LAD #31 - Wilson's 14 Points

Following the end of the Great War many of the world’s leaders met to discuss peace and reparations. Although, each leader’s opinion differed from the other. Though most nations wanted Germany to suffer greatly with demilitarization and large fees to pay for practically causing the war, Wilson did not want to punish Germany. Instead he proposed the fourteen points that he believed would hopefully prevent another world war. These points included things such as no more secret alliances, freedom of the seas, no economic barriers, reduction of arms, self-government in colonies, evacuation of Russian territory, evacuation and restoration of Belgium, evacuation and restoration of French territories, readjustment of Italy's borders, Austria-Hungary accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development, Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated and restored, the Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty and Polish independence. Although Wilson had all of these ideas in mind and proposed them all the only point that was realized and acted upon was the idea of creating a League of Nations to solve disputes between countries and hopefully keep the peace. Parts of the League of Nations have actually been a template for creating sections of the United Nations which is our source of peace keeping today.

LAD #30: Schenk vs. United States

Schenck was against the drafts that were created in America for young soldiers to enter into the war. He was so against it he sent out circulars to the draftees which urged the draftees that the draft was a terrible thing and they should not back down to intimidation. Although he believed in peaceful ways to repeal the Conscription Act such as protesting. Although, he was arrested for trying to cause insubordination and causing a conspiracy against the Espionage Act. The problem with this case has to do with the first amendment of free speech and if it applied to this particular situation if it put the actions of the government at risk. The case turned out to be in favor of the United States "The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." Holmes says that the circumstances are presenting a clear danger to the war efforts which is why Schenck is being denied the freedom of speech. The doctrine could have protected him if he was not protesting the draft during a time of war when the draft was necessary to obtain more fighting men. 

LAD #29: Keating-Owen Child Labor Act

       Child labor in America was a rising problem during these times due to the fact that most of America was in poverty so families needed everyone to work. The conditions were so poor that children had 10-12 hours a day of work and unsanitary, dangerous conditions they would become injured and even killed because of these factors. The Keating-Owen act limited the log number of hours they had to work and goods made by children could not be sold over state borders. Over two million young boys and girls ranging from young children to teens were working in mines and factories along with other various jobs. The census that found these results sparked a movement towards reforming child labor. Muckrakers such as Lewis Hine were hired to further expose the terrible conditions with photographs and articles. Writers such as Charles Dickens wrote stories, such as Oliver that also exposed child labor. The Keating-Owens act was proposed in 1906 and the act "banned the sale of products from any factory, shop, or cannery that employed children under the age of 14, from any mine that employed children under the age of 16, and from any facility that had children under the age of 16 work at night or for more than 8 hours during the day." This act was passed by Woodrow Wilson although it was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court case Hammer vs. Dagenhart. Eventually the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was created and is still in effect today.

LAD # 28: Wilson’s First Inaugural

     Woodrow Wilson was a Democratic candidate; he won his election in 1912 against Taft and Roosevelt who was running as a third party candidate. As Wilson addresses in his debate there has gradually been a change in American government that is now beginning to favor the Democratic Party. He believes this is a good thing because America needs a change in its political point of view. An important point to his inaugural address are the many aspects of the united states that he points out, things he believes are good about the U.S. and things that he believes need to be changed. With the great individuals in American history and the good structure of its government comes some unfortunate bad aspects. These include the unstable state of the economy which was brought on by its economic expansion. Also the fact that the American people have had to suffer because of the poor state America has been in the past. He also expresses that there is a way to change and prevent this suffering, by having the government and the nation’s people try their best to protect and fix the nation for the good of its future. These issues include an alteration to foreign tariffs, the industrial and banking systems and also the agricultural system. Some important things he believes in is the conservation of forests and other natural resources and that citizen’s should be protected by their government and not denied their rights. This includes passing important laws that are concerned with food and drug safety and sanitary laws.

LAD # 27: Clayton Anti-Trust Act

     In the late nineteenth century big business was posing quite a problem for the poor working class of America and there was a problem with the laissez faire government letting big business practically take control of America. Due to the power of industry many trusts and monopolies were created which hurt small businesses and allowed the big business owners to gain even more power. At first the government was in favor of industry because it brought success to America. Although eventually legislations were later passed such as the Sherman Anti-Trust act and the ICC but they were not enforced and sometimes were actually used against the workers. When Teddy Roosevelt became president things actually started changing for the benefit of the workers. Roosevelt even became known as a trust-buster because of his strong policies that were directed at stopping trusts from forming. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act passed in 1914 stated that no corporation could own the stock of another, and fixing prices on goods and transportation was illegal. This act also could not be used against workers.