AUG 26 1936
Suffragist Susan B. Anthony appears on a U.S. postage stamp that soon becomes controversial. Some critics call it an election-year ploy for women’s votes, while others claim it shows a cigarette in her lips.
Source: history.com
On the morning of August 23, 1968, a group of Black soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas stage one of the largest acts of civil disobedience ever recorded among members of the United States military. Adopting the non-violent tactics of the civil rights movement, the soldiers stage a sit-in to protest their impending deployment to Chicago to defend the Democratic National Convention from protesters.
By 1968, sit-ins were a well-established, peaceful way to protest segregation and demand racial equality. But even as the war in Vietnam escalated and more Americans were sent to fight there, dissent by active-duty military personnel remained rare. Tensions all over the country were peaking in August of 1968 in the wake of the assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Bobby Kennedy, who was seeking the Democratic nomination. As protesters headed to Chicago to demand aggressive action on civil rights and an anti-war plank in the Democratic Party’s platform, law enforcement geared up for what would turn out to be a brutal crackdown.
The convention had not yet begun when the troops at Fort Hood received word that they would be deployed to Chicago. The night before they were slated to ship out, 60 Black soldiers sat down at an intersection on the grounds of the fort and began their sit-in. “The people we are supposed to control, the rioters, are probably our own race,” one of them reportedly said. “We shouldn’t have to go out there and do wrong to our own people.” Others stated that they had served honorably and done everything the Army asked, but drew the line at a treating their fellow citizens as “hostiles.”
Source: for the complete article, go to history.com
By Kathy Gill
Updated on September 23, 2021
The Hatch Act is a federal law that restricts the political activity of executive branch employees of the federal government, District of Columbia government, and some state and local employees whose salaries are paid for partially or entirely with federal money.
The Hatch Act was passed in 1939 to ensure that federal programs “are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation,” according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
In passing the Hatch Act, Congress affirmed that partisan activity government employees must be limited for public institutions to function fairly and effectively.
The courts have held that the Hatch Act is not an unconstitutional infringement on employees’ First Amendment right to freedom of speech because it specifically provides that employees retain the right to speak out on political subjects and candidates.
All civilian employees in the executive branch of the federal government, except the president and the vice president, are covered by the provisions of the Hatch Act.
These employees may not:
While the Hatch Act has been described as an “obscure” law, it is taken seriously and enforced.
Gill, Kathy. “Hatch Act: Definition and Examples of Violations.” ThoughtCo, Sep. 23, 2021, thoughtco.com/the-hatch-act-3368321.
July 4, 2018, comes to mind …
The American Revolutionary War began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775; and on August 19, 1775, George III proclaimed that the colonies were in “open and avowed rebellion”. After losing Boston, the British did well in the war to capture New York; and then the American capital Philadelphia. However, the defeat at Saratoga was a major blow to the British cause.
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