Third Grade CRCT Study Guide for Social Studies

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Third Grade CRCT Study Guide for Social Studies
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• Economics
• What is economics? Economics has to do with
  making, buying, and selling things that people
  want or need. People usually use money to buy
  the things they need. These things are called
  goods. Goods include things like food, clothes,
  houses or cars. Anything that people buy or sell
  is called goods. When people do a job in
  exchange for money, they are providing service to
  people. This is called a service. Some examples
  of service providers are doctors, mechanics, or
  teachers. Services are any kind of work that
  people do for other people.
• Money people earn is called income. People have
  to decide what goods and services they want to
  spend their income to buy. Sometimes people have
  to give up one thing to buy something they really
  want or need. This is called opportunity cost.
  For example, if you really want to save your
  money to spend at Six Flags, you may have to give
  up buying your favorite toy at the store.
  Opportunity cost is the thing people give up to
  do what they most want.

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• A scarcity is a lack of goods and services.
  Scarcity takes place when the people who make
  goods and services cannot provide enough for
  everyone who wants them. For example, if
  everyone wanted to buy a bicycle this week, and
  all the stores sold out before everyone who
  wanted one got one that would be scarcity. More
  bicycles would need to be made. This is called
  supply and demand. Supply is how much of a
  product companies make. Companies make more of
  what people want. Companies make less of the
  things people are not buying.
• The people who make goods are called producers.
  The people who use goods are called consumers.
  We are all consumers. When a product is in
  demand, its price may go up. For example, if the
  orange crops were frozen and people wanted to buy
  orange juice, we would have a scarcity of orange
  juice. Then, demand would go up and the price or
  orange juice would also go up.

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• The United States Government
• A government is an organization that oversees
  affairs for a group. It creates and enforces
  laws and provides services. People create
  governments to protect societies, as well as
  individuals. They are an important part of human
  life and history. Governments have existed in
  many forms. People have had many ideas on how to
  best support their society. There have been
  experiments with government forms such as
  monarchy, totalitarianism, dictatorship, and
  democracy.
• In a monarchy, a king or queen governs. A
  monarch rules for life and then hands the title
  down to his or her oldest child. A
  totalitarianism government is controlled by a
  small group of people from a single political
  party. It has control over every part of the
  peoples lives. The people have few individual
  freedoms. A dictatorship is run by a single
  ruler who holds all the governments power. This
  person keeps power by demanding obedience from
  the people and by using violence.
• One of the first large-scale experiments with
  democracy was in the United States. Democracy
  means rule by the people. In this system, the
  people have the final say in how their government
  is run. As a result, citizens can limit their
  governments power. In a democracy, all citizens
  have the same individual rights. These rights are
  protected by a government that the people
  control. Citizens exercise control by voting in
  free elections. The majority makes the final
  decision. In the United States, citizens who are
  18 or older elect a president and representatives
  to government positions. So, the government is
  run by and for the citizens.
• The United States began as 13 colonies. They
  were controlled by England and its monarch. The
  colonies did not like being governed by England
  or by a monarch. So, from 1775 to 1783, the
  colonists fought for their independence in the
  Revolutionary War. They created their own
  government and founded the United States. This
  first government was established by the Articles
  of Confederation. It gave the states a lot of
  individual power. However, problems arose when
  the states could not work together. The central
  government did not have the power to keep
  control.
• In 1787, the Founding Fathers met in
  Philadelphia. They knew the country needed a
  stronger central government. However, they did
  not want it to have the power to take control
  away from the people. In the end, they created
  the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
  The Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
  It guarantees the equality and individual rights
  of the people. The Constitution maps out the
  central, or federal, government. It divides the
  federal (national) government into three
  branches. They are the legislative, executive,
  and judicial branches.
• One branch, Congress, is the legislative branch.
  Citizens elect representatives to serve in
  Congress. The legislative branch makes laws for
  the whole country. The President is head of the
  executive branch. Citizens vote to decide who
  will be President. The President can approve or
  stop laws made by Congress. The executive branch
  of government makes sure laws are carried out.
  The third branch of government is the judicial
  branch. The Supreme Court is the head of the
  judicial branch. The courts decide what laws
  mean and if they obey the Constitution.
• This division of the government into separate
  branches is called separation of powers. The
  Founding Fathers did this in order to keep the
  central government from gaining too much power.
  Each branch has its own duties, which are
  separate from the other two. Separation of
  powers limits what each branch of government can
  do. When branches of government have different
  powers, no branch of government can become too
  strong. Each branch can stop the other from
  doing certain things. This is called checks and
  balances. For example, the President makes
  treaties and chooses judges. Congress can reject
  these treaties and chooses judges. Congress
  makes laws. The President can veto these laws.
  The courts can decide if a law follows the
  Constitution. A law that is found
  unconstitutional is no longer in effect.
• Each state in the United States has its own
  government. They share power with the central
  government. This is called federalism. This
  design was laid out by the Constitution. The
  states create their own governments. State
  governments have power over local issues.
  States, for example, control education and
  elections. The national government, for instance,
  has power over national issues. This includes
  defense, printing money, the postal service, and
  trade. National laws are stronger than state
  laws. Both national and state governments
  collect taxes and set up courts. National and
  state governments have their own jobs.

