The Supreme Court case of Muller v. Oregon upheld the state law of Oregon to limit the number of hours women could work, in order to protect their health. In the majority verdict the court stated that the physical well-being of women was an object of public interest, in order that the strength and vigor of the American people should be sustained.

The Magna Carta is a famous document from English history, written in 1215. It helped ensure limited democratic participation for a collection of prominent English barons against the tyrannical rule of King John. It is often hailed as one of the earliest assurances of democratic process in western history; however, it applied only to a very slim percentage of the population—only the highest of the upper classes. When Samuel Gompers called the Clayton Anti-Trust Act “the working man’s Magna Carta” he was echoing a commonly held belief that, after the passage of the Act, the working man was finally as free and enfranchised as the wealthy class. The Clayton Anti-Trust Act was designed to ensure fair competition in the workplace and marketplace, along with competitive wages and benefits for the working class. Whether or not it achieved this in practice is up for debate, as many businesses fused into a single corporations and were able to derive the benefits of a cartel in a legal fashion. What is certain, however, is that the Clayton Anti-Trust Act was a significant event in the correcting of social and economic injustices in early twentieth-century America. 

Marcus Garvey was a prominent member of the movement to advance the status of blacks in America, and indeed the world. He believed strongly in Black Nationalism and advocated for the return of America’s black population to Africa, as well as the removal of European colonial influence on that continent. Garvey was a controversial figure throughout his political life—he staunchly opposed W.E.B. Dubois and the NAACP, once meeting with the leader of the Ku Klux Klan: calling the Klan’s racism the most honest form of white supremacy.

The Just Say No campaign was a reaction to the growth of drug use and the emergence (into public knowledge) of sexually transmitted diseases—most notably HIV—in the 1980s and 1990s. It aimed to prevent young people from experimenting with drugs or engaging in unprotected sex. The campaign was created and championed by First Lady Nancy Reagan. 

MLK was a supporter of civil disobedience and acts of nonviolence to bring about change. He is advocating assembling nonviolently to gain rights. Dr. King's fundamental argument expressed in this passage, was that to disobey and unjust and inhumane law was not to be socially disruptive, but socially progressive.