LAD #26: MLK's "I Have a Dream" Speech

Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech is a speech that went down in history and will be remembered forever. He begins his speech by saying that twenty years ago, Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which was a symbol of hope for many African Americans, but a hundred years later and they still are not free. He lists some of the problems that African Americans are facing during this time period. He then says that African Americans are "cashing a check" at the nations capital. The "check" is their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He then says that they are getting a message that there is "insufficient funds." Then, he tells people to keep trying to cash the check because the bank of justice can't be bankrupt. He continues to say that the time for change is right now, and that revolts will continue to happen until change happens. He then urges people that are revolting to make sure that they do not commit any crimes or do anything wrong, and speaks against violence. He then goes to the most remembered part of his speech where he states that he has a dream for many things, such as that his children will live in a country that does not judge them based on race, and that every place will be unsegregated. Lastly he talks about the song "My country 'tis of thee" and uses it to talk about the fact that freedom should ring through every place.

I connected MLK's speech to Soujourner Truth's "Aint I a Woman?" speech, because both speech addressed race, and rights in general for a minority group. They also both used similar rhetoric such as metaphors and connecting the situation to their own lives. Martin Luther King Jr. did things like talk about his children in his speech, and Truth talked about experiences she has had as a woman, and an African American woman.

LAD #25: Dawe's Act

Dawes Act was adopted by Congress in 1887. It gave power to the President which let him divide up the tribal lands held by Native Americans and split it up into shares for each separate person. Gender, age and family status all went into consideration when deciding the amount of land someone got. The President is allowed to do this any time that the land on a reservation is deemed advantageous for farming. It also allows the government to buy excess Indian lands and sell it to American settlers. The Act also provides for the assimilation of Indians into American culture. It also says that the government has the right to build railroads, highways and other infrastructure through appointed Indian lands.

 I connected this to the Assimilatino policies that happened in the late 1800s, where Native Americans were forced to give up parts of their culture such as cutting their hair and speaking english instead of their native tounge. 

LAD #24: Cross of Gold Speech

William Jennings Bryan delivered his Cross of Gold Speech in order to advocate for the principle of economic bimetallism. He believed that some amount of gold and a different amount of silver should "equal each other" and both be able to be used for payment. He supported the Democrats and delivered his speech through the support of the Democrat's idea of standardization of the dollar to silver. This would help a lot of poor western farmers. This speech set the stage for Bryan's economic populism.

I connected this with the Sherman Silver Purchase Act because this act was supposed to help farmers, just as the Bryan spoke about in his Cross of Gold Speech.

LAD #23: The Populist Party Platform

The Populist Party originally was opposed to big business. Some of the first members were farmers. The party's platform was based off of the principles that they supported such as unions, workers snf the basic rights of people. They supported an increase in government power. One of the ways they supported this was by having the government own railroads. Overall, the Populist Party promoted the rights of the people by railing against corruption in businesses.

I connected this to the Knights of Labor, because the Populist Party was a major supporter of Unions, and the Knights of Labor were one of the first union organizations in the United States