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• In 1787 an amazing American document was written
  by our Founding Fathers in Philadelphia. This
  unique document was the Constitution of the
  United States. It told us how our government
  should work. What makes our Constitution so
  amazing and unique?
• Even though the Constitution was written so long
  ago, it still works very well today. That is
  because of the wise ideas contained in it. In
  the Preamble (opening paragraph), our founding
  fathers wrote about keeping liberty alive.
• The rest of the Constitution talks about our
  government. Our forefathers set up three parts
  (branches) of government. One branch (Congress)
  makes the laws. The second branch (the
  President) makes sure the laws are obeyed. The
  third branch (the courts) tells what the laws
  mean. Our forefathers made sure that all three
  branches would share power. This is called
  separation of powers. Also, each branch would be
  able to limit, or check, the power of the other
  branches. This is called checks and balances.
  The powers and duties of government would also be
  divided between the national government and the
  states. This is called a federal system.
• Finally, our forefathers provided a way to change
  our Constitution in a peaceful, orderly way.
  This is the amendment process. There have been
  27 amendments to the Constitution.
• Because of the wisdom of our founding fathers,
  the United States has been able to show the world
  that a new nation could begin a democracy with
  order and peace. Our Constitution continues to
  stand as a model for the world.

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• Judicial Branch
• The third government power is the judicial
  branch. Its duty is to review how laws are used.
  To do this, Article III of the Constitution
  created the U.S. Supreme Court. It also granted
  Congress the power to create other courts.
• The federal courts settle disputes involving
  federal laws or the Constitution. They also hear
  cases between citizens and the federal
  government. The federal courts may decide cases
  between individuals or groups from different
  states. And, they hear cases involving other
  countries.
• The Supreme Court is the nations highest court.
  It has the final word on whether a law is
  constitutional. The court is made up of nine
  justices. One chief justice leads eight
  associate justices.
• In 1789, Congress passed the Judiciary Act.
  This established the lower federal court system.
  It includes trial courts, which are known as
  federal district courts. The United States has
  94 district courts, with at least one in each
  state. There are also courts in U.S. territories
  such as Guam.
• The federal court system also has appellate
  courts. If a case is challenged, one of these
  courts will review the decision made by the
  district court. There are 12 appellate courts
  and one Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
  Each represents an area called a circuit.
• The judicial branch also includes two special
  courts. The Court of International Trade deals
  with cases involving international trade and
  customs issues. The Court of Federal Claims
  settles cases against the federal government.
• There are also courts that are technically a
  part of the executive branch. They include the
  U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. Court of Military
  Appeals, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for
  Veterans Claims. Although these courts are part
  of the executive branch, appeals of their
  decisions can be taken to the judicial appellate
  courts.

