The 10 Biggest Blunders In U.S. History

Although the United States can be classified as one of the greatest countries in the world, there have been many instances and ideas that have been far from great. Throughout United States history, mistakes or blunders have been made that have caused a lack of democratic freedom. With this consistency of unconstitutional polices, many American citizens have been wrongly imprisoned, harmed, or killed

1. Trail of Tears

By User:Nikater [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons / Via ushistory.org

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was an Act in which the U.S. Government displaced the Indians from their tribal lands. This Act established a process in which the American President was able to grant land to any Indian tribe that agreed to give up their homeland (“Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830”). To encourage the Indians to agree to these terms, the law gave these tribes “financial and material assistance to travel and guaranteed that the Indians” would live on their new property under the United States Government protection (“Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830”). This Act was successful; nearly 50,000 eastern Indians were moved to Indian Territory, opening millions of acres to white settlers (“Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830”). Unlike most Indian Nations who complied with all the mandates and laws placed on them by the American government, the Cherokee nation resisted by challenging the Georgia laws, that controlled their freedom on tribal land, in court (“Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830”). Although the Court decision declared the Indian tribes “sovereign and immune from Georgia laws”, President Jackson refused to comply with the court decision (“Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830”). This map shows, that the Cherokee lands were vital to the Westward expansion which caused Jackson to begin the removal of the Indian tribe in 1831 to Oklahoma (“The Trail of Tears — The Indian Removals”). About 200,000 Cherokees marched westward at gunpoint during the Trail of Tears resulting in 3,000- 4,000 deaths due to brutal treatment and conditions (“The Trail of Tears — The Indian Removals). Jackson’s illegal and forceful evacuation of the Cherokee nation went against the Supreme Court decision, which is an evident violation of the system of Checks and Balances. The Trail of Tears also forced Native Americans to leave their homeland, which had been in their possession for generations, and walk thousands of miles to their new land. This march resulted in the deaths of many Native American due to poor weather conditions and abusive treatment by the troops. The Trail of Tears was a moment in which the American government completely disregarded the system of Checks and Balances stated in the Constitution. This unconstitutional law passed by Jackson is marked as the saddest legacy in the Jacksonian Era because it completely disregarded the Supreme Court Decision and portrayed the American people as inhumane savages in search for Westward expansion. The Trail of Tears proves that the system of Checks and Balances protects the democratic welfare of the nation.

"Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830." MILESTONES: 1830–1860. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State, n.d. Web. 04 Aug. 2014.

2. Jim Crow Laws: Separate but not Equal

By Esther Bubley (Library of Congress[3]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons / Via historymatters.gmu.edu

The Jim Crow Laws were a set of racial segregation laws that were enacted in 1876 and enforced at the state and local level of government (Szymanski). They mandated that all public spaces be "separate but equal" for the African Americans (Szymanksi). This practice led to inferior living conditions for the black community creating disadvantages in economic, social, and educational opportunities (Szymankski). These laws were strongly enforced and mandated in the Southern states (Szymanski). Due to this discrimination the blacks began to helplessly look for a leader who would guide them in these trying times (Szymanksi). In 1895 the Atlantic Compromise proposed by Booker T. Washington, seemed to be the solution. In this speech, Washington urged the black community to "cast down the bucket" or to use the skills, like agriculture, that the blacks have (Washington). He wanted the black community to be patient for all of the freedoms they desired (Washington). His method was accepted and followed until 1903 when W.E.B DuBois finally spoke against it in his paper "Of Mr. Booker T Washington and Others". DuBois was an educated black man who had been living in the segregated United States for fifteen years (Szymanksi). He, like many other blacks, believed that they deserved immediate equality in education, job opportunities, and suffrage (DuBois). He challenged the status quo placed on the blacks and adamantly hoped that other blacks would follow in his quest for equality (Szymanksi). Dubois said "we have no right to sit silently by while the inevitable seeds are sown for a harvest of disaster to our children, black and white" (DuBois). This quote shows how the ideas of segregation and discrimination had caused harmful results in the United States, especially the South. Many blacks were lynched or harmed by southern whites, blacks rioted and marched in order to be heard, and civility and peace was not possible until the end of the Jim Crow laws in 1954. With these unconstitutional laws, the black American population constantly feared for their lives and was deemed inferior to white Americans; making the American Dream unattainable for all blacks, especially those residing in the South.

