USG.2.7

=media type="custom" key="29281927" align="right" = = = =Identify and explain historical and contemporary efforts to narrow discrepancies between foundational ideas and values of American democracy and realities of American political and civic life. =

**//Focus Question: What are times when American realities conflicted with American ideals?//**

 * Topics on the Page **
 * The Constitution **
 * ** Amendments to the Constitution **
 * ** The Supreme Court and the Court System **
 * ** Slavery **
 * Civil Rights Movement **
 * Suppression of Native Americans **
 * Labor Movement **
 * LGBTQ Rights Movement **
 * American Foreign Policy **

The Constitution
**[|Reading Between the Lines of the Constitution: An Annotated Guide]** from //The New York Times// in 2011 offers a guide to some of the most contested clauses in the Constitution by groups from all sides of the political spectrum.


 * For more information on the Constitution, see USI.7, USI.8, Grade 5.24 and Grade 5.25**

[|A blog post] from the Progressive Cynic on American Reality vs. American Ideals.

Amendments to the Constitution



 * [|9000 amendments have been proposed; 27 have been passed].**


 * Click here for an overview of [|Amendments 11-27]**

For more on the amendment process, see [|Article V: Amending the Constitution] from the Exploring Constitutional Conflicts website from the University of Missouri Kansas City.

The Supreme Court is the final interpreter of federal constitutional law in the U.S. legal system.
 * The Supreme Court & Court Systems**

When a person feels their constitutional rights have been violated, they can file litigation and go to court. If their case gets appealed up to the Supreme Court, it is there that the case is decided to be constitutional or not. Many issues of conflicted ideals have been resolved or further complicated by the court system.

[|Timeline] of Supreme Court cases
 * [|Crash Course video] on the Supreme Court
 * [|List]of Landmark Supreme Court cases

Some examples of when our nation's ideals conflicted with its reality can be seen with the following examples:


 * [[image:multicultural.png]]Slavery **
 * ===== See United States History I.29 =====
 * Click [|here] to read Frederick Douglass' speech "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery."

**The Civil Rights Movement**

 * ** See United States History II.25 **

**[[image:Female_Rose.png]]The Women's Rights Movement**

 * ** See United States History II.27 **
 * Before the Women's Rights Movement of the 1960's came the Women's Suffrage Movement in the previous century. It culminated in 1920 with the passage of the 19th amendment, which prohibited denying people the right to vote because of their sex.
 * For a timeline of the whole movement, photos, and cartoons, click [|here].

For a lesson plan from the Library of Congress on women's suffrage, click [|here].

**[[image:Screen Shot 2016-04-21 at 9.41.22 AM.png]]The suppression of Native Americans**

 * ** See United States History II.4 **
 * ** [|Documentary] on the horrific treatment of Indigenous People by the US government, including Standing Rock. **

**Labor Movement**

 * ** See United States History II.5 **
 * ** [|Plutocracy], a full-length documentary on the suppression of the Labor movement **

See pages for

 * Lowell Mill Girls Strikes, 1834 & 1836
 * The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
 * Atlanta Washerwomen Strike, 1881
 * The Pullman Strike, 1894
 * Shirtwaist Makers Strike of 1909 and Bread and Roses Strike of 1912
 * Delano Grape Strike and Boycott, 1965-1970

** [[image:Screen Shot 2016-02-09 at 12.56.56 PM.png]]LGBT Rights Movement **

 * [[image:timeline2_rus.svg.png link="@http://breakingprejudice.org/assets/AHAA/Activities/Gay%20Rights%20Movement%20Timeline%20Activity/LGBT%20Rights%20Timeline.pdf"]]Timeline of LGBT Rights **


 * LGBT Rights Milestones Fast Facts** [|https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/lgbt-rights-milestones-fast-facts/index.html]


 * [|Video] on //Obergefell v. Hodges//, the case that legalized same-sex marriage**


 * See also LGBTQ Histories and Change Makers **
 * **The Lavender Scare**
 * **The Stonewall Uprising**
 * **Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights and Gay Rights Activist**
 * **LGBTQ Rights Supreme Court Cases**
 * **The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the US and the World**

===**Like Walking Through a Hailstorm: Discrimination Against LGBT Youth in US Schools, Human Rights Watch (December 2017)**===
 * 8 states have laws restricting teachers from talking about LGBTQ issues in schools
 * 20 states have laws prohibiting the bullying of students based on sexual orientation and gender identity
 * 23 states have laws prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

**American Foreign Policy**

 * See also American Government 4.5 for more on American foreign policy**

Throughout the twentieth century, and especially during the Cold War, the United States intervened in the politics of many countries. President James **Monroe** first stated the **doctrine** during his seventh annual State of the Union Address to Congress. The **Monroe Doctrine** was a United States policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas beginning in 1823. European countries were to stay out of the Western Hemisphere, which meant that they were not allowed to intervene in the affairs of territories in the western hemisphere.
 * The reasons for these interventions are complex, but often it had to do with business interests and preventing the spread of Communism. Oftentimes, these interventions involved behavior that was contradictory to classic American ideals.
 * A good example of this occurred in Chile with the overthrow of democratically elected leader Salvador Allende in 1973.
 * To learn about the overthrow and the involvement of the US, click [|here].
 * Monroe Doctrine:**

US Mexico War 1846 US Spanish War (1898-1901), Cuba, Hawaii, Philippines, Guatemala, Panama Vietnam War (1958-60) Korean War (1950)
 * American Foreign Wars**

To learn about a similar event that occurred in Guatemala in 1954, watch this short [|video].

Check out this [|lesson plan] on thinkfinity that aims to show students the different social injustices forced upon peoples abroad and at home on American soil, including Native Americans and Japanese Americans.

See also pages for:
 * The Barbary Pirates
 * Annexation of Hawaii
 * Building the Panama Canal
 * The Great White Fleet
 * The Manhattan Project
 * A Vietnam War WikiQuest