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• Executive Branch
• The executive branch was created by Article II
  of the Constitution. Its duty is to carry out
  the laws created by the legislature. This branch
  is made up of the office of the president and a
  number of departments and agencies.
• The president is in charge of the executive
  branch. He or she is often called the chief
  executive officer. This position is elected
  every four years through a system called the
  Electoral College. The president may only serve
  two terms.
• The U.S. president is chosen in an indirect
  election. Instead of electing the president,
  voters actually choose electors to represent
  them. Each state has the same number of electors
  as it has members in the U.S. Congress. Together,
  the electors are called the Electoral College.
• The Electoral College meets in December to cast
  votes for president and vice president. The
  electors usually base their votes on how the
  people of their home states voted. In January,
  Congress counts the votes. The candidate with
  more than half of the electoral votes wins.
• The chief executive officer has several duties,
  such as dealing with laws. He or she suggests
  laws and develops programs to solve national
  issues. The president also reviews bills passed
  by Congress.
• The executive branch also enforces laws. This
  is done through 15 departments. The heads of the
  departments are appointed by the president and
  make up the cabinet. These people give the
  president advice. In addition, many independent
  agencies create rules and programs for the
  nation.
• Another duty of the president is to serve as
  commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces. The
  president appoints chief military officers. He
  or she also decides how large the military will
  be.
• In addition, the president directs the countrys
  dealings with other nations. He or she makes
  treaties and appoints ambassadors. The president
  also suggests laws dealing with international
  affairs. The secretary of state advises him or
  her in this area.
• The vice president works with the president.
  This person takes over if the president cannot do
  his or her job. If the chief executive resigns
  or dies, the vice president becomes president.
• The vice president also attends meetings of the
  presidents cabinet. He or she is a member of
  the Domestic Council, which recommends policies
  to the president. In addition, the vice
  president serves on the National Security
  Council.

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• Legislative Branch
• The legislative branch of the U.S. government
  was created by Article I of the Constitution.
  This branch is a bicameral legislature. This
  means it is divided into two parts with equal
  power. They are the House of Representatives and
  the Senate.
• Together, the House and the Senate are called
  Congress. Members of Congress meet in
  Washington, D.C. Their main job is to write and
  pass laws.
• The House of Representatives has 435 members.
  The states population determines the number of
  representatives in each state. Members serve
  two-year terms. The entire House is up for
  election every even-numbered year.
• Members of the House select a Speaker of the
  House to lead. The Speaker sends proposed laws
  to committee discussions and assigns people to
  special committees. He or she also schedules
  debates and votes in the case of a tie.
• The Senate is smaller than the House. It is
  made up of 100 senators, two from each state.
  Senators are elected for six-year terms. Every
  two years, about one-third of the Senates seats
  come up for election.
• The vice president of the United States serves
  as president of the Senate. He or she votes in
  senatorial debates if there is a tie. When the
  vice president is absent, the Senate chooses a
  president pro tempore, or president for the
  time.
• In both houses, the political parties each
  choose a majority leader and a minority leader.
  These leaders arrange schedules and plan the
  lawmaking strategies of their parties. The
  parties also choose assistants called whips.
• Congress considers thousands of laws every year.
  A law begins as an idea. When a member of the
  General Assembly believes that a new law is
  needed, the legislator writes down the idea as he
  or she believes the new law should be stated.
  The written statement is called a bill. A bill
  can begin in the House of Representatives or in
  the Senate. The member offers it his or her
  legislative body- the House or the Senate. Next,
  the bill is read to that legislative body.
• The bill is then sent to a committee for study.
  There are committees for each of the major
  subjects with which Congress deals. The
  committee holds open hearings about the bill.
  Then it reviews the bill and may make
  recommendations as to whether the bill should be
  passed. The bill is sent back to the House or
  Senate. There, it is voted on and either passed
  or defeated.
• If a bill is passed by one house, it goes on to
  the other house for another vote. After both
  houses pass the bill, it is sent to the
  President. The President either signs the bill
  or vetoes it. If the President signs the bill,
  it becomes law. However, a vetoed bill can still
  become a law if two-thirds of the members of each
  house over-ride the veto.

