Download Social Security Act (1935)

By: Matt Salazar, Ethyn Brambley, and Nicholas Vallerio
Period: 3 Mrs. Scenna
• Federal Constitution (1787): Guides American society in law and political
culture.
• Kentucky and Virginia resolutions (1788-1799): Political statements in
which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the
federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional.
• Tariff of 1816: First tariff passed by Congress with a function of protecting
U.S. manufactured items from foreign competition.
• Second Bank of the United States chartered (1816): The Second Bank was
chartered by many of the same congressmen who in 1811 had refused to
renew the charter of the original Bank of the United States. The
predominant reason that the Second Bank of the United States was
chartered was that in the War of 1812, the U.S. experienced severe
inflation and had difficulty in financing military operations.
• Dartmouth v. Woodward (1819):Was a landmark United States Supreme
Court case dealing with the application of the Contract Clause of the
United States Constitution to private corporations.
• McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): The state of Maryland had attempted to
impede operation of a branch of the Second Bank of the United States by
imposing a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland.
• Gibbons v. Ogden (1824): Was a landmark decision in which the Supreme
Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate
commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the
United States Constitution.
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Tariff of 1828: The Tariff of 1828 was a protective tariff passed by the Congress of
the United States on May 19, 1828, designed to protect industry in the northern
United States.
Nullification crisis (1832-1833): Was a sectional crisis during the presidency of
Andrew Jackson created by South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification. This
ordinance declared by the power of the State that the federal Tariffs of 1828 and
1832 were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within the sovereign
boundaries of South Carolina.
Confederacy established (1861): The Confederate States of America was a
government set up from 1861 to 1865 by eleven Southern slave states that had
declared their secession from the United States.
Civil War begins (1861): Was a civil war fought over the secession of the
Confederacy.
Emancipation Proclamation (1863): It proclaimed the freedom of slaves in the ten
states then in rebellion, thus applying to 3.1 million of the 4 million slaves in the
U.S. at that time.
• The Thirteenth Amendment
abolishes all slavery, except as a
means of punishment.
• The Fourteenth Amendment gave
all domestically born or
naturalized American equal civil
rights. It also barred those who
were involved in rebellion from
voting or holding any office. State
legislators were also to take into
account the non-taxed Indians
when counting state population.
• The Fifteenth Amendment
prohibited the government from
withholding the right to vote
from anyone based on race of
previous condition of servitude,
a.k.a. slavery.
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Passed by Radical Republicans in Congress in 1867, The First
Reconstruction Act treated the Southern states as territories, not
states. The First Reconstruction Act divided the South into five
districts, each governed by martial law. The military took control of
the South (it was presided over by the military commander), in order
to maintain peace. It was the first of a series of harsher bills that the
Radicals passed that year.
In 1851, Congress authorized the transfer of $10 million worth of
United States bonds to the state of Texas. The bonds were payable to
the state or bearer and were to be redeemable in 1864. In 1862,
during the Civil War, an insurgent Texas legislature authorized the use
of the bonds to purchase war supplies. Four years later, the
reconstruction government tried to reclaim the bonds. White sued,
claiming the state had no business reclaiming the bonds. The
Supreme Court sided with Texas and revoked the credibility of the
insurgent government. This, in turn, revoked the credibility of the
bonds.
Headed by Sen. Sumner and Rep. Brown, the Civil Rights Act of 1875
stated that all people, regardless of race or color or previous
servitude was to be treated equally and given the same usage rights
of public property and accommodations. However, this law was rarely
enforced, and was enforced even less after the removal of troops
from the South.
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Sherman Antitrust Act (1890): It prohibits certain business activities that reduce competition
in the marketplace, and requires the United States federal government to investigate and
pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of being in violation.
Hepburn Act (1906): United States federal law that gave the Interstate Commerce
Commission (ICC) the power to set maximum railroad rates.
Pure Food and Drug Act (1906): Is a United States federal law that provided the federal
inspection of meat products and forbade the manufacture, sale, or transportation of
poisonous patent medicines.
Clayton Antitrust Act (1914): Was enacted in the United States to add further substance to
the U.S. antitrust law regime by seeking to prevent anticompetitive practices in their
incipiency. The Clayton Act specified particular prohibited conduct, the three-level
enforcement scheme, the exemptions, and the remedial measures.
Prohibition amendment (1919): The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States
Constitution established prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down
methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors"
were prohibited.
Suffrage amendment (1920): The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex.
From New Deal to Great Society
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Wagner Act (1935): The Wagner Act, is a 1935 United States federal law that limits the means with
which employers may react to workers in the private sector who create labor unions, engage in
collective bargaining, and take part in strikes and other forms of concerted activity in support of
their demands. Did not apply to many workers such as: workers under Railway Labor Act,
agricultural + domestic employees, and federal or government state workers.
Social Security Act (1935): The Social Security Act of 1935, was a legislative act which created the
Social Security system in the United States. The Act provided benefits to retirees and the
unemployed, and a lump-sum benefit at death. The act also gave money to states to provide
assistance to aged individuals, for unemployment insurance, Aid to Families with Dependent
Children, Maternal and Child Welfare, public health services, and the blind.
Economic Opportunity Act (1964): The Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 included several social
programs to promote the health, education, and general welfare of the impoverished. Programs
include Head Start (provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement
services to low-income children and their families.) and Job Corps (free-of-charge education and
vocational training to youth ages 16 to 24.).
