Download US Acts - Beavercreek City School District

U.S. Acts
Mayflower Compact,
1620
Maryland Toleration
Act
(Act Concerning
Religion), 1649
Navigation Act of 1660
Navigation Act of 1663
Navigation Act of 1673
Sugar and Molasses
Act, 1733
Writs of Assistance,
1762
Proclomation of 1763
Currency Act, 1764
Sugar Act
(American Duties Act),
1764
Stamp Act, 1765
Quartering Act
(Mutiny Act), 1765
Declaratory Act, 1765
Townshend Duties,
1767
Tea Act, 1773
First governing document of the Plymouth colony; written
by the pilgrims who came to North America on the
Mayflower; basically a social contract in which settlers
agreed to follow the compact's rules and regulations in
order to survive
Allowed freedom of worship for all Christians in
Maryland; the Calverts, who founded Maryland, needed
to attract settlers to make the colony more profitable, so
they used the act to protect Catholics from Puritans and
Protestants who discriminated against them
Charles II closed the colonies to all trade except that
carried in English ships; required colonists to export
certain items only to England or English possessions
All goods being shipped from Europe to the colonies had
to pass through England on the way; made it possible for
the English to tax them
Response to the widespread evasion of the first two laws
by colonial shippers, who would often leave port claiming
to be going to another English colony but then would sail
to a foreign port; imposed duties on the coastal trade
among the English colonies; provided for the
appointment of customs officials for enforcing the
Navigation Acts
Imposed a tax on molasses from non-British colonies;
Parliament didn’t pass it to raise revenue, but rather to
regulate trade by making British products cheaper than
those from the French West Indies
Blanket search warrant to search ships and colonists’
homes for smuggled goods
Colonists could not settle west of the Appalachian
Mountains
Prohibited the American colonies from issuing paper
currency of any form
Revenue-raising act for the British Parliament; halved
previous tax on molasses; raised duties on non-British
goods and stepped up enforcement of smuggling laws
First direct tax on colonies; enacted partly in response to
the debt aquired by the British from the 7-yr. War;
required legal documents and printed material in the
American colonies to have a tax stamp; led to extreme
colonial opposition- “No taxation without representation!”
Colonists could be forced to accommodate British solders
who were there to “protect” them
Parliament asserted its right to regulate the colonies in
“any way whatsoever”
Taxes on imported goods like lead, glass, tea; Britain
also suspended colonial legislature; Boston Massacre
resulted in part because of these
Colonists had to buy tea from British East India Co.;
Coercive Acts
(Intolerable Acts),
1774
Northwest Ordinance
(Freedom Ordinance),
1787
Judiciary Act 1789
Fugitive Slave Act,
1793
Alien and Sedition
Acts, 1798
Logan Act 1799
Harrison Land Law,
1800
Judiciary Act of 1801
Embargo Act, 1807
resulted in the Boston Tea Party
Closed Boston Harbor; limited colonial government;
quartering act broadly expanded; designed mainly to
punish colonists; angered colonists so much that the First
Continental Congress met, sent grievances to the King,
and colonies began preparing for war
Created the NW Territory as the first organized territory
of the US; established precedent by which the U.S. would
expand westward by admitting new states, rather than
by expanding existing states; consisted of the region
south of the Great Lakes, north and west of the Ohio
River, and east of the Miss. River
Established and organized the U.S. federal judiciary
system; created: the Supreme Court with 6 members
including a chief justice,13 district courts with one judge
apiece, and three circuit courts of appeal; gave Supreme
Court power to make the final decision in cases involving
the constitutionality of state laws
Denied freed slaves from claiming constitutional rights;
escaped slaves were not allowed jury trials and were
often refused permission to present proof of their
freedom in court
Law 1- Alien Enemies Act- designed to prevent wartime
spying and sabotage; citizens of a hostlie country during
wartime could be deported or jailed
Law 2- Alien Friends Act- designed to silence
opposition to Federalist policies by immigrants; president
could kick out any foreign residents whose actions he
considered dangerous, even without proof
Law 3- Naturalization Act- designed to reduce Irish
voting; citizenship requirement for living in the U.S.
