Protest Between 1900-1945 Essay Example

Between the years of 1900 and 1945, America went through rough times at the start of the century. This was the time of the great depression, WWI, WWII, The Labor Movement, Women’s rights, and the start of the civil rights movement. It was very hard time to be an American if you were not a white male because of all the obstacles you had to face during this period. I feel that in times of turmoil American’s should have the right to protest peacefully as it states in the 1st amendment. The 1st amendment says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (Rueter 2008). This gives them the right constitutionally to protest but I feel that it goes beyond the constitution and deals more with people’s rights and how not everyone is created equal. If the constitution was written right to make everyone equal no matter what, protest would have not been a huge part of our history. The first major protest movement that I feel affected the United States was the Labor movement. The labor movement started in the early 1900’s but vanished after the WWI started because men went to war. Then when the war ended the Great Depression started, which began in 1929, left millions of workers jobless, it also changed the attitude of many Americans toward the labor movement. People lost faith in the ability of business executives to lead the nation. Many Americans began to believe that the way to relieve the Depression was to increase the purchasing power of wage. The political atmosphere had changed to favor labor over management.
The program to end the Depression, headed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, included the National Industrial Recovery Act. This law guaranteed workers minimum wage, reasonable wage, collective bargaining, and the right to join