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The Maryland Toleration
The Maryland Toleration Act did not bring complete religious freedom, as is so often assumed, and as a reading of this document will quickly prove. Nor did it come about because of a profound humanistic conviction on the part of Lord Baltimore, the Maryland proprietor. The act was a pragmatic solution to a serious problem. The Catholics in originally Catholic Maryland had become a minority of the population although still power1ul politically. They were in great danger of being ill-treated by th -
Bill of Rights
These ideas about rights reflected those of the political thinker John Locke and they quickly became popular in England. It also sets out—or, in the view of its drafters, restates—certain constitutional requirements of the Crown to seek the consent of the people, as represented in Parliament -
Stamp Act
The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains (10,000 troops were to be stationed on the American frontier for this purpose). -
Quebec Act
Quebec Act, 1774, passed by the British Parliament to institute a permanent administration in Canada replacing the temporary government created at the time of the Proclamation of 1763. It gave the French Canadians complete religious freedom and restored the French form of civil law. The Thirteen Colonies considered this law one of the Intolerable Acts, for it nullified many of the Western claims of the coast colonies by extending the boundaries of the province of Quebec to the Ohio River on the -
The Railway Labor Act
The Railway Labor Act became federal law in 1926 with the active support of labor and management in the railway industry. In 1936, the Act was extended to the U.S. airline industry. Today, decades later, the Act continues to provide a balanced legal framework for the resolution of labor management matters in those two industries, including employee representation issues, as well as collective bargaining and contract administration processes where employees have chosen to be represented by a la -
The Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act
The Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act gives longshore and harbor workers compensation equal to that of state workers. It also compensates for lost wages, medical benefits, and rehabilitation services to longshore, harbor and other maritime workers who are injured during their employment or who contract an occupational disease related to employment. -
Wagner-Peyser Act
Created with unemployed workers in mind, the Wagner-Peyser Act establishes the U.S. Employment Service, which creates a forum where workers and employers can exchange information. -
National Labor Relations Act
The National Labor Relations Act defines unfair labor practices and protects workers' rights to strike and collectively bargain. The National Labor Relations Board is created to enforce the new law. -
Social Security Act
The Social Security Act of 1935 begins payment of benefits to the elderly, disabled and unemployed. Social Security benefits are supported through payroll taxes. The Social Security Administration began life as the Social Security Board. The SSB was an entirely new entity, with no staff, no facilities and no budget. The initial personnel were donated from existing agencies. Frances Perkins offered one of her Assistant Secretaries, Arthur Altmeyer, to be an initial Board member. Perkins even gave -
Fair Labor Standards Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act standardizes the 40-hour workweek and codifies paid overtime, minimum wage and child labor laws. It also creates the Wage and Hour Division to enforce the law. -
FLSA
The FLSA was originally drafted in 1932 by Senator Hugo Black, who was later appointed to the Supreme Court in 1937. However, Black's proposal to require employers to adopt a thirty-hour workweek met stiff resistance. In 1938 a revised version of Black's proposal was passed that adopted an eight-hour day and a forty-hour workweek and allowed workers to earn wage for an extra four hours of overtime as well.[ -
The Age Discriminatiom Act 1967
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment. -
The Rehabilitation Act
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 replaces the Vocational Rehabilitation Act, to extend and revise the authorization of grants to States for vocational rehabilitation services, with special emphasis on services to those with the most severe disabilities, to expand special Federal responsibilities and research and training programs with respect to individuals with disabilities, to establish special responsibilities in the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare for coordination of all programs with -
American with Disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities that are like those provided to individuals on the basis of race, sex, national origin, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in employment, public accommodations, transportation, State and local government services, and telecommunications. -
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
The FMLA was intended "to balance the demands of the workplace with the needs of families."[2] The Act allows eligible employees to take up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period to attend to the serious health condition of the employee, parent, spouse or child, or for pregnancy or care of a newborn child, or for adoption or foster care of a child
