US
History Winter Break Project Chronologic Order
By David Zeng & Shannen Acu
1. SHAY’S
REBELLION: (1786-1787)- Daniel Shays, outraged by the denial of paper money to
prevent foreclosure on the lands of hardworking farmers, led a rebellion
against the government to prove how serious the farmers of the time were.
They had lost all of their land and property because of the postwar depression
and Shays was fighting not only for himself but for his friends as well.
Shays needed backup and Luke Day and his fleets were supposed to come and aid
Shays during the attack, but because of a lack in communication, Shays was defeated
and forced to flee. After the war was over, Shays settled in Massachusetts and
at first attempted to be just a normal citizen and get back to normal
life. He became a very respected member of the community. He served
in several country positions, including town warden, and was active in the
local militia.
3. POLITICAL
MACHINES (POSITIVE & NEGATIVE EFFECTS, TAMMANY HALL): (1789-1850)-
Political Machines were organizations that provided social services and jobs in
exchange for votes. Political machines could be very helpful to the average
citizens in the neighborhood. Neighborhood 'Bosses' could quickly and
effectively organize help for individuals or groups of individuals. What the
bosses asked for in return was your vote to keep them in office. And they
usually got the vote because of their control in the community. The worst part
of machine politics is the corruption. It was complete and absolute throughout
the entire machine. Everybody got his or her cut except the average citizen.
4. Marbury vs. Madison Supreme Court Case (1803)
On his last day in office, President John Adams named
forty-two justices of the peace and sixteen new circuit court justices for the
District of Columbia under the Organic Act. The Organic Act was an attempt by
the Federalists to take control of the federal judiciary before Thomas
Jefferson took office. William Marbury was an intended recipient of an
appointment as justice of the peace. Marbury applied directly to the Supreme
Court of the United States for a writ of mandamus to compel Jefferson’s Secretary
of State, James Madison, to deliver the commissions.
5. Mormons (1820)
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism. This is the predominant
religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. Mormons
self-identify as Christian, even
though some of their beliefs are different from Christianity. Everything they believe is based of g
Christianity but they changed some beliefs around. Mitt Romeny is a Mormon
himself.
6. Monroe Doctrine (1823)
Monroe Doctrine was a policy of the United
States that was introduced on
December 2, 1823. It was about further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South
America would be viewed as acts
of aggression. Meaning it was almost against the law and would be counted as
breaking the law of the U.S. The Doctrine says that the U.S. would not
interfere with existing European colonies or the internal concerns of the
Europeans.
7. Nativists (1830-1850)
Nativist is people whom believe in Nativism. Nativism is the
policy of perpetuating native cultures. Nativism favors the interests of
certain established inhabitants of an area or nation as compared to claims of
newcomers or immigrants. Nativists try to reduce the number of people of a
particular nationality or religion from entering the country.
8. Indian Removal Act (1830)
This Indian Removal Act was signed on May 28, 1830 and by
President Andrew Jackson. The
act authorized him to negotiate with the Native Americans in the Southern United States for their
removal to federal territory west
of the Mississippi River in exchange for their homelands. The Removal Act was
strongly supported in the South,
where people were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. The first removal treaty signed after
the Removal Act was the Treaty of
Dancing Rabbit Creek on September
27, 1830. Which Choctaws in Mississippi ceded land east of the river in
exchange for payment and land in the West.
9.
SPOILS SYSTEM (Andrew Jackson): (1831)- The spoils system was a method of
appointing officials to the government of the United States of America based on
political connections rather than on impersonal measures of merit. The name was
derived from the phrase "to the victor go the spoils". It was a contentious
feature of the presidencies of Andrew Jackson, who introduced it as a
democratic measure informed by his understanding of the nature of party
politics and democracy. He considered that popular election gave the victorious
party a mandate to select officials from its own ranks. The system was formally
ended in 1883 with the passage of the Pendleton Act. This introduced the
concept of a separate government and civil service to American governance. The
government would continue to be formed by the party of the winner of the
Presidential election. The civil service was separated out; appointment to it
was based on merit and not tied to any particular government, a state of
affairs that continues today. The separation between political activity and the
civil service was made stronger with the Hatch Act, which prohibited federal
employees from engaging in political activities.
10. Manifest Destiny (1845)
Manifest Destiny was the belief widely held by Americans in
the 19th century that the United States was destined to expand across the
continent. It is when the technology is slowly moving throughout the world.
