On July 15, 1978, the “Longest Walk”—a 2,800-mile trek for Native American justice that had started with several hundred marchers in California—ends in Washington, D.C., accompanied by thousands of supporters. The intent of the event was to call attention to issues affecting Native Americans, such as a lack of jobs and housing, and legislation before Congress that could dramatically change their rights.

The route of marchers and their supporters took them past the White House. Some carried the flags of Indian nations. Native Americans camped on the Washington Monument grounds. While in the nation’s capital, they held rallies and meetings at the Capitol, Supreme Court and White House.

Native Americans of many different tribes were especially concerned about proposed legislation that would eliminate treaties and shut down federal programs for hospitals, schools and housing projects. The proposed legislation also would eliminate Native American reservations and end hunting and fishing rights in areas outside reservations.

Source: history.com

Citation Information

Article Title2,800 mile-long walk for Native American justice concludes in Washington, D.C.AuthorHistory.com EditorsWebsite NameHISTORYURLhttps://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-longest-walk-1978-end-washington-dcDate AccessedJuly 14, 2023PublisherA&E Television NetworksLast UpdatedApril 29, 2022Original Published DateApril 29, 2022

1099 – Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders.

1410 – Poles and Lithuanians defeated the Teutonic knights at Tannenburg, Prussia.

1789 – The electors of Paris set up a “Commune” to live without the authority of the government.

1806 – Lieutenant Zebulon Pike began his western expedition from Fort Belle Fountaine, near St. Louis, MO.

1813 – Napoleon Bonaparte’s representatives met with the Allies in Prague to discuss peace terms.

1834 – Lord Napier of England arrived in Macao, China as the first chief superintendent of trade.

1870 – Georgia became the last of the Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union.

1876 – George Washington Bradley of St. Louis pitched the first no-hitter in baseball in a 2-0 win over Hartford.

1885 – In New York, the Niagara Reservation State Park opened.

1888 – “Printers’ Ink” was first sold.

1895 – Ex-prime minister of Bulgaria, Stephen Stambulov, was murdered by Macedonian rebels.

1901 – Over 74,000 Pittsburgh steel workers went on strike. 

1904 – The first Buddhist temple in the U.S. was established in Los Angeles, CA.

1916 – In Seattle, WA, Pacific Aero Products was incorporated by William Boeing. The company was later renamed Boeing Co.

1918 – The Second Battle of the Marne began during World War I.

1922 – The duck-billed platypus arrived in America, direct from Australia. It was exhibited at the Bronx Zoo in New York City.

1942 – The first supply flight from India to China over the ‘Hump’ was carried to help China’s war effort.

1958 – Five thousand U.S. Marines landed in Beirut, Lebanon, to protect the pro-Western government. The troops withdrew October 25, 1958.

1965 – The spacecraft Mariner IV sent back the first close-up pictures of the planet Mars. 

1968 – Commercial air travel began between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., when the first plane, a Soviet Aeroflot jet, landed at Kennedy International Airport in New York. 

1971 – U.S. President Nixon announced he would visit the People’s Republic of China to seek a “normalization of relations.”

1972 – NASA’s Pioneer 10 spacecraft became the first to enter the asteroid belt. 

1973 – Nolan Ryan (California Angels) became the first pitcher in two decades to win two no-hitters in a season. (California)

1985 – Baseball players voted to strike on August 6th if no contract was reached with baseball owners. The strike turned out to be just a one-day interruption.

1987 – Taiwan ended thirty-seven years of martial law.

2006 – The social networking service Twitter was launched.

2009 – “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” was released in theaters in the U.S. It was the sixth movie in the series.

2011 – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” was released in theaters in the U.S. and U.K. It was the final film in the Harry Potter series.

Seattle Heat Advisory in Effect as NWS Warns of Potential Heat-Related Illness Amid Soaring Temperatures

Source: NWS and hoodline.com

Things that Congress can do but has yet to do while Republicans are in Control

Passed by Congress June 13, 1866, and ratified July 9, 1868, the 14th amendment extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to former slaves.

Following the Civil War, Congress submitted to the states three amendments as part of its Reconstruction program to guarantee equal civil and legal rights to black citizens. The major provision of the 14th amendment was to grant citizenship to “All persons born or naturalized in the United States,” thereby granting citizenship to former slaves. Another equally important provision was the statement that “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The right to due process of law and equal protection of the law now applied to both the Federal and state governments.

On June 16, 1866, the House Joint Resolution proposing the 14th amendment to the Constitution was submitted to the states.

On July 28, 1868, the 14th amendment was declared, in a certificate of the Secretary of State, ratified by the necessary 28 of the 37 States, and became part of the supreme law of the land.

Congressman John A. Bingham of Ohio, the primary author of the first section of the 14th amendment, intended that the amendment also nationalize the Federal Bill of Rights by making it binding upon the states. Senator Jacob Howard of Michigan, introducing the amendment, specifically stated that the privileges and immunities clause would extend to the states “the personal rights guaranteed and secured by the first eight amendments.” Historians disagree on how widely Bingham’s and Howard’s views were shared at the time in the Congress, or across the country in general. No one in Congress explicitly contradicted their view of the Amendment, but only a few members said anything at all about its meaning on this issue. For many years, the Supreme Court ruled that the Amendment did not extend the Bill of Rights to the states.

Not only did the 14th amendment fail to extend the Bill of Rights to the states; it also failed to protect the rights of black citizens. One legacy of Reconstruction was the determined struggle of black and white citizens to make the promise of the 14th amendment a reality. Citizens petitioned and initiated court cases, Congress enacted legislation, and the executive branch attempted to enforce measures that would guard all citizens’ rights. While these citizens did not succeed in empowering the 14th amendment during the Reconstruction, they effectively articulated arguments and offered dissenting opinions that would be the basis for change in the 20th century.

(Information excerpted from Teaching With Documents [Washington, DC: The National Archives and Records Administration and the National Council for the Social Studies, 1998] p. 40.)

resource:

ourdocuments.gov

the journey the 14th A took, the hurdles and struggles continues

~ Nativegrl77