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• PAUL REVERE (Independence)
• Born January 1, 1735 in Boston, Massachusetts,
  Died May 10, 1818
• Paul Revere was born in the colony of
  Massachusetts, one of 13 British colonies in
  North America. During his lifetime a growing
  dislike for British rule and a strong desire for
  freedom grew and grew in the colonies. An
  organization called The Sons of Liberty had
  chapters throughout the colonies and Revere
  became a member of this group in Boston while a
  young man.
• The British imposed new taxes and many unpopular
  laws on the colonists. These taxes and laws were
  disliked by the colonists. The colonists became
  upset and began to want independence, or freedom,
  from Britains rule.
• In the 1760s, there were numerous conflicts
  between the American patriots and the British
  in many colonies. One famous incident was the
  Boston Tea Party that took place in 1773.
• As a member of the Sons of Liberty, Paul Revere
  took part in the famous Boston Tea Party. In
  protest to the high taxes placed on imported tea
  by the British, members of the Sons of Liberty,
  disguised as Indians, boarded three ships in the
  Boston Harbor and threw overboard hundreds of
  bales of tea. They did not want to pay taxes
  imposed by the British if the people who had to
  pay them did not have representatives voting for
  the taxes. Their cry was No taxation without
  representation!
• On April 18, 1775 Revere was sent to give warning
  that the British troops planned to march from
  Boston toward the towns of Lexington and Concord,
  Massachusetts. The British knew that Patriot
  (colonial) leaders were preparing to fight them
  there. British soldiers wanted to destroy the
  Patriots supplies and weapons. They also wanted
  to capture their leaders. Patriots in Boston
  found out about the British plans and asked Paul
  Revere to warn people in Lexington that British
  soldiers were coming. Paul Revere was told to
  keep watch. He was to look for a signal. If two
  lanterns were hung from the steeple of the Old
  North Church in Boston it meant the British were
  approaching by sea. If one lantern was hung on
  the church steeple, it would mean they were
  coming by land.
• When Revere saw one lantern on the steeple, he
  left Boston on horseback and gave warning to
  other patriots to prepare because the British
  soldiers were coming. When the British arrived,
  the colonial minutemen (soldiers) were waiting
  for them. This was known as Paul Reveres
  Midnight Ride. On April 19, 1775, British
  soldiers marched into Lexington. The colonial
  soldiers stood waiting for them. The British
  ordered the soldiers to leave. Then there was a
  shot. Then more shooting began. The battle at
  Lexington was the first battle of the American
  Revolution. A second battle followed in Concord.
  
• Over the next eight years, the colonists in the
  13 colonies fought many battles against the
  British. They won some and lost some in their
  long struggle. Battles took place from Savannah
  to Boston and every colony in between. Terrible
  battles were fought in Virginia, the Carolinas,
  Georgia (all named after British kings and
  queens) as well as in the north. Many brave
  patriots lost their lives fighting.
• It wasnt until November 1783 that the Treaty of
  Paris was signed ending the war. A free and
  independent United States of America was born.
• Paul Revere is one of many patriots that are
  remembered to this day for the important part he
  played in helping our nation gain independence
  from Britain.

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• THURGOOD MARSHALL
• (Civil Rights)
• Born July 2, 1908. Baltimore, Maryland Died
  January 24, 1993, Washington, D.C.
• Thurgood Marshalls career was in law. He went
  to Howard University Law School where African
  Americans were accepted. Many schools in the
  1940s and 1950s did not accept African Americans.
  As a lawyer, he worked to change this. He
  wanted justice, or fair laws, for African
  Americans. In 1954, Marshall was on the team of
  lawyers in the historic Supreme Court trial
  concerning school desegregation, Brown v. Board
  of Education (1954). The Supreme Court agreed
  that separate schools for African Americans were
  not legal. Marshall won his biggest case.
  Marshalls efforts helped open all schools to
  African Americans. As a result of this trial,
  the "separate but equal" doctrine in public
  education was overthrown.
• After many years as a successful lawyer and judge
  fighting for civil rights and women's rights,
  Marshall was appointed to the high court in 1967
  by President Lyndon B. Johnson. On the high
  court, Marshall continued his fight for human
  rights until he retired on June 27, 1991.

