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.

Television was first invented in the 1920s, but the technology to manufacture televisions and broadcast programming were extremely costly. Radio remained the premier form of home entertainment through World War II. In the post-war economic boom, however, more and more American families were able to acquire televsions and stations appeared all over the country. By the middle of the 1950s, television was the most popular form of home entertainment in America.

The Bonus Army is the popular name given to a group of veterans who marched to Washington in 1932 to protest the fact that they could not cash many of their service certificates until 1945. Following World War One, a cash-strapped United States government had issued certificates in lieu of payment. Many veterans were out of work or suffering deeply during the Great Depression, and the idea that they had been deprived of payment was enough to motivate a march upon the capital. They were forcibly evicted without having their demands met.

The Harlem Renaissance peaked in the 1920s as a result of the freedoms for African Americans offered by the North. As many African Americans moved from the Jim Crow laws of the south, they pushed for tangible goals and a more positive image. The Cotton Club, the most most famous of nightclubs, was a home of many of these musicians, but still only offered whites admittance. The flappers followed this incredible influx of music and art, as did the rise of organized crime and the Black Sox Scandal of 1919.

Post-war and 1950s America is most commonly characterized as a time of massive population growth and economic prosperity. Americans returning from World War II were assisted back into society by the G.I. Bill, which provided for the higher education of veterans. Many American families that had been set back by the outbreak of war made up for lost time and the “baby boom” precipitated massive population growth over the next fifteen years. The “baby boom” in turn then encouraged the growth of consumerism which maintained economic prosperity even in the face of a rapidly advancing Social Security program. Political reforms were existent in the post-war years, as they are in all eras, but the major reforming movements would come into existence in the 1960s as the generation of “Baby Boomers” began to battle the established social and political norms. 

The term “Second Reconstruction” is used to refer to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. What is implicitly implied is that the first period of Reconstruction failed to achieve the proper emancipation and status of Blacks in America; therefore a “Second” Reconstruction was required in order to align society correctly. The rulings of the Warren Court were crucial to the Civil Rights Movement; however that answer is significantly less inclusive.