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Alien and Sedition Acts
In a blatant disregard for freedom of speech, the Alien and Sedition Acts attempted to limit criticism of the Federalist Party, and were signed in to law by President Adams. The 4 bills were controversial and highly contested, as they tried to limit free speech. -
Midnight Appointments
In the aftermath of the bloodless revolution, President John Adams decided fill as many open judicial posititions as posible, in order to spite the democratic-republican Thomas Jefferson. Once in office, Jefferson stripped most of the the appointees of their position. However, William Marbury resisted the charge and brought his case to the supreme court. He was denied his charge. The Midnight Appointments violated both the proper procedure of government actions, created Judicial Review. -
Impressment of Sailors
The british navy, since the mid-1600s, had been forcing men into their armed forces, most noticbly the Navy. After the American Revolution, Britian continued with their policy of Impressment. By the early 1800s, America had grown tired of it, and fought the War of 1812 soon after. Impressment is completely unjust and unfair, and is definity a violation of given rights. -
Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears(1831)
The Indian Removal Act, passed by President Andrew Jackson, forcibly removed thousands of the remaining eastern and southern Indian Tribes and relocated them in Oklahoma. Despite the Cherokee Nation bringing their rightful claim to their ancestral land to the supreme court, Jackson refused to acknowledge the court, and proceded with the relocation and trail of tears. Thousands of men, women, and children starved to death or died from disease during the march. -
Black Codes
The Black Codes were put into place after Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831. They prevented all african-americans from congregating, including in churches, and banned any type of formal education. This blatent disregard for any type of basic rights stengthened the anti-slavery movement and exposed to Northerners the horrors of the deep south. -
Fugitive Slave Act
The fugitive slave law, which was passed upon the creation of the Compromise of 1850, required all runaway slaves to be returned to their masters. This injustice angered many abolitionists as it restricted the already contolled rights of slaves. It also imposed slavery upon the North, who did not share the same beliefs as the Southern states. -
Lincoln Suspends Habeas Corpus
Lincoln suspends the writ of Habeas Corpus, or the right for a person to seek freedom from an unjustified arrest. Takes away a fundamental right for Americans with the judicial system, and his actions were not entirely warranted. -
Martial Law in Maryland
Maryland had been a border state during the American Civil War, neither seceeding from or supporting the Union. After days of riots rocked the city President Abraham Lincoln declared the state under martial law in order to keep the state loyal to the Union. This included suspending the of a writ of habeas corpus (right to a fair trial) and the occupation of the state by Federal troops. -
The Jim Crow Laws
The Jim Crow laws were active between 1876 and 1965. While the federal government turned a blnd eye, state legislatures restricted the newly-found freedom of African-Americans. The Jim Crow Laws: prevented Blacks from voting in local and national electons, created seperate public facilities that were not always equal, segregated publc schools, as well as many more unjust deeds. -
Haymarket Square
A peaceful labor protest turned violant when a bomb went off in Chicago Unjustly, eight anarchists were accused of detonating the bomb and arrested. They were later sentenced to death without any evidence. This is considered one of the most horrendous violations of civil liberties during the late 19th century. -
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act was passed by congress in 1887. This law divided up reservation lands, which were traditionally public, and distributed them the male heads of family. Remaining land was sold to white settlers. The Dawes Act was created with good intentions, but further restricted traditional tribal life. Native Americans had no opinion in these affairs, and were often stuck with the worst land. The Dawes Act is most definitly a political injustice. -
Sherman Anti-Trust Act
The Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed to prevent monopolies and trusts from forming. However, due to judicial action, it was often used to persecute unions, calling them an obstruction to trade. This act violated basic worker's rights in order to protect big business. -
Espionage Act
This act was established during World War One in order to stop 'antiwar' activities from happening in the US, with the supposed goal of keeping America united on the homefront. However, the law was vague and was really used to persecute socialists, labor unions, and other minorities in a clear violation of free speech. -
The Sedition Act
In a flagrant disregard for the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press that is guaranteed in the Constitution, the Sedition Act stated that anyone found guilty of being 'disloyal' to the country (meaning the government/military/symbols of America such as flag, etc.) could face severe punishment. This law was used to persecute socialists, laborers, and anyone who could be deemed antiwar. -