Like telephone wires, cars etc. which cause the Indians to move further down
east to stay away from this. Manifest destiny provided the dogma and tone for
the largest acquisition of U.S. territory. The
belief in an American mission to promote and defend democracy throughout the
world continues to have an influence on American political ideology.
11. POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY: (1848)- Popular sovereignty indicates that the mandate of the people created government, and that political power comes from the people. However, in practice, political leaders abuse their power because they consider themselves sovereigns, instead of public servants.It is the basic principle of the American system of government; that the people are the only source of any and all American governmental power, that government must be conducted with the consent of the governed. Popular sovereignty is the belief that the state is created by the mandate of its people, who are the source of all political power. It is closely associated to the social contract philosophers, among who are Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
12. Imperialism
Main Causes (1850-1914)
There were 5 main reasons or
causes that lead to Imperialism. There are Political, Economic, Religious,
Ideological, and Exploratory. Political is one because of nationalism, to be the most powerful country by ruling other countries. Economic is
part of Imperialism because they want to use other country's
resources, receive cheap labor, and have a market for their goods. Religion was part of this to spread their
religion throughout the world. Ideological because people thought their race
was better than others. Exploratory because people wanted to explore the world
and make maps.
13. Jane Addams and Settlement Houses (1860 –1935)
Jane Adams was a pioneer settlement worker, founder of the
Hull Houses in Chicago. She helped turn the nation to issues of concern to
mothers, such as the needs of children, public health, and world peace. In 1931
she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She
helped the poor by having houses open for the women and children whom needed a
place to stay. She also had volunteers to help out around the houses because
she alone cannot control so many people. Now she is honored in a museum with
all the volunteers in a college campus.
14. Marcus Garvey (1860)
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. was a Jamaican political leader, publisher, journalist,
and was an entrepreneur. He founded the Black Star Line, which was part of the Back-to-Africa movement. The Back-to-Africa movement was also known as the Colonization movement, started in the United States in the 19th century. This movement had
encouraged African descendants to return to the African homelands of their ancestors.
15. Lincoln’s Goals in Civil War (1861)
Lincoln's original goal despite what schools will try to
teach was to preserve the union. the war had NOTHING to do with slavery in the
beginning. The south was looking to gain rights they felt they had been denied.
Lincoln himself did not own slaves but still did not feel that African
Americans were equal to himself.
.
16.
RECONSTRUCTION: (1865) - It didn't bring
closure to the people of the south. The carpetbaggers took advantage of
ignorant blacks. Corrupt Northern officials set back the meshing of north and
south 25 years or more. Agricultural resurgence took much longer than it should
have. There were no positive aspects to reconstruction. Perhaps if Lincoln had
lived, a more gradual and fair system could have been worked out. With his
death the south was made to endure the mess that was Reconstruction.
17.
RECONSTRUCTION AMENDMENTS (13th,
14th, 15th): (between 1865 and 1870)- The Reconstruction amendments are the Thirteenth,
Fourteenth,
and Fifteenth
amendments to the United States
Constitution, adopted between 1865 and 1870, the
five years immediately following the Civil War.
The Amendments were important elements in implementing the Reconstruction
of the American South after the war. The Thirteenth Amendment
abolished slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment
included the Privileges or
Immunities Clause, Due Process
and Equal Protection
Clauses. The Fifteenth Amendment
grants voting rights regardless of "race, color, or previous condition of
servitude."
18. Ku Klux Klan (1865-
Present)
The Ku Klux Klan is secret organizations who are very
racist. They have killed many African Americans in the past centuries. They all
have a custom where they wear white costumes:
robes, masks, and conical hats,
designed to be terrifying, and to hide their identities. The first Klan
flourished in the Southern United
States in the late 1860s, and
then died out by the early 1870s.
19. Jim Crow Laws Purpose (1876-1965)
Jim
Crow laws were designed to prevent blacks from voting in the old south. The laws ensured segregation, but not
equality. The reason they
prevented blacks from voting was so that the Democrats could keep the power. It was a legal way to prevent African
Americans from voting. So a lot of African Americans could not do things like
go in a “White Only” bar or saloon.
