LAD #36

Truman Doctrine Summary:

After a World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States engaged in an ideological battle, rather than a physical one. Due to the lack of "heated" conflict, this feud is referred to as the Cold War. Truman addresses this battle in his "Truman Doctrine", with his first notion being about Greece. After WWII had ended, allied troops evacuated the rest of the German army from Greece, which had been demolished earlier on. Reconstruction was prevented by Soviet troops who incited hostilities along the northern Greek border.  Greece needed immediate aid from the United States, particularly in the form of supply drops for their army, because Great Britain and the entire UN didn't participate in aiding them. Truman also reflected on the state of Turkey, and the fact that they too needed our aid, along with that of other established nations, in order to modernize and rebuild. By assisting these countries, the United States carried out its role as a "promoter of democratic freedom" as well as becoming the "protector of the free world against the spread of Communism". The United States was big on its policy of containment, which included appeasing to all matters required in order to stop the spread of Communism. In order to do this, Truman's Doctrine was used to request that Congress send $750 million, along with a small military force, to aid both Greece and Turkey in their reconstruction after the war.

The picture on the right is that of Iraq because to this day, The United States has funded them to ultimately defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) so they don't expand or get stronger. This is much like how we aided countries to prevent the growth/ spreading of communism.

LAD #33

FDR's First Inaugural Address Summary:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address was an impeccable, and rather memorable speech. FDR is credited, in this famous speech, with a famous quote which reads, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." This quote has served a very influential and motivational role in many citizens' lives ever since he gave this speech. To commence this inaugural, FDR begins to talk about the Great Depression, and touches up on how it does not have to be as bad as people are making it out to be. This address revealed to our nation FDR's pure optimism, and displayed his true leadership capabilities, that of one who could take our country out of a depression and beyond. People could now hope for a greater status of our nation than ever seen before. Roosevelt often refers to the poor condition of the country, but he does well to effectively incorporate ideas of the grandiose potential of of America's future. FDR also suggests various solutions to the problems, which included an increase in the production of farming materials, while decreasing the overall cost of the government. He concludes his speech in stating that electing him, a strong leader, was going to be the key in leading the nation out of this massive crisis and beyond.


This is a picture of President Donald J. Trump at his Presidential inauguration, where he was to give an inaugural address, just like how FDR did. The biggest difference was that Donald Trump's address had a 140 character count. Good thing he had the "best words."

LAD #31

Summary of Wilson's 14 Points:

Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points reassured American citizens that the Great War was fought solely on the basis of diplomatic and moral reasoning. Wilson's goal was for the world to be unified, and to establish equality on the terms of safety and freedom. He reiterated his belief that equality was more important than mastery. Wilson's 14 points in succession formulated a unified proposal for the "final war for human liberty." These points had effectively laid out the plans with regards to various areas of diplomacy, one of which including the reliance on open diplomacy over secret agreements. Several other areas, such as freedom of trade, freedom of the seas, assistance/aid to both Russia and Belgium, restoring French territories; independence for Austria-Hungary, Poland, and the various Balkan states was also included in the plan. Following those, disarmament, the division of Italy by nationality, self-determination for both the Ottomans and for all colony claims, and free passage through the Dardanelles. The final point, number 14, entailed the creation of the League of Nations. The League was created after the First World War to provide a forum for resolving international disputes, but it was one of the major turn-offs for others in deciding what they thought about the 14 points.

This is a picture of the Convention of 1800, also known as the Treaty of Mortefontaine, which was a treaty between the United States of America and France to settle the tension that had broken out during the Quasi-War.

LAD #35

Executive Order 9066 Summary-

As part of Executive Order #9066, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt effectively authorizes the United States Secretary of War, now known as the Secretary of Defense, to be able build military areas in which people may be excluded, as defined by his own standards. The Secretary of War would then be able to control all transportation, shelter, flow of food, on top of any other accommodations that are rendered necessary for the people who have to live in the specific camps. Compliance was required, no exceptions, and federal troops could be deployed in these areas.

This is a picture of the Dawes Act of 1887, where they sent Indians to reservations and took a lot of their land.

LAD #34

Watch, listen and then summarize FDR's Declaration of War and enter on your blog as LAD #34.

         Franklin Delano Roosevelt begins his speech by reiterating the horrors of Pearl Harbor. Japanese aircraft hosted an attack on December 7th, 1941, which was a very gruesome and unpredictable attack. About an hour after the bombing had started, a Japanese ambassador revealed to the U.S. Secretary of State, that any prior diplomatic agreements between them had dissipated. Roosevelt also describes the damages done, thanks to the Japanese, and lets people know that he is prepared to take defense, and promises that the U.S. would be victorious regardless of the situation. FDR ends his speech by asking Congress to declare war on Japan, to both defend our country and prevent attacks like the one on Pearl Harbor from happening again.

The picture below depicts Woodrow Wilson and the day he asked Congress to Declare War for the start of WWI, similar to that of FDR.

LAD #32

 Summary of the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact of August, 1928:

 The Kellogg-Briand Peace was a treaty signed immediately between the United States and other foreign countries, such as Great Britain, Italy, and Germany and later by France, Poland, Belgium, and Japan, all within one year. It essentially turned national policy into that of abstaining from war, and made it so any country who wanted to turn to war to receive the benefits of the treaty couldn't, and in fact were denied the benefits directly. Another goal of the treaty was to one get countries to sign it, but for the powers who hadn't signed it, they wanted t make it desirable for them to follow suit and sign it as well. After it was created, America was empowered with the oversight of the original treaty, and was responsible for handling the admission of other countries to the pact as they saw fit. More than 40 other countries ended up signing the treaty within a little more than a year after getting passed.
 


This is a picture of Jay's Treaty, which is similar in how its goals were to abstain from war as well, just the War of 1812 in this case.

LAD #30

Summary of Schenck vs. US case

In 1919, Schenck was charged with the intended plot to infringe on the Espionage Act of 1917 . He did so by attempting to encourage insubordination within the military as a means of obstructing ongoing recruitment. Schenck's words, along with his actions, received a unanimous vote from all nine Supreme Court Justices, stating that they were not valid or legal based on the First Amendment of the Constitution. further The Supreme Court also decided that Congress has the right to limit the rights protected by the First Amendment, such as the freedom of speech in this case, in times of war or instability. Holmes reference to a "clear and present danger."

This is a very important topic of conversation as of late, for President Trump has been maximizing his freedom of speech... that is... to his 140 character potential. Although, he has exhibited careless talk a number of times, but hasn't broken any laws in the process.