Eighteenth Amendment( Prohibition)
This amendment placed a national ban on all sales, manufacturing and transportation of alcohol. Although made with good intent, it took away peoples' rights to make their own choices, and restricted the general public in a blatant violation of their rights'. -
Schenck v. United States
The court decided that Charles Schenck's conviction would be upheld, creating the famous phrase, "clear and present danger", upholding the Espionage Act. Schenck's crime was printing an anti-draft pamphlet. He was also a well-known socialist. This clearly violated the first Amendment rights to free speech, and Schenck argued that it the draft violated the Thirteenth Amendment whic prohibited 'involuntary servitude'. -
Palmer Raids (Red Raids)
A series of violent raids led by Attorney general Palmer under the guise of arresting potentially dangerous radicals, but in actuality, being a series of police and government brutality against immigrants (particularly Russians), socialists, and anyone else percieved as being a threat. Many rights were broken, such as police arresting victims with no charges, reports of people being beaten during arrest and interrogations, and having their homes stormed and property destroyed without warrants. -
Sancco-Vanzetti Case
A murder case in which two Italian immigrants were accused and convicted of an armed robbery and murder of two men, with very little evidence. ALthough history points at them actually being guilty, at the time they faced a clearly biased judge, and the right to a fair trial was clearly violated as seen by the hasty verdict that sentenced them to the electric chair. -
Bonus Army
A group of over 10,000 WW1 veterans went to Washington to demand the immediate payment of bonuses, that many unemployed veterans desperately needed. The gov.t refused, so protestors set up Hoovervilles, where they peacefully(for the most part) protested the gov.t's refusal to pay. General MacArthur took the order from President Hoover to clear the camps of the remaining two thousand or so veterans, and went to an extreme, by burning down the camps and forcefully driving families out. -
War Production Board
The war production board was formed to control raw goods and take over production in factories. Siezing private corporations is a violation of civil liberties and basic american rights. Even in times of war the government can not take over the private sector. -
Japanese Internment
Due to wartime hysteria, preudice, and the false fear of espionage; thousands of japanese americans on the west coast were taken from their jobs and homes to be placed in internement camps. This is a complete violation of civil liberties as there was no formal process or just reason for the internment. In the 1980s reperations would be payed to those who were forced into the camps. -
Smith-Connally Act
The Smith-Conally Act was a supposed war-time measure passed by congress regarding labor unions. The legislation stated that the federal government could take over any industry or corporation that was striking. President Roosevelt vetoed the bill because of infringment on natural rights, but congress still signed it into law. The government does not have the right to assume control of private businesses, even during a war. -
The Holocaust
The holocaust was more than a violation of civil liberties, it is one of the blackest events in human history. Over 6 milion european jews were stripped of their citizenship, forced out of their homes, and sent to extermination camps. The horrors they experienced are gruesome and COMPLETELY unwarrented. This is pretty much the biggest violation of human liberties and basic rights to date. -
Emmett Till Killed
Young Northen african american boy was murdered in Mississippi after supposedly flirting with a white woman. Despite large evidence against them, the wite men who were responsible for the murder were acquitted, and later openly bragged about being the killers. The event sparked national outrage, and bolstered the civil rights movement. -
Little Rock Crisis
9 african american students are blocked from entering Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas by the National Guard in a blatant attempt to prevent the legal desegregation of public schools, as mandated in Brown v. Board of Education. Governor Orval Faubus eventually succumbed to court orders, but President Eisenhower was forced to step in and send in troops in order to protect the students from angry white mobs and ensure their schooling. -
Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor
1960s in general, especially during the Brimingham protests, Eugene used excessive amounts of force and police brutality to crush peaceful protests. He also refused to follow laws or orders, such as the order to desegregate certain public parks, among other things. -
Bloody Sunday
A police blockade at Pettus Bridge prevents peaceful protestors from marching from Selma to Montgomery to promote voting rights . The police brutally beat protestors, using tear gas on the crowd and excessive force to turn them back. The televised event outrages the public.