20. Knights
of Labor vs. American Federation of Labor [AFL] (1886
-1869)
Knights of Labor were an organization that promoted the
social and cultural uplift of the workingman. It acted as a labor union, negotiating
with employers, but it was never well organized. The American Federation of
Labor was one of the first federations of labor
unions in the United States. It was founded in Columbus on May 1886 by an
alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor. So basically The AFL
accepted skilled workers, the Knights accepted all workers.
21.
SHERMAN ANTI- TRUST ACT 1890: (1890)- Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890, first
measure passed by the U.S. Congress to prohibit trusts; it was named for
Senator John Sherman.
Prior to its enactment, various states had passed similar laws, but they were
limited to intrastate businesses. Finally opposition to the concentration of
economic power in large corporations and in combinations of business concerns
led Congress to pass the Sherman Act. The act, based on the constitutional
power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce, declared illegal every
contract, combination (in the form of trust or otherwise), or conspiracy in
restraint of interstate and foreign trade. The Sherman Act authorized the
federal government to institute proceedings against trusts in order to dissolve
them, but Supreme Court rulings prevented federal authorities from using the
act for some years.
22.
REFERENDUM, REFORM, RECALL: (1890s-
1920s)- Initiative, referendum, and recall are a trio of methods often called
direct democracy. They allow citizens to become directly involved in their
government by drafting and voting on laws or by removing elected officials from
office. The initiative enables
citizens to draft laws and constitutional amendments and place them on the
ballot for a popular vote. The referendum
provides for a popular vote on laws passed by the legislature. The recall allows citizens to remove
elected officials from office.
23. Literacy Test (1890)
Literacy tests were used to deny suffrage to African-Americans. Whites were
exempted from the literacy test if they could meet alternate requirements that,
in practice, excluded blacks. People had to have the right requirements to vote
or serve in the U.S. Army. So some requirements that they might have had back
then was that you could not be African American Etc.
24.
POPULIST PARTY: (1890s)- The People's
Party (or Populist Party, as it was widely known) was much younger than the
Democratic and Republican Parties, which had been founded before the War. In
1890 Populists won control of the Kansas state legislature, and Kansan William Peffer became the party's
first U.S. Senator. By 1896 the Populist organization was in even more turmoil
than that of Democrats.
Inside the People's Party, mid-roaders sought to schedule the national
convention before those of the Republicans and Democrats. They lost this fight,
and fusionists selected a date after the major-party meetings, hoping that silver Democrats
would win a dramatic victory in the Chicago convention
25.
SPANISH AMERICAN WAR (causes, effects,
impact on U.S. as world power): (1898- 1901)- The immediate origins of the 1898
Spanish-American War began with the Wilson-Gorman Tariff of 1894. The American
tariff, which put restrictions on sugar imports to the United States, severely
hurt the economy of Cuba, which was based on producing and selling sugar. In
Cuba, then a Spanish colony, angry nationalists known as the insurrectos began
a revolt against the ruling Spanish colonial regime. When Spain sent in General
"Butcher" Weyler to stabilize the situation in Cuba, he put much of
the population in concentration camps. The US, which had many businessmen with
investment interests in Cuba, became concerned. The American public was stirred
into an anti-Spain frenzy by the yellow journalism of men like Hearst and
Pulitzer. Nonetheless, President Grover Cleveland promised he would not go to
war.
26. Open
Door Notes/Policy (1899)
A concept in foreign affairs, which usually refers to the
policy in 1899 allowed imperial powers
access to China. In 1899 U.S. Secretary of State John Hay
proposed an "Open Door" policy in China. The
Open Door policy was received with almost universal approval in the United
States, and for more than 40 years it was a cornerstone of American foreign
policy.
27.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY: (1900s)- Susan Brownell Anthony (February 15,
1820 – March 13, 1906) was a prominent American
civil rights
leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights
movement to introduce women's suffrage
into the United States. She was co-founder of the first
Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton
as President. She also co-founded the women's rights journal, The Revolution.
She traveled the United States and Europe, and averaged 75 to 100 speeches per
year. She was one of the important advocates in leading the way for women's
rights to be acknowledged and instituted in the American government.
28.
PROGRESSIVE AMENDMENTS (16TH, 17TH,
18TH, 19TH): (1900s)- The 16th Amendment made the income
tax constitutional. The 17th Amendment disenfranchised the states by taking
away their right to choose senators. Instead, the senators are now directly
elected. The 18th Amendment banned the use of alcohol. Prohibition of alcohol
was a disastrous failure that was repealed by the 21st Amendment in the 1930s.