Medicare and Medicaid (1965): Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people
and families with low incomes and resources. Medicare is a national social insurance program,
administered by the U.S. federal government that guarantees access to health insurance for
Americans ages 65 and older and younger people with disabilities as well as people with end stage
renal disease. (1965)
Occupational Safety and Health Act(1970): The Occupational Safety and Health Act is the primary
federal law which governs occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal
government in the United States. Its main goal is to ensure that employers provide employees
with an environment free from recognized hazards, such as exposure to toxic chemicals, excessive
noise levels, mechanical dangers, heat or cold stress, or unsanitary conditions.
Civil Rights and the Supreme Court
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In 1951, Brown v. Board of Education changed the way schools functioned. Black children
were denied admission to public schools attended by white children under laws requiring or
permitting segregation according to the races. The white and black schools approached
equality in terms of buildings, curricula, qualifications, and teacher salaries. This case was
decided together with Briggs v. Elliott and Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward
County. The question was if segregation deprived black children of the 14th Amendment
rights under a “separate but equal” school of thought. In a 9-0 decision, the Court decided
that segregation was, in fact, illegal. Racial segregation was a display of inferiority, and was
unconstitutional.
After Brown v. Board of Education, little progress had been made in desegregating public
schools by 1970. One example was the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, system in
which approximately 14,000 black students attended schools that were either totally black or
more than 99 percent black. Lower courts had experimented with a number of possible
solutions when the case reached the Supreme Court, and the Court judged that
mathematical quotas were good starting points, and predominantly black schools were to be
closely judged by the court system.
• In Little Rock, Arkansas, high schools were still segregated due to the Arkansas
segregation laws. Little Rock elected to gradually desegregate its schools, and the
Little Rock Nine were the first African Americans to enroll. Due to the high
tensions on the first day of school, the National Guard was sent to physically
block the black children from entering the school. Woodrow Mann, the Mayor of
Little Rock, asked Eisenhower to send federal troops to enforce integration and
protect the nine students. On September 24, 1957, Eisenhower ordered
the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army to Little Rock
and federalized the entire 10,000 member Arkansas National Guard, taking it out
of the hands of Governor Orval Faubus, who deployed them against the children.
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 further outlaws any kind of discrimination against
African Americans and women, including racial segregation. It ended unequal
application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools,
at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public. Powers given to
enforce the act were initially weak, but were supplemented during later years.
• The Voting Rights Act prohibited any kind of the discriminatory practices that
were largely held responsible for the disenfranchisement of blacks in the South.
This landmark bill helped to effectively end the official Jim Crow South. The act
was specifically aimed towards literacy tests, which were a very effective means
for cutting off the black vote in the South.
The Reagan Revolution
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Deregulation of savings and loan banks (1980s): As the eighties wore on the economy
appeared to grow. Interest rates continued to go up as well as real estate speculation. The
real estate market was in what is known as a "boom" mode. Many Savings and Loans banks
took advantage of the lack of supervision and regulations to make highly speculative
investments, in many cases loaning more money then they really should. When the real
estate market crashed, and it did so in dramatic fashion, the Savings and Loans were crushed.
They now owned properties that they had paid enormous amounts of money for but weren't
worth a fraction of what they paid. Many went bankrupt, losing their depositors money. This
was known as the S&L (Savings and Loans) Crisis
Federal Tax Cuts (1981-1983): Reagan implemented policies based on supply-side economics
and advocated a classical liberal and laissez-faire philosophy, seeking to stimulate the
economy with large, across-the-board tax cuts. These tax cuts showed reducing taxes
increases the spirit of enterprise, higher rates of growth, output, and employment.
Drop in spending for public assistance (1981-1989): Reagan reduced public assistance by,
freezing the minimum wage at $3.35 an hour, slashing federal assistance to local
governments by 60%, cutting the budget for public housing and Section 8 rent subsidies in
half, and eliminating the antipoverty Community Development Block Grant program.
Tax Reform (1986): Tax reform came in the passing of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. The Act
simplified the income tax code, broadened the tax base and eliminated many tax shelters and
other preferences. Revenue neutrality was targeted by decreasing individual tax rates,
eliminating $30 billion annually in loopholes, and increasing corporate taxes.
The Reagan Revolution
• Welfare Reform (1996): Welfare reform came in the passing of the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
of 1996 (PRWORA). Which is a United States federal law
considered to be a fundamental shift in both the method and goal
of federal cash assistance to the poor. The bill added a workforce
development component to welfare legislation, encouraging
employment among the poor.
• Federal Tax Cut (2001): Reform came with the passing of the
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. The
Act made significant changes in several areas of the US Internal
Revenue Code, including income tax rates, estate and gift tax
exclusions, and qualified and retirement plan rules. In general, the
act lowered tax rates and simplified retirement and qualified plan
rules such as for Individual retirement accounts, 401(k) plans,
403(b), and pension plans.
Contract With America
• Contract with America (1994): The Contract with America was a document
released by the United States Republican Party during the 1994
Congressional election campaign. The Contract detailed the actions the
Republicans promised to take if they became the majority party in the
United States House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. The
Contract stated that the Republicans would promise to enact eight
reforms and ten bills
• On the first day of their majority in the House, the Republicans promised
to pass eight major reforms: require all laws that apply to the rest of the
country also apply to Congress; select a major, independent auditing firm
to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;
cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by onethird; limit the terms of all committee chairs; ban the casting of proxy
votes in committee; require committee meetings to be open to the
public; require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;
guarantee an honest accounting of the Federal Budget by implementing
zero base-line budgeting.