W. E. Burghardt Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (Chicago, 1903)

Louis R. Harlan, ed., The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol. 3, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1974), 583–587.

Szymanksi, Mallory. "Rise of Jim Crow Laws." Rise of Jim Crow Laws. FLI 111, Gainesville. 1 July 2014. Lecture.

3. Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s

By National Photo Company Collection. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons / Via ehistory.osu.edu

The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 by ex-Confederate soldiers and other Southerners who opposed black equality and reconstruction (“The Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s”). This movement failed due to lack of support for about 50 years. In 1915, however, Joseph Simmons reestablished the movement after being triggered by the film Birth of a Nation, which portrayed the Klansmen as American heroes (“The Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s”). By the 1920s the Klan had expanded their opposition to include “immigrants, Catholics, and Jews” as well as blacks in their campaign of terror (“The Ku Klux Klan”). At this time the Klan was composed of nearly five million ordinary, "respectable," middle-class Americans, both urban and rural, from coast to coast and from South to North” (“The Ku Klux Klan”). The Klan believed that minorities threatened the integrity and life style of the white American. In a piece of propaganda for the KKK, the requirements for membership was stated portraying the Klan’s strong beliefs and racist ideals. This “American” organization threatened minorities and manipulated policies which restricted the political and social influence of minorities. The Ku Klux Klan was a group who “swore unqualified allegiance to the government of the United States of America, its constitution, and flag” but did not embody American democracy and beliefs (Letter to the Honorable Judge Rose from John H.). The KKK was a hypocritical organization which ignored the premise that the United States was a nation founded by immigrants and was created as a democracy “for and by the people” which meant equality for all men. The Klan’s goal was to rid America of all those the Klan considered impure inhabitants. Their effort was to reserve the natural- born American rights to only the worthy few, violating all the ideas in which American was founded.

"The National Archives Experience: DocsTeach." Letter to the Honorable Judge Rose from John H. DeShield Calling Attention to the Propaganda Distributed by the Ku Klux Klan. General Records of the Department of Justice, 1790 - 2002, 25 Aug. 1922. Web. 05 Aug. 2014.

"The Ku Klux Klan." EHistory at OSU | Old EHistory Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Aug. 2014.

4. Refusal of Payment to Bonus Army

By Underwood & Underwood [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The 1920s was a decade of promise and pleasure. People began investing heavily in the stock market, buying stocks or investments on margin with credit (Szymanksi). Due to the vast amount of new wealth from the market, people began to speculate that the price of their stock would rise resulting in an easy and quick fortune (Szymanksi). This seemed like an incredible system at the time, but it did not last. In 1929, on Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed due to the lack of regulation and the market dropped approximately 50% (Szymanksi). The majority of stock holders lost all of their investments and was unable to pay back loans so the economy crashed (Szymanksi). Hoover, the president at the time, believed that this dark situation would resolve itself (Szymanksi). This, however, was not the case. By1930, 1600 banks closed and millions of Americans were homeless because they could no longer pay mortgages or rent (Szymanksi). Americans grew desperate and in 1932 twenty five percent of the population was unemployed while fifty percent were living hand to mouth (Szymanksi). This growing sense of anxiety caused the World War I Veterans to march in Washington D.C. and demand their veterans "bonus" payment of $1000 which was due from Congress in 1942, early. (Szymanksi). Hoover, however, refused to give them their bonuses early (Szymanksi). After this rejection, many of the veterans camped for several months near the Anacostia River in protest (“Bonus Marchers”) They got into confrontations with police and federal troops, and eventually were driven out of the city (“Bonus Marchers”). This picture shows one of the disputes between the Bonus Army and the government. This economic collapse not only caused 25% of the population to be unemployed but it also turned the strong, glorious veterans of World War I into beggars and criminals (Szymanksi). Hoover should have paid the veterans not only to help them survive the economic decline, but to uphold the democratic principle of a government “for the people, by the people.” Instead Hoover suppressed their march and restricted their voice, violating the First Amendment.

Szymanksi, Mallory. "1920s Economic Boom." Immediate Reaction. FLI 111, Gainesville. July 2014. Lecture.