raised from 5 years to 14 years
Law 4- Sedition Act- only one of the four enforceable
against US citizens; forbade people from opposing any
measure of the US government; illegal to speak, write, or
print anything bad against the president
Forbade unauthorized citizens from negotiation with
foreign governments
Enabled white settlers to acquire farms from public
domain more easily; attempt by William Henry Harrison
to develop the West
Federalists reduced the number of Supreme Court
justiceships from 6 to 5; but greatly increased the
number of federal judgeships altogether; doubled
number of circuit courts from 3 to 6; President John
Adams filled empty spots before midnight on his last day
in office- “Midnight Appointments”
Jefferson passed to punish UK for violating US rights to
high seas (for example, impressment of sailors aboard
US ships); form of economic warfare against warring GB
and France; American ships prohibited from leaving port
to trade; hurt US economy more than the other country’s
Non-Intercourse Act,
1809
Missouri Compromise,
1820
Indian Removal Act,
1830
Force Act, 1833
Distribution Act, 1836
Fugitive Slave Act,
1850
Kansas-Nebraska Act,
1854
Confiscation Acts,
1861, 1862
Morrill Tariff Act, 1861
Homestead Act, 1862
Morrill Land Grand
Act, 1862
Pacific Railway Act,
1862
National Bank Act,
1863
Civil Rights Act of
1866
Tenure of Office Act,
1867
Command of the Army
Act, 1867
economy though
Replaced Embargo Act; trade was still not allowed with
France and GB, but other countries were now permitted;
unsuccessul because ships would often pretend to be
heading to other countries and then head to GB or
France
Agreement between pro- and anti-slavery factions of the
US Congerss; prohibited slavery north of 36th parallel
except within the boundaries of Missouri
Andrew Jackson enacted to send Indians west in order to
gain more access to their land; Trail of Tears- thousands
of Indians died
Jefferson’s act to stop the states from nullifying tariffs
Required federal government to pay its surplus funds to
the states each year in four quarterly installments as
interest-free, unsecured loans
Declared that all runaway slaves must be brought back
to their owners
Initial purpose was to create opportunities for a
Transcontinental Railroad; Created territories of Kansas
and Nebraska; repealed the Missouri Compromise;
allowed settlers to decide, through popular sovereignty,
whether or not to have slavery within those territories
1st-Declared that all slaves used for “insurrectionary”
purposes (on the Confederate side) would be considered
freed
2nd- declared free the slaves of those aiding and
supporting the insurrection and authorized the president
to employ African Americans as soldiers
Raised tarriff rates to increase revenue and protect
American manufacturers from foreign competition
Promoted settlement of the Great Plains; Gave an
applicant 160 acres of undeveloped land for them to farm
for at least 5 years; gave a free farm to anyone who
needed it
Encouraged states to use the sale of federal land grants
to maintain agricultural and technical colleges
Authorized the building of transcontinental railroad over
a northern route to link the economies of Califormia and
the western territories with the eastern states
Created national banking system; banks could join
system if they had enough capital and were willing to
invest 1/3 of it in government securities; issued US
Treasury notes as currency
Nullified Black Codes; Blacks were given the rights to
make contracts, sue, bear witness in court, and to own
private property
Denied the president the power to remove from office
anyone who had been appointed by the president without
the Senate’s agreement
Prohibited the president from issuing military orders
except through the commanding general of the army
Enforcement Acts
(KKK Acts) of 1870
and 1871
Amnesty Act, 1872
Timber Culture Act,
1873
Desert Land Act, 1877
Timber and Stone Act,
1878
Bland-Allison Act,
1878
Specie Resumption
Act, 1879
Chinese Exclusion Act,
1882
Pendleton Civil Service
Reform Act, 1883
Interstate Commerce
Act, 1887
Dawes Severalty Act,
1887
Hatch Act, 1887
Sherman Antitrust Act,
1890