The 19th Amendment allowed women to vote. Although in theory there is nothing
objectionable about that (as men and women should both be equally free), in
practice women have tended to vote for more government and less freedom. Women
are empirically more likely than men to favor almost all kinds of government
interventions.
29.
SOCIAL DARWANISM: (1900s)- Herbert
Spencer, a 19th century philosopher, promoted the idea of Social Darwinism.
Social Darwinism is an application of the theory of natural selection to
social, political, and economic issues. In its simplest form, Social Darwinism
follows the mantra of "the strong survive," including human issues.
This theory was used to promote the idea that the white European race was
superior to others, and therefore, destined to rule over them. Scientists and
evolutionists maintain that this interpretation is only loosely based on
Darwin's theory of natural selection. They will admit to an obvious parallel
between Darwin's theory of Natural Selection and Spencer's beliefs.
30.
Muckrakers (1900)
Muckraker is another word of saying journalists who wrote largely for
popular magazines, continued a tradition of investigative reporting. Before
the World War, the term Muckrakers meant, a writer who investigates and
publishes truthful reports to perform an auditing or watchdog function. It’s
like a news reporter in today’s time. They would go seek for information about
the news they get. Almost like the paparazzi.
31. PLATT
AMENDMENT: (1901-1903)- The Platt Amendment was named after Senator Orville
Platt or Connecticut. The Platt Amendment laid down eight conditions to which
the Cuban Government had to agree before the withdrawal of U.S. forces and the
transfer of sovereignty would begin. The United States also reserved the right
to intervene in Cuban affairs in order to defend Cuban independence and to
maintain “a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and
individual liberty.” The amendment required the Cuban Government to conclude a
treaty with the United States that would make the Platt amendment legally
binding, and the United States pressured the Cubans to incorporate the terms of
the Platt Amendment in the Cuban constitution.After several failed attempts by
the Cubans to reject or modify the terms of the Platt amendment, the Cuban
Constitutional Convention finally succumbed to American pressure and ratified
it on June 12, 1901, by a vote of 16 to 11. The Platt Amendment remained in
force until 1934 when both sides agreed to cancel the treaties that enforced
it.
32. PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT/ PROGRESSIVISM (goals): (1900-1918)- The progressive movement had some goals and they were: Protecting Social Welfare, Fostering Efficiency, Moral Improvement, and Economic Reform. To change other people by having them adopt the Progressive vision of middle class behavior and thought. This particularly applied to issues of recreation and leisure, the status of the family, sexual orientation and behavior. Progressives sought to revive a sense of Victorian family and social values early in the twentieth-century. To end class conflict between the "have's"(the privileged class) and "the have less," (or have not). To effect a measure of control over big business. To segregate society into groups, based on occupation (labor, management, etc) race, sex (laws protecting women insured secondary status in employment), and immigration status. Progressives saw segregation of the races as a method of stabilizing race relations.
33. Panama Revolution & Panama Canal (1903)
Panama Canal is a ship
canal in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean to
the Pacific Ocean. The canal, which began in 1881, was completed in 1914. It
made it easier for ships to pass by rather than going by Cape Horn route. The
Panama Revolution is when Roosevelt was president. He negotiated for control of
the Panama Canal and its construction in 1904 as the President of the United
States. In 1903, Panama gained its independence from Columbia and the US signed
a "protection treaty" with Panama.
34.
ROOSEVELT COROLLARY TO THE MONROE
DOCTRINE: (1904)- A developing crisis in the Dominican
Republic, where the government stopped payments on its debts of more than $32
million to various nations, caused President Theodore Roosevelt
to reformulate the Monroe Doctrine.
First advanced in May 1904 and later expanded in his annual message to Congress
in December, Roosevelt stated what would become known as his corollary (logical
extension of) the Monroe Doctrine. This change in policy was deemed necessary
because of a desire to avoid having European powers come to the Western
Hemisphere for the purpose of collecting debts. It was feared that those
nations might come as earnest creditors, but remain as occupying powers. This
prospect was especially unwelcome at this time when the United States was
pushing full steam ahead with the construction of the canal
in Panama.
