Identification of Each Term

Sacco-Vanzetti Case

Nicola Sacco and Bartolommeo Vanzetti were two Italian immigrants accused of robbery and killing two employees of the New England shoe company. The two men were charged for participating in a robbery in South Braintree in Massachusetts hat lead to the killing of Fred Parmenter and Alessandro Beradelli during a robbery as the two transported payroll boxes belonging to the New England shoe company[1]. Despite several protests from immigrants and other interest groups, Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to death.   The judgment was widely perceived as the most brutal and more of political oppression.  During the early centuries, Americans feared communism. Thus both Sacco and Vanzetti were regarded as anarchists who believed in fighting the government using unorthodox strategies to make political statements.[2]   Therefore, they saw as a threat to American democracy.

Sacco and Vanzetti fought for social justice; thus, their trial was more politicized. Despite the fact that several eyewitnesses testifying the most critical issues was the ballistic test done on the murder weapon that proved that they were guilty[3]. Despite the use of primitive ways of assessing the gun, the Sacco gun was believed to have been used during the incidence. The Sacco and Vanzetti case has been widely criticized for lack of concrete evidence and is used as a reference when defining the miscarriage of justice in America.

 

USS Maine

Identification of Each Term

The U.S.S Maine was an American Navy ship sent to Cuba in 1898, the ship later sunk in the Havana harbor leading to the famous Spanish American War. During the early years in 1898, the Main ship was sent to Cuba to safeguard American interest during the Cuban war towards independence. However, the ship sank in February, killing three-quarters of its crew[4].   The outcome of inquiry revealed that the ship sunk due to an external explosion from a mine, but America Navy officers opposed this finding. Instead suggested that the vessel was ignited by fire within it bunkers[5]. The leading cause of the fire was a mystery since the ship exploded as it was sailing through the Havana Harbor killing a total of 260 sailors on board[6]. The story was publicized by Hearst Newspaper, who blamed the Spanish for killing American sailors..

As a result, American citizens demanded justice pressurizing the government to go into war with Spain.

Furnishing Merchant

In 1866 black soldiers in Memphis in Tennessee were murdered, resulting in a more organized African American community. Violence against black Americans gained attention, and the black community started resisting federal control[7]. After the attacks in Memphis, the republican proposed strict measure meant to protect African Americans. However, after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson did not sign the bill intended to give back American citizenship rights[8].

Johnson developed a reconstruction plan to restore slavery. In 1865 the black codes revived slavery, forcing slaves back to hard labor in plantations.  Congress took drastic measures of imposing taxes on merchants. The taxes affected the landlord and used to furnishing merchant’s a result; the federal government got the surplus of the merchant’s money. This caused an uproar among ordinary citizens. Tax resistance paved the way to more excellent social resistance that eventually saved black America from slavery. It is this resistance that put Memphis in the spotlight of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Foner, Eric. “Give Me Liberty, Volume 2, Seagull Edition.” (2

[1] Foner, Eric. “Give Me Liberty, Volume 2, Seagull Edition.” (2006)

[2] Ibid 633

[3] Ibid 630

[4] Foner, Eric. “Give Me Liberty, Volume 2, Seagull Edition.” (2006).

[5] Ibid 631

[6] Ibid 630

[7] Ibid 632

 

[8] Foner, Eric. “Give Me Liberty, Volume 2, Seagull Edition.” (2006).