Sherman Silver
Purchase Act, 1890
Revenue Act (WilsonGorman Tariff), 1894
Foraker Act,1900
Banned the use of terror, force, or bribery to prevent
someone from voting because of race; allowed president
to use military force to protect civil rights; first time
federal government had ever claimed power to prosecute
crimes by individuals under federal law
Removed voting restritions and office-holding
disqualification against most of the secessionists who
rebelled in the Civil War, except some military leaders of
the Confederacy
Gave homesteaders grants of 160 additional acres if they
planted 40 acres of trees on them
Provided that claimants could buy 640 acres of land at
$1.25 an acre provided they irrigated part of their
holdings within three years
Authorized sales of nonarable land at $2.50 an acre
The US Treasury would purchase quantities of bullion
(large amounts of precious metal) at $2 million to $4
million per month; 16oz. of silver would be equivalent to
one ounce of gold and would be used to make coins
Provided for the redemption of US paper currency
(greenbacks) for new paper certificates based on the
price of gold
First significant restriction on free immigration in US
hist.; exculded Chinese laborers from entering the
country; non-laborers had to get certification from the
Chinese government that they were indeed non-laborers
in order to immigrate
Established the US Civil Service Commission; ended the
spoils system, instead some government jobs would be
filled on the basis of competitive written exams
Established the Interstate Commerce Commission to
regulate railroad industry
Designed to break up Indian tribal organizations; divided
the tribal lands into plots of 160 acres or less; US
citizenship was granted to those who stayed on the land
for 25 years and “civilized” themselves
Gave grants to create a network of agricultural
experiment stations in the US; attempted to reduce
amount ignorance of growing conditions, helping to make
American agriculture more productive
First US action to limit monopolies; purpose was to
prohibit combinations that could harm competition; made
illegal every contract, combination or conspiracy in
restraint of interstate and foreign trade
US Government required to purchase and additional $4.5
million oz. of bullion per month; the Treasury had to buy
the silver with notes that could be redeemed for either
silver or gold
Reduced the US tariff rates; imposed an income tax of
2%
Ended military rule in Puerto Rico and established formal
Gold Standard Act,
1900
National Reclamation
(Newlands) Act, 1902
Elkins Act, 1903
Pure Food and Drug
Act, 1906
Meat Inspection Act,
1906
Hepburn Act, 1906
Aldrich-Vreeland Act,
1908
Mann-Elkins Act, 1910
Mann Act (White Slave
Traffic Act), 1910
Federal Reserve Act,
1913
Federal Trade
Commission Act, 1913
Smith-Lever Act, 1914
Clayton Antitrust Act,
1914
Keating-Owen Act,
1916
Federal Farm Loan
Act, 1916
colonial government with an American governor and a
two-chamber legislature
Established gold as the only standard for redeeming
paper money
Provided federal funds to construct dams, resevoirs, and
canals in the West; funded irrigation projects to aid
farmers of arid land in the West and to develop cheaper
electric power
Imposed heavy fines on RR’s offering rebates and the
shippers accepting them; RR’s were not permitted to turn
aside published rates; part of Teddy Roosevelt’s goal for
RR regulation
Provided federal inspection of meat products and forbade
the making, selling, or transporting of contaminated
foods or poisonous medicines
Authorized Sec. of Agriculture to inspect and reject meat
products that were harmful for human consumption;
labels on foods had to be completely accurate
Gave the ICC power to set maximum RR rates, view RR’s
financial records; part of Teddy Roosevelt’s goal for RR
regulation
Established National Monetary Commission, which
provided detailed surveys of banking systems to find
ideas on how to operate a central bank
Amended the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887,
expanding the ICC’s responsibilities to include the
regulation of telephone, telegraph, and cable companies;