35. RUSSO-
JAPANESE WAR (Roosevelt & Nobel Peace Prize): (1904-1905)- The negotiations
to end the Russo-Japanese war
began at Sagamore Hill when President Theodore Roosevelt invited diplomats on
both sides, Russia and Japan, to his home in Oyster Bay. After meeting with all
of them, he sent the diplomats out on board the presidential yacht Mayflower*.
TR never personally owned a yacht although he did have a rowboat or two.
Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize (not Noble) in 1906 for his work in the negotiations that led to
the Treaty of Portsmouth ending the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. This made him the first American to win a
Nobel Prize in any of the categories.
36. NAACP (1909)
NAACP stands for National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People. The NAACP was founded on February 12, 1909 by a diverse group
composed of W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, Archibald Grimké, Henry Moscowitz, Mary White Ovington,Oswald Garrison
Villard, William English Walling
They are an African Organization in the U.S that still stands today. Its mission is “to ensure the
political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons
and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination”. They fought against
the Jim Crow laws and disfranchisement.
They want to free the African Americans from racism and slavery.
37.
SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA: (1915)- The
Lusitania sailed on May 1st 1915 from New York bound for Liverpool. The sinking
of the Lusitania was thought to have made a major impact on America and World War One,
but America did not join the war for another two years. As the Lusitania had
sailed from New York, she had on board American civilians and in 1915 America
was neutral in World War One.
As she left New York, the dock was crowded with news reporters as New York
newspapers had carried an advert in them paid for by the German Embassy that
any ship that sailed into the "European War Zone" was a potential
target for German submarines. Some newspapers printed the warning directly next
to Cunard's list of departure dates. To placate the Americans, the Germans gave
an informal assurance to President Wilson of America, that there would be no
repeat of the Lusitania and the 'sink on sight' policy was called off on
September 18th 1915 - though it was re-introduced on February 1st 1917.
38. Palmer Raids and The Red Scare (1919)
The Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially
anarchists, from the United States. The Palmers were led by Attorney
General A. Mitchell Palmer. Red
Scare is the time when the US public was encouraged to find communists and
protect the country from them. The Palmer raids were basically just what they
sound like: raids of communist groups named after the government person that
spearheaded them.
39. SACCO AND VENZETTI (significance in 1920s): (1920s)- Sacco and Vanzetti were two Italian men who were tried and convicted in 1921 for a dual murder, which took place in 1920. Later evidence suggested that the men were actually falsely accused, and the case attracted a great deal of attention in the 1920s. Unfortunately, the two men were executed before they could be exonerated, despite extensive public outcry. The Sacco and Vanzetti case was historically important in the United States for a number of reasons, and it continues to be widely discussed and cited today.
40. SCOPES
(monkey) TRIAL (significance): (1920s)- The
Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton Tennessee a group of teachers decided to
test a law called the Butler Law. The Butler law made it illegal to teach the
theory of evolution and instead mandated the biblical interpretation of
creationism. The teachers felt that academic freedom and integrity as well as
separation of church and state was at stake. Twenty four year old science
teacher and football coach John T. Scopes would teach the class. Knowing he
would be arrested Scopes taught the class and set into motion one of the most
important trials in American history. Scopes was arrested, as expected, for
violating the Butler Law.
41. Increased
Consumerism In The 1920s (1920)
In
the 1920s, people had the money and time to purchase whatever they wanted than
they did before. Advertising also was a part of the increase. It caused people
to want the item more than usual. New inventions were made every year in
communication and transportation also started to emerge which helped fuel
people's wants for more. Families began spending more and saving less which led
to a rise in consumer credit.
42. League of Nations (1920)
League of Nations job was to ensure that war never broke out
again. League of Nations was an intergovernmental
organization founded as a result
of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the WW1. It could call on the states in
dispute to sit down and discuss the problem in an orderly and peaceful manner.
The US did not want to join, German was not allowed to join Russia was not seen
as fit to join.
43.
PROHIBITION (causes, fall, 21st
amendment and effects): (1920s)- Causes was to reform American culture into
more of a clean, safer, and powerful place. However, it caused for more
sneaking around of things like moonshine and some angry immigrants because it
was part of their culture back home and it caused the anti-salon league that
ruined salons that the immigrants used. The Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution repealed the Eighteenth Amendment
to the United States Constitution, which had mandated
nationwide Prohibition on
alcohol on January 17, 1920. Immediately after the 18th
Amendment went into effect there was a dramatic decrease in alcohol consumption
that made many advocates hopeful that it would be a success. In the early 20’s
the consumption rate was 30% lower than it was before prohibition but later in
the decade, as illegal supplies increased and a new generation began to ignore
the law and reject the attitude of self-sacrifice, more Americans once again
decided to indulge.