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Frederick Douglass 18171895 Abolitionist-
Civil Rights Frederick Douglass knew from
experience that slavery was wrong. Douglass was
born into slavery in Maryland. He began rebelling
against slavery as a boy. He secretly taught
himself to read and write. He formed a secret
school for other enslaved African-Americans. When
he was twenty, Douglass dressed himself as a
sailor and escaped to New York. He lived in New
York as a free man. Douglass later moved to
Massachusetts. He met other abolitionists (a boh
LISH uhn ists). Abolitionists were people who
wanted to end slavery. Douglass gave speeches
about the cruelty of slavery. He wrote a book
about his early life as an enslaved person.
Douglass started a newspaper, the North Star. He
wrote about the work abolitionists were doing. He
also helped hide enslaved people who had escaped
to the North. Douglass asked President Lincoln to
end slavery. He argued that African Americans
should be allowed to fight in the Civil War. Even
after slavery was outlawed, Douglass kept working
for change. The work of abolitionists is not
done, Douglass said. He saw that all
African-Americans were not yet treated equally.
Douglass kept fighting for equal rights for the
rest of his life.
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• Eleanor Roosevelt 18841962Social Reformer,
  Diplomat, and First Lady
• Eleanor Roosevelt spent much of her life trying
  to make other people's lives better. When she was
  a teenager, Roosevelt began working at a
  settlement house in New York. A settlement house
  was a place for people who needed food and
  shelter. There is joy in accomplishing good,
  she said.
• Later, Eleanor Roosevelt married. Her husband,
  Franklin Roosevelt, was elected President of the
  United States in 1932. As First Lady, Eleanor
  Roosevelt worked for equal rights for women and
  African Americans. She also spoke about the
  rights of children and helped people living in
  poverty. While she was First Lady, Roosevelt gave
  over seventy speeches every year. She wrote 2,500
  newspaper columns and published six books.
• In 1945, Roosevelt began working at the United
  Nations. The United Nations is a group of people
  from many different countries, working to promote
  peace. The group helps people around the world
  get food, medicine, and other things they need.
  Roosevelt visited many countries while she worked
  with the United Nations. She became known as the
  first lady of the world because she defended the
  rights of people around the globe.

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• Susan Brownell Anthony
• 1820-1906
• American reformer and leader of the women's
  suffrage movement
• Born in Adams, MA
• Daughter of Daniel Anthony, Quaker abolitionist
• Teacher in rural New York state at 17 years old
• Susan B. Anthony believed that women had the
  same rights as men. However, in the 1800s women
  could not vote. Anthony worked diligently to
  change that. She declared, Failure is
  impossible. Anthony gave speeches all across
  the United States about the importance of voting
  in a democracy. She wanted to convince people to
  support womens right to vote. If enough people
  agreed with her, they could change the
  constitution. In 1897, she said, There never
  will be complete equality until women themselves
  help to make laws and elect lawmakers. In 1920,
  the Constitution was changed to approve womens
  right to vote in every state.
• Facts
• Fought for equal pay for women teachers, for
  coeducation, and for college training for girls
• Organized the first woman's temperance
  association, the Daughters of Temperance
• Met Elizabeth Cady Stanton at a temperance
  meeting in 1851 and became a close personal
  friend
• Until Stanton's death in 1902, Anthony and
  Stanton were leaders of the women's suffrage
  movement in the U.S.
• Lectured on women's rights and abolition from
  1851 to 1860
• Helped to pass the first laws (with Stanton) in
  the New York state legislature to guarantee women
  rights over their children and control of
  property and wages
• In 1863 Anthony co-organized the Women's Loyal
  League to support Lincoln's government,
  especially his emancipation policy

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• Mary McLeod Bethune
• 1875-1955EducatorBirthplace Mayesville,
  SCGraduate of Moody Bible Institute, Chicago,
  1895
• The 17th child of former slaves, Mary McLeod
  Bethune taught in a series of southern mission
  schools (18951903) before settling in Florida to
  found the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute
  for Negro Girls (1904). From 1904 to 1942, and
  again from 1946 to 1947, she served as president
  of the institute, which, after merging with
  Cookman Institute (1923), became Bethune-Cookman
  College. A leader in the American black
  community, she founded the National Council of
  Negro Women (1935) and was director of Negro
  Affairs of the National Youth Administration from
  1936 to 1944. In addition, she served as special
  adviser on minority affairs to President Franklin
  Delano Roosevelt. At the 1945 conference that
  organized the United Nations, she was a
  consultant on interracial understanding.