declared such companies to be subject to ICC regulations
Prohibited white slavery; banned interstate transport of
women for prostitution
Created Federal Reserve System, which is the central
banking system of the US; contained both private and
public entities; there were 12 private regional Federal
reserve banks each with its own branches, board of
directors and district boundaries; issued Federal Reserve
Notes, paper currency
Created agency that would help businesses determine in
advance whether their actions would be acceptable to the
government; agency also had authority to prosecute
against unfair trade practices and could investigate
corporate behavior; increased government’s regulatory
authority greatly
Offered matching federal grants to states that agreed to
support agricultural extension education
Built off/strengthened the Sherman Antitrust Act;
specified particular prohibited conduct for corporations
First federal law regulating child labor; prohibited the
shipment of goods produced by underage children across
state lines
Established 12 regional Farm Loan Banks; farmers were
able to borrow up to half of the value of their land;
allowed small farmers to be more competitive with larger
Jones Act, 1917
Espionage Act, 1917
Sedition Act, 1918
Volstead Act, 1920
businesses
Declared Puerto Rico to be a US territory and made all
Puerto Ricans American citizens
Made it illegal for a person to act as a spy for another
nation or to interfere with the operation or success of the
US armed forces; gave the post office right to ban
mailing of “seditious” material, which included all
Socialist Party publications
Expanded the Espionage Act, making it illegal to speak
out against the government in any way
Prohibited the production or sales of alcoholic beverages
Railroad
Transportation Act
(Esch-Cummins Act),
1920
Returned RR’s to private operation after WWI;
encouraged private consolidation of RR’s
Shepard-Towner Act,
1921
Provided federal funds to states to establish prenatal and
child healthcare programs; opposed by Alice Paul,
Margaret Sanger, and the American Medical Association
Emergency Quota Act,
1921
Immigration quota; first limit on European immigration;
limited annual number of immigrants admitted from any
country to 3% the number of people from that country
living in the US; Over half were from northern and
western Europe;
Granted women the rights of US citizenship independent
of their husbands’ status
Created high tariffs; reflected US isolationism
Cable Act, 1922
Fordney-McCumber
Act, 1922
Immigration Act
(National Origins Act)
1924
Railway Labor Act,
1926
Agricultural Marketing
Act, 1929
Anti-Injunction Bill,
1932
Frazier-Lemke Farm
Bankruptcy Act, 1933
Truth in Securities Act,
1933
Emergency Banking
Limited the immigration quota to 2%; immigrating Asians
excluded from the US
Governed labor relations in the railway industry; sought
to get rid of strikes and replace them with bargaining,
arbitration, and mediation to resolve labor disputes
Established the first major government program to help
farmers maintain prices; federally sponsored Farm Board
would make loans to national marketing cooperatives or
establish corporations to buy surpluses and thus raise
prices
Made yellow-dog contracts (workers agreed not to join
labor unions) unenforceable in court; established that
employees were free to form unions without employer
interference
Enabled some farmers to regain their land even after the
foreclosure of their mortgages; New Deal attempt to
provide mortgage relief
Required corporations issuing new securities to provide
full and accurate information about them to the public;
purpose was to protect investors in the stock market
Designed to protect larger banks from being dragged
Act, 1933
Economy Act, 1933
Agricultural
Adjustment Act, 1933
NIRA- National
Industrial Recovery
Act, 1933
Glass-Steagall Act,
1934
Johnson Act (Foreign
Securities Act), 1934
Reciprocal Trade
Agreement Act, 1934
Philippine
Independence Act,
(Tydings-McDuffie
Act) 1934
Indian Reorganization
Act, 1934
Neutrality Acts of
1935, ‘36, ‘37
Holding Company Act,
1935
Social Security Act,
1935
down by weaker banks; provided for Treasury Dept.