44.
RADIO, MOVIES, AND SPORTS IN THE 1920s
(importance of): (1920s)- At the beginning of the decade, films were silent and
colorless. In 1922, the first all-color feature, The Toll of the Sea,
was released. In 1926, Warner Bros.
released Don Juan,
the first feature with sound effects
and music. The 1920s brought new styles of music into the mainstream of
American culture. Jazz
became the most popular form of music for young people and the flapper culture.
Citizens from all parts of the country flocked to see the top athletes of the day
compete in arenas and stadiums. High school and junior high school students
were offered to play sports that they hadn’t been able to play in the past.
Several sports, such as golf, that had previously been unavailable to the
middle-class finally became available. Also, a notable motor sports feat was
accomplished in Roaring Twenties as driver Henry Seagrave, driving his car the
Golden Arrow, reaches at the time in 1929 a record speed of 231.44 mph.
45. Immigration
quotas after WW1 (1921)
The Immigration Quota Act 1921 was
put up after the world war. The immigration quotas after WW1 restricted
immigrants from coming in with certain annual quotas. The policy let many
northern and western Europeans in while restricting many more southern and
eastern Europeans, and banning all Asians out entirely. The Act let only
357,000 People were allowed in each year. Another way of saying it is that only
3% of the People in the US were allowed to come in.
46. Isolationism (1939- 1941)
When George Washington stepped down from the office of American President in 1799, he warned America to stay away from foreign alliances. He also told them to especially stay away from the alliances from Europe. The U.S. wanted to stay low profile as best as they could. Isolationist sentiment kept the U.S. out of both World Wars until it found itself under threat. They were then forced to commit and fight in the World Wars.
47. Labor Union (1955)
National
labor unions began to form in the post-Civil War Era. The Knights of Labor emerged as a major force in the late
1880s. But it collapsed because of poor organization, lack of effective
leadership, disagreement over goals, and strong opposition from employers and
government forces. The American
Federation of Labor proved much more durable. It arose as a loose coalition of
various local unions. It helped coordinate and support strikes and eventually
became a major player in national politics, usually on the side of the Democrats.
48. Patronage (Definition)
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or
financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. Some
countries use political patronage to
describe the use of state resources to reward individuals for their
electoral support.
49. PLESSY V. FERGUSON SUPREME COURT CASE: (1996)- In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of a Louisiana law passed in 1890 "providing for separate railway carriages for the white and colored races.” Homer Plessy, the plaintiff in the case, was both black and white, and had the appearance of a white man. In 1892, he purchased a first-class ticket for a trip between New Orleans and Covington, La., and took possession of a vacant seat in a white-only car. Duly arrested and imprisoned, Plessy was brought to trial in a New Orleans court and convicted of violating the 1890 law. John H. Ferguson, at the Louisiana Supreme Court, arguing that the segregation law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which forbids states from denying "to any person within their jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws," as well as the Thirteenth Amendment. Brown provided a major catalyst for the civil rights movement (1955-68), which won social, not just political and civil, racial equality before the law. After four decades, Justice Harlan's dissent became the law of the land. Following Brown, the Supreme Court has consistently ruled racial segregation in public settings to be unconstitutional.
50.
SOCIAL GOSPEL: (20th
century)- The Social Gospel
movement is a Protestant Christian
intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United
States and Canada. The movement applied Christian ethics
to social problems,
especially issues of social justice
such as wealth perceived as excessive, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial
tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor
schools, and the danger of war. The Social Gospel affected much of Protestant
America. In the late 19th century, many Protestants were disgusted by the
poverty level and the low quality of living in the slums. The social gospel
movement provided a religious rationale for action to address those concerns.
Activists in the Social Gospel movement hoped that by public health measures as
well as enforced schooling
the poor could develop talents and skills, the quality of their moral lives
would begin to improve. Important concerns of the Social Gospel movement were
labor reforms, such as abolishing child labor and regulating the hours of work
by mothers. By 1920 they were crusading against the 12-hour day for workers at
U.S. Steel.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