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• Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• 32nd President, 19331945
• (The New Deal and World War 2)
• Born January 30, 1882 at Hyde Park, New York
  Died April 12, 1945
• Party Democrat Nickname FDR
• Education Graduate of Harvard University,
  attended Columbia Law School
• Facts
• Former president Theodore Roosevelt was
  Franklins fifth cousin and Eleanor Roosevelts
  uncle. It was Teddy Roosevelt who gave his niece
  Eleanor in marriage to Franklin.
• Roosevelt served in the New York State Senate and
  served as governor of New York State.
• In 1921, Roosevelt got a serious disease called
  poliomyelitis that affected his ability to walk.
  Although he was partially paralyzed, he continued
  his political career.
• In 1929, a long period of hard economic times
  called the Great Depression began.
• FDR began a series of informal radio talks called
  fireside chats to inform the nation about the
  poor economic conditions and how the government
  planned to help people get through the
  Depression.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt made some of the most
  important economic choices in U.S. history. The
  United States economy was not doing well when
  Roosevelt became President in 1933. Many
  businesses and banks closed. Millions of workers
  lost their jobs. President Roosevelt thought
  about how to help. In the 1930s, he signed a
  series of laws called the New Deal. New Deal
  programs created jobs and helped the economy.
  Millions of people got jobs through the New Deal
  programs. They worked on farms, in construction,
  and as artists.
• Many Americans loved Roosevelt for the help the
  New Deal gave them. When he ran for President
  again, he was reelected. He was the first and
  only person elected to four terms as president.
• In Germany and Italy, dictators had gained power.
  In 1939, Great Britain and France went to war
  against these dictatorships. Soon other nations
  joined the fighting. Many Americans did not want
  the United States to get involved because they
  felt that the was not their problem. Roosevelt
  told the U.S. people he did not want to enter the
  war, but thought the U.S. should help Great
  Britain and France firght for democracy in
  Europe.
• On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United
  States at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Japan was on
  the side of Germany and Italy. The United States
  could no longer stay out of the war. It entered
  on the side of Great Britain and France. The war
  was called World War 2.

16

• Lyndon Baines Johnson
• Lyndon B. Johnson was born in Texas with a rural
  background. He was 55 years old when he took the
  oath as president of the United States after John
  F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas on 22
  November 1963.
• His career started in the 1930s as an aide to a
  Texas congressman, then as the director of the
  New Deal's National Youth Administration in
  Texas. In 1936 he became a congressman with close
  personal ties to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In
  1948 he became senator. He campaigned to become
  the Democratic party's nominee for the presidency
  in 1960. However, the Democratic convention chose
  John F. Kennedy as the Democratic nominee and
  Johnson became Kennedy's Vice-president.
• When Kennedy was assassinated, Johnson had
  twenty-six years of political experience and was
  ready for the job as 36th president of the United
  States of America.
• LBJ established domestic politics as his first
  priority and declared that he would follow JFK's
  programs. Civil rights and a 'war on poverty'
  were two of his biggest issues and were in the
  tradition of the New Deal. After his landslide
  victory in the 1964 election he introduced his
  brainchild 'Great Society', which initiatives
  aimed at improving the health, nutrition and
  education of (poor) Americans. The ambitious
  Great Society had its greatest successes in its
  first years, notably the Civil Rights Act of
  1964, which outlawed racial discrimination in
  public accommodations and the Voting Rights Act
  of 1965, which ensured the right to vote for all.
• At the foreign front things did not go as
  smoothly, however. As time proceeded, LBJ and his
  administration got increasingly caught up in an
  ever-growing quagmire in Vietnam. His decision to
  'Americanise' the war in Vietnam meant an
  ever-growing number of American soldiers in South
  East Asia. At the time, however, the growing
  American involvement in Vietnam was not seen as
  ludicrous, for it was very much in line with the
  foreign policy principles pursued by all American
  presidents after WWII based on the principle of
  'containment' as articulated in the Truman
  Doctrine.
• Johnson believed that it was America's duty to be
  involved in Vietnam in order to prevent it from
  falling to communism -in other words to prevent
  North Vietnam and the Viet Cong (VC) from
  winning. As the war progressed, opposition to the
  growing involvement, the increasing amount of
  casualties and destruction mounted.
• After the Tet-offensive, on January 31 1968,
  LBJ's popularity was at an all-time low. On March
  31 of that same year he appeared on national
  television announcing that the bombing of North
  Vietnam would come to an end -except for the
  parts close to the DMZ. The war in Vietnam had
  left Lyndon Johnson broken. In that same speech
  he made public his decision not to run again for
  the United States Presidency.
• He left the political scene and died a few years
  later. LBJ would go into history as the man who
  dragged America into the Vietnam war, as a racist
  fighting a racist war. Despite his ambitious
  Great Society, which certainly had been
  successful, especially in its early years,
  Johnson's name would forever be associated with
  the disaster in Vietnam.

