Laws That Changed History

The ability to vote, the freedom to attend school and have a job, the independence to be exactly who you are. These rights seem fundamental to us, but when the nation was beginning, only certain people were granted full rights. It's been a fight for everyone else, and we're still fighting today. This essential resource explores how these key civil rights came to be, how they are still being fought for today, and how they changed the nation forever. It includes a list of resources for more exploration and a timeline of important dates for an even deeper dive.

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy described consumer rights in what came to be known as the Consumer Bill of Rights. Since then, as the world has expanded and changed, so have our rights as consumers. Readers explore food and drug acts that keep us safe and healthy, as well as fair trade and road safety. Sometimes the government sides with consumers. Other times it sides with industries, rolling back regulations that keep us all safe. What rights do we have as consumers? Empower your readers to find the answers.

The right to vote has been under debate since the founding of America, when only white men who owned land had a say in the future of the country. Laws have expanded to encompass all people, be they black, white, or female. How has voting shaped our country, and how have our laws shaped our ability to vote? Your readers will explore the history of voting in America to understand how Native Americans, blacks, and those in prison have been kept from the democratic process. Also explored is the possible future of voting rights and laws.

The idea that the government should intervene to lift people up from poverty and starvation is relatively new in America, where until the early twentieth century the misery of workhouses and poorhouses were all some people could count on. Since the Great Depression and the beginning of Social Security, the social safety net has expanded to cover more people and try to help them with more problems including poverty, starvation, homelessness, and lack of health care. With this book, readers will analyze difficult queries; Whom does the safety net catch? Whom should it catch? Is it enough, or is it too much? These are questions being hotly debated in the government at all levels now, and the answers will decide the future of millions of people in America.

World history is a history of immigrants and immigration, which is the act of traveling to a country one was not born in and living there, making a living, creating a whole new life. Ours is a world filled with a wide variety of people and pursuits, but immigration is complicated by country borders and governments that don't want a flood of immigrants in their country. Immigration challenges people to consider racism, nationalism, and just who is a citizen. With this book, readers explore the laws that have shaped our journeys to and from our countries.

Earth is presently our only home, and we must care for it with that thought in mind. How has the U.S. government protected our environment so that people can live and work safely in an always-changing world? From Earth Day to a possible Green New Deal, this book will take a look at the laws enacted to protect our water, land, and air. The Wilderness Act and the Endangered Species Act changed how we approach and maintain our land and its wildlife; carbon taxes and climate change may alter it further.

Historically, American labor conflicts have been the most violent in the world, with workers fighting their employers in the streets as well as the courtrooms. Workers have fought for their right to be paid enough to feed themselves, to work in safe conditions, and to not be discriminated against because of their gender, race, religion, or disability. Are workers' rights on a straight path of progress, or have there always been setbacks? What does the future hold? Readers find out what laws affect American workers and whom they've really served through history.