherent racism loomed for decades to come--even though many tribal members fought in wars and went through Americanization. -
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McCarthyism
VideoA second Red Scare was introduced into the nation. More speech control and limitations on the freedoms of press and assembly were put in place. Senator Joe McCarthy was the inquisitor a la Reconquista style--openly condeming and implying public personages such as actors and other politicians, labeling them as un-American and dangerous without proof and based on nationalist fears. It was merely political slander. -
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John F. Kennedy's Presidency
AddressPresident Kennedy came from a wealthy, Catholic family but that didn't limit him in his presidency. He was a warrior for civil rights and a sign of hope for progress in America. He worked through problems with the Soviets and Cuba to establishing the Peace Corp. His works were highly regarded as he called upon his fellow citizens to unite to end the real evils of poverty, hatred, inequality. An advocate for human rights, he was murdered--supposedly by Lee Harvey Oswald. -
I Have a Dream Speech: In the Nation's Capital
SpeechOn this day, many will remember the call to action on behalf of humanity. Dr. King stated in his rhetoric, with allusions to the Gettysburg Address and Declaration of Independence, that indeed the Negro popluation had still been enslaved even though the Emancipation Proclamation and other legistlation. This is symbolic because Dr. King spoke about acceptance and equality for all peoples of every creed and race. -
Roe v. Wade Decision
VideoA social progress in the eyes of liberal minded people and women. In Texas, a woman, Jane Roe, had become pregnant with her third child and she claimed to have been rape to attain a legal abortion. A lawsuit was filed on her behalf to get an abortion and the Supreme Court ruled that states can't make laws against abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. It due to the privacy and freedoms given in the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