inspection of all banks before they would be allowed to
reopen
Designed to convince Americans that the federal
government was in safe hands; proposed to balance the
federal budget by cutting salaries of government
employees and reducing pensions to veterans
Created New Deal agency- Agricultural Adjustment
Admin.; paid farmers subsidies to reduce the size of
crops; purpose was to reduce amount of crop surplus to
up the value of crops
Part of New Deal; created National Recovery
Administration (NRA), which set minimum wage between
30-40 cents, maximum work week of 35–40 hours, and
abolished child labor; helped businesses establish a
means to regulate themselves to guarantee fair trade
Section 7(a)- recognized laborers’ rights to form unions
(enforced by the National Labor Board); created the
Public Works Administration- $3.3 billion to hire
Americans to work on public works projects
Part of FDR’s “Hundred Days”; FDR tried to maintain
stability and the public’s confidence in the country’s
banking system by establishing the FDIC (guaranteed
deposits up to $2500)
Prohibited foreign nations from marketing bond issues in
the US; prohibited loans to other nations in default on
debts
Authorized the FDR administration to negotiate treaties
lowering tariffs by as much as 50% in return for
reciprocal reductions by other nations; resulted in an
increase in American exports by 40%
Provided independence from the US for the Philippines
after a period of ten years of transitioning into a selfgoverning nation
Restored to Indian tribes the right to own land
collectively
1935- Established a mandatory arms embargo against
both victim and aggressor in any military conflict
(WWII); empowered the president to warn American
citizens that they might travel on the ships of warring
nations at their own risk
1936- Renewed the Neutrality Act of 1935
1937- Established cash-and-carry policy, which meant
nations could purchase only nonmilitary goods from the
US and had to pay cash and carry the goods away on
their own vessels
Attempt to break up utility holding companies and
monopolies in the utility industry by regulation
Established programs to aid the elderly; established
pension plan to aid current workers for their future
National Labor
Relations Act,
(Wagner Act) 1935
Fair Labor Standards
Act, 1938
Selective Service
(Burke-Wadsworth)
Act,1940
Anti-Inflation Act,
1942
Smith-Connally Act
(War Labor Disputes
Act), 1943
Atomic Energy
(McMahon) Act, 1946
Taft-Hartley Act
(Labor Management
Relations Act), 1947
retirement; created a system of unemployment insurance
and one for the disabled and for dependent children
Created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB),
which had the power to cause employers to recognize
and bargain with legitimate unions; protected rights of
most workers to organize into unions, bargain, and strike
Established the first national minimum wage; established
the 40- hour work week; placed strict limits on child
labor
First peacetime military draft in America; required men
21-30 register with local draft boards (age changed to
18-45 when US entered WWII)
Gave administration authority to freeze agricultural
prices, wages, salaries, and rents; enforcement provided
by the OPA
Required unions to wait thirty days before striking;
empowered the president to seize a struck war plant
Determined the method with which the US gov. would
manage nuclear technology; nuclear weapon
development and nuclear power management would be
under civilian, not military, control
Made closed shop (no one can be hired without being a
union member) illegal; permitted states to pass “rightto-work” laws prohibiting creation of union shops
(workers must join a union after being hired)
Presidential
Succession Act, 1947
Established the line of succession to the US presidential
office in the event that the President or VP are unable to
fulfill the duties as President; (Speaker of House follows
the VP etc.)