Unknown Associated Press Photographer. Bonus Marchers. 1932. National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, Washington D.C

5. Prohibition

Prohibition Agents Destroying Barrels of Alcohol. 1921. Chicago Daily News Negatives Collection, Chicago

In 1920 the United States placed a national constitutional ban on the manufacture, importation and transportation of alcoholic beverages (Damrau). This ban of alcohol was supported by many American because it believed that the violence and crime that transpired as a result of alcohol consumption would cease. This hopeful idea, however, was inaccurate. People began to create and sell alcoholic beverages and product illegally; these products were not regulated resulting in many deaths from poison and created an alluring life as a bootlegger, like Al Capone (Damrau). The Federal government, in order to supply much needed grain alcohol and at the same time make it unfit to drink, created a denatured liquor that contained wood alcohol, a deadly poison (Damrau). Since this denatured alcohol was readily available to all consumers, bootleggers would purchase it and try to “re-nature” it by cooking it (Damrau). This, however, is chemically impossible causing all bootlegged alcohol to have traces of damaging wood poison (Damrau). The Federal government stated that out of the “90,000,000 gallons of industrial alcohol produced every year under Federal Supervision, 10,000,000 gallons found their way into bootlegger liquor” (Damrau). In 1927, a news article titled “The Truth about Poison Liquor” described the unhappiness and resentment citizens had for the government. Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, president of the University of Columbia stated that “[it is] just plain, unadulterated murder by our Glorious Paternal government is what I think of the deaths attributed to the consumption of liquor manufactured from poison alcohol!” (Damrau). This shows how prohibition resulted in unnecessary deaths due to poison intake and created mobs and bootleggers all around the country. During the Prohibition Era, cities were transformed into a battlefield between opposing bootlegger mobs.This proves that the unconstitutional law banning all consumption of alcohol had an opposite effect to the desired goal by causing an increase in crimes and abuse. When the government restricted the natural born freedoms stated in the Constitution the government failed the American citizen which resulted in chaos.

Damrau, Frederic, M.D. "Archive Gallery: The Science of Prohibition, 1919-1933." Popular Science. N.p., 24 Sept. 2010. Web. 04 Aug. 2014.

6. Japanese Internment Camps

By Iwasaki, Hikaru, 1923-, Photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons / Via youtube.com

In 1942, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States mandated that 110,000 Japanese residents on the west coast be relocated (Szymanksi). Out of these 110,000 individuals, two-thirds were American citizens (Japanese Relocation). Although this violated the rights and freedoms declared in the Constitution, the American government was terrified that these immigrants would help the Japanese if they were to attack the United States; this would make America vulnerable because America would be attacked from the East by the Soviets and the West by the Japanese (Szymanksi). In order to move to these camps, each Japanese family had to fill out paperwork, attend medical checkups, and find tenants to take care of their farms and other businesses (Japanese Relocation). When they had finally finished all the paperwork and other burdens they were taken to temporary living quarters in either fair grounds or race tracks (Japanese Relocation). Then after the real quarters were finished, the Japanese moved for the final time (Japanese Relocation). In these quarters they tried to assimilate in any way they could: they built nursery schools, took Advanced Americanization courses, and created a small government (Japanese Relocation). Although this relocation was unconstitutional, the United States explained it as a necessary precaution to avoid harm and chaos, which can be seen in this video (Japanese Relocation). The US Government also hoped that this would “[set] a standard for the rest of the world in the treatment of people who may have loyalties to an enemy nation…protecting ourselves but not violating the ideals of Christian decency” (Japanese Relocation). Even with this excuse, it was a dark and oppressive moment for the United States. American citizens were forced to leave their homes and business and relocated into fenced quarters with armed patrols and guard towers. While this was done to Japanese civilians in the United States, there were many Japanese American soldiers fighting for the freedom of other nations in World War II (Szymanksi). These American soldiers had to fight for a country that stripped their families and loved ones of freedom and forced them into “safe” quarters.

Japanese Relocation. Prod. Bureau of Motion Pictures. Perf. Milton S. Eisenhower. 1943. 2 Sept. 2012. Web. 2 Aug. 2014. .

Szymanksi, Mallory. "The US in WWII." Japanese-American Internment. FLI 111, Gainesville. July 2014. Lecture.

