Key legislative acts from World War 2 to the present day

Name Professor Course Date Key Legislative Acts since World War II From the American history, it is well known that the nation is built on the respect of human dignity and the value placed on the rights of individuals. It is no wonder that the nation is famed for its pursuit of democracy and the rights of its people, and also explains why the nation was quite neutral at the onset of the world wars. However, involvement in the wars, especially the World War II made the nation realize that there are some aspects of life that were not fully catered for in the constitution. In addressing these issues, there came up a number of legislative acts to cater for the emerging issues. There were acts that were aimed at three main objectives; to ensure that there was no racial discrimination in the country, to eliminate poverty from the American people and also to bring equality among the American citizens or what is otherwise known as the gender mainstreaming. These were seen as the major concerns at the time which needed to be taken care of. The paragraphs below indicate how these acts and bills came to be and how they have affected the American society to date. It is well known that American is a nation that has people from all walks of life. There are the Native Americans or the Indians, the African Americans who are mostly descendants of the former slaves, the Hispanics and also the Caucasians among other groups of people. With such a mixture, it is not unlikely that there can be some misunderstandings between the people. This brings about the superiority and inferiority complexes which can be quite harming to the national cohesion. As such, there was the need to come up with a strategy to make sure that these people were not divided, but united as one. However, history has it that as of 1960, Americans did not fully comprehend the understanding of the "equal Protection by the Law" as it actually applied (Government Archives 1). As such, it was upon the government to implement the 14th Amendment of the constitution in a manner that could make the people realize these benefits. As such, it can be said that the 14th Amendment, especially the Bill of Rights, is the precursor to the laws and acts that protected the people. It was in the wake of this provision that the Congress, in 1964, passed the Public Law 88-352(78 Stat.241) (Government Archives 1). The main concern of this act was to prevent the discrimination on the basis of race and sex during hiring, promotion as well as firing of the employees. However, though the word ‘se` was added to the Act, the main concern was to make sure that racial discrimination was eliminated from the American workforce and that the people could be hired, promoted and fired on the basis of their qualifications and work performance, as opposed to the color of their skin or their origin. In a way, this can be said to have been a good response to the cries of the minority, especially the Black Americans as they were the most affected by this discrimination. Through this Act, Martin Luther King`s plea was reached, where he argued that he looked forward to a day when the African Americans could be judged based on the content of their character than on the color of their skin. This Act had a far reaching effect, and its effects can be felt to date. The Title VII of the Act led to the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which was charged with the implementation of the law. Currently, the Commission is responsible for enforcing laws "that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age in hiring, promoting, firing, setting wages, testing, training, apprenticeship, and all other terms of employment. Race, color, sex, creed are and age are now protected classes" (Government Archives 1). These provisions can be found in the U.S. Government Manual of 1999-1998. It, therefore, appears that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had far reaching effects which can be felt even today. The results of the Act`s implementation can be seen in the American labor force where people get hired irrespective of their origin or color. It also explains why the American labor force is so diverse, as opposed to decades ago when discrimination was the order of the day. If there is one thing that governments are always concerned with, it is the alleviation of poverty from its population. No government wants a legacy in which it can be mentioned as one in whose term the people suffered from poor economic growth and high poverty levels. The same has been the case in America, with most of the presidents trying as much as they can to ensure that the people do not suffer from poverty. As such, campaigns on the elimination of poverty have been on the forefront in each leader`s agendas. According to McKee, the fight against poverty started long ago with President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1). It was during his term in 1935 that the Social Security Act was enacted. This Act is now a legislation known as the Social Security. From the onset, the bill was aimed at providing "old age insurance, unemployment insurance, direct assistance to the elderly and blind, maternal and child health programs, and payments to dependent children with...