National Security Act,
1947
Reshaped US military and diplomatic institutions; new
Dept. of Defense would oversee all branches of the
armed services; Nation Security Council (NSC) would
govern foreign and military policy; CIA would replace the
wartime Office of Strategic Services; gave the president
expanded powers with which to pursue the nation’s
international goals during the Cold War
McCarran Internal
Security Act, 1950
Required all communist organizations to register with the
government and to publish their records
Federal Highway Act,
1956
Civil Rights Act, 1957
Appropriated $25 million for construction of the
Interstate Highway System
Established the Civil Rights Commission (CRC) to protect
individuals' rights to equal protection and permitted
courts to grant orders supporting the CRC
Allowed for federal inspection of local voter registration
polls
Civil Rights Act, 1960
Housing Act, 1961
Offered $4.9 billion in federal grants to cities for the
preservation of open spaces, the development of masstransit systems, and the subsidization of middle-income
housing
Equal Pay Act, 1964
Barred the practice of paying women less than men for
equal work
LBJ’s act to fight poverty; included social programs to
promote health, education and general welfare of the
poor
Outlawed segregation in schools and public places in the
US
Provided federal protection to blacks wanting to practice
their right to vote
Economic Opportunity
Act, 1964
Civil Rights Act of
1964
Voting Rights Act
(Civil Rights Act),
1965
Immigration and
Nationality Act, 1965
National Traffic and
Motor Vehicle Safety
Act, 1966
Civil Right Act (Fair
Housing), 1968
National
Environmental
Protection Act, 1970
Clean Air Act, 1970
Clean Water Act, 1972
Refugee Act, 1980
Maintained strict limit on numbers allowed into the US
(170,000 per year); abolished national-origins system
that had given preference to immigrants from northern
Europe and had been in place since the Immigration Act
of 1924
New driving standards were set and regulated by the
federal government
Prohibited discrimination in sale, rental, or financing of
housing based on sex, national origin, race, or any other
means
Created the Environmental Protection Agency to enforce
antipollution standards on businesses and consumers
EPA to develop and enforce regulations to protect people
from airborne contaminants that are hazardous to human
health
Established to try and eliminate water pollution by toxic
substances
Admitted refugees into the US for humanitarian
purposes; max amount of refugees –70,000
Tax Reform Act, 1986
One of two of Reagan’s tax cuts; income tax rates were
lowered from 50% to 28%
Civil Rights Act, 1991
Provided for the right to trial by jury on discrimination
claims; introduced the possibility of emotional distress
damages
Family and Medical
Leave Act of 1993
Required employers to allow employees to take unpaid
leave for reasons such as pregnancy, serious medical
condition, or other family matters
Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act,
1993
Cut taxes for fifteen million low-income families, made
tax cuts available to 90% of small businesses, and raised
taxes on the wealthiest 1.2% of taxpayers; implemented
spending restraints in order to mandate that the budget
be balanced over a number of years
Violent Crime Control
and Law Enforcement
Act, 1994
Personal
Responsibility and
Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of
1996
Defense of Marriage
Act, 1996
Digital Millenium
Copyright Act, 1998
USA PATRIOT Act,
2001
No Child Left Behind
Act, 2001
Homeland Security
Act, 2002
Do-Not-Call
Implementation Act of
2003
Partial-Birth Abortion
Ban Act, 2003
Energy Policy Act,
2005
Adam Walsh Child
Protection and Safety
Act, 2006
Iran Freedom and
Support Act, 2006
Provided for employment of 100,000 new police officers,
and billions of dollars for funding of prisons and
prevention programs; initiated Federal Assault Weapons
Ban; federal death penalty was expanded to around 60
different offenses
Instituted Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF) as a replacement for welfare, as well as other
assistance programs for the poor
States were not required to treat a relationship between
two people of the same sex as a marriage, even if it is
considered so in another state; Federal Government
would not recognize same-sex marriages under the law
even if recognized by a state; defined marriage as union
between a male and female for purposes of federal law
Made illegal the production of technology, devices, or
services used to get around measures that control access
to copyrighted works; criminalized the act of
circumventing an access control, even without
infringement of a copyright itself; heightened the
penalties for copyright infringement on the Internet
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism; expanded authority of US law enforcement
agencies for the purpose of fighting terrorism; law
enforcement agencies have the ability to search records,
communications, etc. in the US and deny/ deport
immigrants if need is felt
Instated programs to improve performance in primary
and secondary schools in the US
Created the Dept. of Homeland Security; anti-terrorist,
giving law enforcement agencies wide powers to examine
citizens and prevent potential terrorist attacks
Created the National Do Not Call Registry; limited
telemarketing calls that US consumers receive
Prohibits partial-birth abortions and punishes any doctor
who performs the procedure on a patient
Attempts to fight growing energy problem through tax
incentives and other means
Organizes sex offenders into 3 tiers, and level 3
offenders have to update their whereabouts to the
government every 3 months; created a national sex
offender registry and online identifying sites for the
public
Appropriates $10 mill. and gives the president power to
spend that money to support groups opposed to the
Iranian government; supports a liberal democracy in Iran