7. The Second Red Scare

By Catechetical Guild (Catechetical Guild) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons / Via fofweb.com

After World War II, Americans lived a life of “happiness” and consumption. They were the epitome of perfect with the white picket fence, flannel suits, suburban house, and latest technology. This, however, was just a superficial mask. Most Americans at the time were very unhappy with their current lifestyle; some people wanted wealth while others, like veterans, were suffering from “shell shock.” They desired more from their government and hoped that their life would improve. Out of this hopelessness and desperation, communist ideals and goals, like the ones in the USSR, seemed glorious. The unhappy American believed that “something in our land is dying:... the way we wearily smile, the way we half-heartedly hail a comrade in the street, the way we dismally work in factories and mills and railroads spanning the land” (Rolfe). This quote, from the poem "Winds of Another Sphere", portrays the discontent American citizens who refused to live under the oppressive government where consumption was enforced and health and happiness was faked (Rolfe). This angered and terrified the government because they believed that if enough citizens shared these ideas, then a revolution would occur and American civilization would be destroyed. This led to action by the legislative and executive branches that restricted the rights of American communists (Schwartz). In 1949, the Smith Act gave the government the authority to convict and jail communist Americans. Party member were banned from jobs in the United States government and restricted from positions as union leaders (Schwartz). The McCarran internal Security Act, in 1950, established concentration camps for American communists; they however, were never used (Schwartz). This act also required all Communist organizations to provide the government with all the names of its members (Schwartz). These Acts and laws allowed the American government to breach the constitution and restricted the rights of the first Amendment. In this moment the American government abused their power and abandoned the ideas of democracy, ‘for the greater good.” These people believed that "’America’ and capitalism [created] decay”, and although it went against American culture, they had the right to protest the government’s policies and voice their distaste for American democracy (Rolfe). In forbidding the rights of theses Americans, the government became the monster they hoped to stop; they became an overreaching, centralized force that controlled and restricted the minds of the people.

Rolfe, Edwin. "Literature." Red Scare 1950s- Literature. N.p., 2014. Web. 04 Aug. 2014.

Schwartz, Richard A. "Red Scare, 1950s." Cold War Culture: Media and the Arts, 1945–1990. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc.

8. The Stonewall Riot 1969

By Diana Davies, copyright owned by New York Public Library (Wikipedia:Contact us/Photo submission) [GFDL (gnu.org or http://CC-BY-SA-3.0 (creativecommons.org], via Wikimedia Commons / Via thestonewallinnnyc.com

In 1969 homosexual acts were illegal in the United States making police raids on gay bars a regular occurrence (“The Historical Stonewall Inn). During this time, it was “illegal to serve gay people alcohol or for gays to dance with one another” (“The Historical Stonewall Inn”). During a raid, police officers turned on the lights, lined up the costumers, and checked their ids. (“The Historical Stonewall Inn”). At 1:20 a.m. on June 28, 1969, eight police officers entered the Stonewall Inn which was serving about 200 people that night ( “The Historical Stonewall Inn”). When the police officers tried to shut it down, the patrons refused to cooperate, resulting in the officers placing the majority of the customers under arrest. Those not arrested gathered in a crowd outside of the bar to wait. (“The Historical Stonewall Inn”). The officers began to transport the offenders to the vehicles. During this process an officer reacted to a detainees request to loosen the handcuffs by hitting her on the head with a club and throwing her into the truck. The crowd that witnessed this action was outraged and began to throw pennies, beer bottles, and bricks. As seen in this picture, the crowd outnumbered the police by 600.The incident resulted in 13 arrests and 4 injured officers (“The Historical Stonewall Inn”). For the following two days thousands of people gathered at the Stonewall Inn to protest (“The Historical Stonewall Inn”). These laws that prohibited homosexual acts were in violation of the Constitution and the premise of equality for all men. In 1969, the freedoms of the gay community were severely limited and the idea of the right to privacy was almost nonexistent. The American government had become a powerful force that not only banned the actions of a certain group but also discriminated and harmed this oppressed culture. This incident in history sparked the gay movement which has resulted in many of the rights they have today.

"The Historic Stonewall Inn." History. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Aug. 2014.

"The Stonewall Riots: June 28,1969." Refugee from Reason. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Aug. 2014.

