LAD/Blog #15: Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

Lincoln begins by making a joke that his speech will be short, alluding to Harrison’s death due to the cold he caught after his long inaugural address. He then goes on to mention sectionalism because the south felt their personal securities, rights, economy, and peace were endangered. Lincoln emphasizes that this divide in the nation is unprecedented and says that he doesn’t plan to interfere slavery in the states where it exists. He even says that he will maintain the rights of states stated in the constitution. Since the issue of slavery was a major topic at the time, Lincoln specifically mentions that he will uphold the clause in the constitution which states "No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in consequence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." While not all states may like this, he feels that they should all respect it. Also, he felt that the US republic came above states’ rights. He is trying to prove that even if one state wants to secede that the republic will still be preserved. Lincoln is saying that he will not let the south secede from the United States. The Missouri compromise laid plans for whether new states would be slave or non-slave states. However, Lincoln points out that the constitution does not mention what should be done about new territories, so the Supreme Court will have to help. Near the end, Lincoln states "This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it." This comes as a contradiction to his previous statement that he would preserve the union at all costs. However, after this he says for his countrymen not to be impatient with their government, to have faith, and to be friends not enemies.

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Obama's first inaugural address:
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LAD/Blog #35: Home was a Horse Stall

Executive order 9066 was essentially a racist program that excluded Japanese Americans from everyday life in America due to the actions of their former nation. They were banned from the west coast and forced into internment camps where they essentially lived under oppressive, racist marshal law. This was especially painful for first generation immigrants as they had a personal connection with both nations. Many of them did not want to see their two home nations fighting, and held some allegiance to both, but most were more prone to defending the United States.This was also hard on Japanese children, as they were ripped away from their friends, lives, and schools and taken to internment camps. One example of this is Sox, and her difficult upbringing during this time. She is taken away from her home and placed in a new one. That home is a horse stall. This stall was in a small, crowded internment camp which Sox was forced to grow up in. Her experience illustrates how poorly the Japanese ...

LAD #37: FDR’s Executive Order 9066

On February 19th, 1942, FDR proposed executive order 9066, the order that gave the Secretary of War the ability to create designated areas for specific people to stay during wartime that could pose a threat to the US military. In WWII these areas became known as internment camps, and the people put in them were Japanese-American citizens. This allowed for the rampant mistreatment of these people with cramped living conditions and improper education. While FDR did say these areas were to be provided adequate food, shelter, and transportation, the word "adequate" is very subjective, and allowed for very poor conditions. One example of this is the story "Home was a Horse Stall", where a young girl, Sox, and her family were forced to live in a horse stall and had very little rights and no access to programs many citizens would such as a good education. I, personally, think this is a horribly executed order. While it was FDR's intention to avoid the influence of spie...

LAD #39: Brown V. Board of Education

This case marks the beginning of the civil rights movements of the late 1950s to even present day. In Brown v. Board the supreme court unanimously ruled that schools can no longer be racially segregated. This contradicted the previous ruling of 1896, in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, that stated all publicly funded buildings could be separate but equal. This previous case had been deemed ineffective because all to often these separated facilities were not equal, with facilities that were dedicated to African Americans being significantly lower quality. This case was brought up originally because of Linda Brown, a girl barred from an all white school, and only given access to black schools which did not provide an equal education. Her defendants cited the 14th amendment, stressing that the State could not deny any person the equal right to protection of the laws, specifically the equal treatment under those laws which Linda Brown was not receiving. The Kansas District Court acknowledge...

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