17

• Cesar Chavez Labor Leader
• Cesar Estrada Chavez (March 31, 1927 - April 23,
  1993) was a Mexican-American labor leader who
  used non-violent methods to fight for the rights
  of migrant farm workers in the southwestern USA.
  Migrant farm workers are people who do farm
  labor, moving from farm to farm and from town to
  town as their work is needed - it is difficult
  work that pays very little and can be dangerous
  due to the use of pesticides (pesticides are
  chemicals that kill bugs and can make people
  sick).
• Chavez founded a group that advocates for the
  rights of farm workers, acting to increase wages
  and improve the working conditions and safety of
  farm workers. He also organized strikes (when
  workers refuse to work until improved working
  conditions and salary demands are met) and
  nation-wide boycotts of agricultural products in
  order to help workers (a boycott is a protest in
  which the public is asked not to buy certain
  products). Chavez went on many hunger strikes,
  refusing to eat until violence against strikers
  ended and until legislators (law makers) voted to
  make laws improving the lives of farm workers. He
  was also jailed many times during his fight
  against terrible migrant worker conditions.
• Early LifeChavez was born in San Luis, Arizona,
  near Yuma. His family had lived there since his
  grandfather immigrated from Mexico.
• His parents, Librado and Juana, owned a farm and
  store. The family lost the farm when Cesar was 10
  years old (during the Great Depression), and
  became migrant farm workers. As a youth, Cesar
  worked part-time in the farm fields with his
  family in Arizona and California as they moved
  from farm to farm, harvesting the fields. After
  graduating from 8th grade, Cesar started working
  full-time in the fields to help support his
  family (this was necessary because his father,
  Librado, had been injured in a car accident).
• Cesar served in the US Navy during World War 2.
  When Cesar Chavez returned from the war, he
  labored as a farm worker in California. Chavez
  married Helen Fabela in 1948 they eventually had
  8 children and 31 grandchildren.
• Early Social Activism - Sí, Se Puede (Yes, it can
  be done)Chavez and his wife taught Mexican
  immigrants to read and organized voting
  registration drives for new US citizens. Chavez
  was greatly influenced by the peaceful philosophy
  of St. Francis of Assisi and Mohandas Gandhi. He
  joined the Community Service Organization, an
  organization that worked for the rights of farm
  workers.
• Starting a Union, Organizing Strikes and Boycotts
  - La Huelga (The Strike)In 1962, Cesar Chavez,
  Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla started a
  union (a workers' rights group), called the
  National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), to
  fight for "La Causa" (Spanish for "The Cause").
  The NFWA organized "huelgas" (the Spanish word
  for "strikes"). There were many bitter and
  violent fights between the grape growers and the
  workers Chavez and many union people were jailed
  in the struggle. Some agreements were eventually
  made between the farm workers union and the
  growers. In order to force growers to further
  improve farm worker conditions, Chavez organized
  a nation-wide lettuce boycott.
• In 1968, Chavez organized a five-year "grape
  boycott," a movement that urged people to stop
  buying California grapes until farm workers had
  contracts insuring better pay and safer working
  conditions. The name of the union was changed to
  the United Farm Workers (the UFW) in 1974. In
  1978, when some of the workers' demands were met,
  the boycotts of lettuce and grapes were lifted.
• A Lifetime Quest for Social Justice - Viva La
  Causa (Long Live The Cause)Chavez's motto was
  "Si, se puede." (meaning "Yes, it can be done.")
  and he proved it to be true. His work for the
  fair treatment of farm workers changed the lives
  of millions of people for the better.
• After a lifetime of valiantly working for social
  justice, Chavez died of natural causes at the age
  of 66 (in 1993). In 1994, Chavez was awarded the
  Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously (after
  his death). To this day, the UFW and Chavez's
  children and grandchildren continue his fight for
  social justice.