9. Kent State Massacre

youtube.com / Via dept.kent.edu

On May 4, 1970 students from Kent State organized a peaceful protest against the bombing of Cambodia (Lewis, Hensley). Although the University official had attempted to inform the campus that the rally was prohibited a group of about 3, 000 people gathered (Lewis, Hensley). Out of fear, the National Guard was called to control and disperse the protest. Across the common area, where the rally was being held, stood 100 Ohio National Guardsmen carrying M-1 Rifles (Lewis, Hensley). When the guardsmen entered the rally to disperse the crowd, they were met with shouting and rocks (Lewis, Hensley). Then “Canterbury…ordered his men to load and lock their weapons, tear gas canisters were fired into the crowd around the Victory Bell, and the Guard began to march across the Commons to disperse the rally” (Lewis, Hensley). They did not shoot, however, until the group of protestors arrived at the top of the hill (Lewis, Hensley). Then, 28 guardsmen suddenly fired their rifles and pistols, most of them fired into the air or ground but some fired directly into the crowd (Lewis, Hensley). This resulted in 67 shots being fired in a span of 13 seconds, killing 4 students (Lewis, Hensley). In this picture, the National Guard can be seen on the hill in the background and a dead student is lying on the floor. The massacre occurred due to restrictions the American government placed of these protesters. Instead of allowing these students to express the first Amendment right and protest the unnecessary and unwanted bombing in Cambodia, the government shot into a crowd of unarmed students and civilians, murdering 4 people. By sending in the National Guard, the American government stole the rights and liberties of the people which resulted in a strike by 4 million students the following day. (Lewis, Hensley). The Kent State Massacre was a point in history in which the government had completely abandoned democratic policies by suppressing the voices and opinions of the American people.

Kent State University. News Service. 1970. May 4 Collection, Kent State University. May 4 Digital Archive - Item Detail. Web. 3 Aug. 2014.

Lewis, Jerry M., and Thomas R. Hensley. "The May 4 Shootings At Kent State Univeristy: The Search For Historical Accuracy." Ohio Council for the Social Studies Review, 1998. Web. 03 Aug. 2014.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OpgDIYOHK9A: video if it does not work

10. U.S. Patriot Act: "Big Brother is Watching You"

By Eric Draper, employee of the White House [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons / Via cis.org

The US Patriot Act was a law passed by Congress in 2001 to counter the terrorist attack of September 11 (Jenks). This law was focused on improving the “Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and federal prosecutors for identifying and disabling” terrorist organizations within and outside the United States (Jenks). Although it was built to protect the United States and its citizens, many people are opposed to the act because it violates the rights granted by the Constitution. It violates the right to privacy and the freedom from unreasonable search and seizures “due to the expansion of the government’s ability to execute wiretaps and perform searches without notification” (Grabianowski). This act also allows the government to detain witnesses and suspects of terrorism without the right to representation or to a hearing which violates the Fifth and Sixth Amendment (Grabianowski). In an article written in 2001, the public become wary due to the new freedoms granted by the Patriot Act. On the Thursday after the September 11 attack, Attorney General John Ashcroft stated that “If you overstay your visas even by one day, we will arrest you. If you violate a local law--we will hope that you will, and work to make sure that you are put in jail and be kept in custody as long as possible (Olsen). This shows that the United States had stopped caring about the rights of the people; their main objective was to stop terrorism at the expense of the citizen's privacy and freedoms. Although President Bush stated that they will stop terrorism while protecting the Constitutional rights of Americans, this did not occur. (Olsen). Through the Patriot Act the government is able to check electronic communications, Internet usage and IP addresses creating a lack of privacy between the American government and American citizens (Olsen). In addition, Internet service providers must make their services wiretap friendly, “giving law enforcement the ability to capture pen register information or allowing the installation of Carnivore technology (Olsen). This Act, although intended to protect Americans against potential terrorist threats, has overridden the rights of the individual citizen’s right to privacy. It has given a realistic meaning to the phrase “Big brother is watching you!”

Jenks, Rosemary. "The USA Patriot Act of 2001: A Summary of the Anti-Terrorism Law's Immigration-Related Provisions." Center for Immigration Studies. N.p., Dec. 2001. Web. 05 Aug. 2014.

Olsen, Stefanie. "Patriot Act Draws Privacy Concerns - CNET News." CNET News. CBS Interactive, 26 Oct. 2001. Web. 05 Aug. 2014.