Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill)
A Student’s Guide to Essential Primary Sources
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Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill)
Overview
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Abstract
The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly called the GI Bill, was one of the most important—and popular—federal programs in American history. This legislation provided generous benefits to help veterans buy homes or farms, attend college or vocational school, pay living expenses while searching for employment, and ensure access to essential medical care or therapy to heal wounds or overcome disabilities. These benefits changed individual lives and—just as important—transformed American society.
Contents
- Chapter 1:: Colonial Wars
- Henry Dering: Letter to John Cotton
- Thomas Oliver: “A Memorial of the State of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, with Reference to the War, humbly Offered to your most Sacred Majesty”
- Benjamin Franklin: Join, or Die
- George Washington: Letters to Robert Dinwiddie, 11–14 October 1755
- Proclamation of 1763
- Chapter 2:: American Revolution
- Patrick Henry: Virginia Resolves on the Stamp Act
- Anna Young Smith: “An Elegy to the Memory of the American Volunteers”
- George Washington: Address to the Continental Congress
- Declaration of Independence
- Thomas Paine: Common Sense
- Abigail Adams: “Remember the Ladies” Letter
- George Washington: Letter to John Hancock
- Nicholas Cresswell: Journal of a Loyalist in Virginia
- Molly Gutridge: “A New Touch on the Times”
- Eliza Wilkinson: Letters from a Planter’s Daughter
- George Washington: Farewell Address
- Boyrereau Brinch: Pension Application
- Chapter 3:: The War of 1812
- James Madison: War Message to Congress
- Tecumseh: Speech to Major General Henry Procter at Fort Malden
- Henry Clay: Speech on the Bill to Raise an Additional Military Force
- Francis Scott Key: “The Star-Spangled Banner” (U.S. National Anthem)
- Treaty of Ghent
- Chapter 4:: Slave Revolts
- Robert Hunter: Letter to the Lords of Trade on the New York Slave Revolt of 1712
- James Oglethorpe: “An Account of the Negroe Insurrection in South Carolina”
- William C. C. Claiborne: Letter to Thomas Jefferson
- The Confessions of Nat Turner
- Chapter 5:: Native American Conflicts
- Treaty with the Cherokee, 1798 (First Treaty of Tellico Blockhouse)
- Little Turtle: Address of Little Turtle
- Joseph Cramer: Letter to Major Ed Wynkoop about the Sand Creek Massacre
- Treaty of Fort Laramie
- Wounded Knee Massacre: Statements and Eyewitness Accounts
- Two Moons: A Cheyenne Description of the Battle of the Little Bighorn River
- Little Bear: Account of the Sand Creek Massacre
- Nicholas Black Elk: “The Butchering at Wounded Knee”
- Chapter 6:: Mexican-American War
- Joint Resolution of Congress for the Annexation of Texas
- Thomas J. Green: “Reflections upon the . . . Relations of Texas, Mexico, and the United States”
- James K. Polk: Message to Congress on War with Mexico
- Ephraim Kirby Smith: Letters from the Front in the Mexican War
- Henry Clay: Speech on the Mexican-American War
- Richard Doyle: “The Land of Liberty” Cartoon
- Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
- Frederick Douglass: “The War with Mexico”
- The Other Side; or, Notes for the History of the War between Mexico and the United States
- Ulysses S. Grant: Memoir on the Mexican War
- Chapter 7:: The Civil War
- Abraham Lincoln: First Inaugural Address
- Alexander Stephens: Corner-Stone Speech
- Elisha Hunt Rhodes: Civil War Diary of a Union Soldier
- Frederick Law Olmsted: Journeys and Explorations in the Cotton Kingdom
- Harriet Jacobs: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
- Jefferson Davis: Farewell Address to the U.S. Senate
- Jefferson Davis: Inaugural Address to the Confederacy
- Julia Ward Howe: “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”
- Osborne P. Anderson: A Voice from Harper’s Ferry
- Robert E. Lee: 1861 Letter to Custis Lee
- Sam Houston: Speech on His Refusal to Take the Oath of Loyalty to the Confederacy
- Wendell Phillips: “Under the Flag”
- William Henry Seward: Memorandum to President Abraham Lincoln
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Frederick Douglass: “The Reasons for Our Troubles”
- George Frederick Root: “Battle-Cry of Freedom”
- Robert E. Lee: 1862 Letter to Jefferson Davis
- Treaty between the United States and Great Britain for the Suppression of the Slave Trade
- Abraham Lincoln: Letter to James C. Conkling
- Frances Anne Kemble: Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838–1839
- Frederick Douglass: “Men of Color, To Arms!”
- Gettysburg Address
- Louisa May Alcott: Hospital Sketches
- Robert E. Lee: 1863 Letter to Jefferson Davis
- U.S. War Department General Order 143
- “An Ordinance to Organize and Establish Patrols for the Police of Slaves in the Parish of St. Landry”
- James H. Payne: Letter about “Sister Penny”
- Robert E. Lee: 1864 Letter to Jefferson Davis
- Thomas Morris Chester: Civil War Dispatches
- Ulysses S. Grant: Letter to William Tecumseh Sherman
- Arnold Bertonneau: “Every Man Should Stand Equal before the Law”
- John Jones: “The Black Laws of Illinois: And a Few Reasons Why They Should Be Repealed”
- Photograph of Powder Monkey on USS New Hampshire
- Abraham Lincoln: Second Inaugural Address
- Andrew Johnson: First Annual Message to Congress
- Articles of Agreement Relating to the Surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia
- Black Code of Mississippi
- Convention of Colored Men: Address to the Loyal Citizens of the United States and to Congress
- Robert E. Lee: General Order No. 9
- Robert E. Lee: Letter to Andrew Hunter
- Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- Ulysses S. Grant: Final Report of Military Operations
- Walt Whitman: Selections from Drum-Taps
- William Lloyd Garrison: Valedictory Editorial of the Liberator
- William T. Sherman: Special Field Order No. 15
- Andrew J. Russell: Ruins of Richmond Photograph
- Photograph of the 107th U.S. Colored Infantry
- Chapter 8:: The Spanish-American War
- William McKinley: Message to Congress about Cuban Intervention
- Victor Gillam: “Remember the Maine! And Don’t Forget the Starving Cubans!”
- William McKinley: “Benevolent Assimilation” Proclamation
- John W. Galloway: A Black Soldier’s Letter from the Philippines
- James W. Poe: “The Slaughter in the Philippines and Its Relation to Massacres of Our People in the South”
- Platform of the Anti-Imperialist League
- Louis Dalrymple: “School Begins”
- Henry Cabot Lodge: Speech on the Retention of the Philippine Islands
- Emil Flohri: “And, After All, the Philippines Are Only the Stepping-Stone to China”
- Chapter 9:: World War I
- Mary L. Graffam: Letter from Turkey
- Henry Cabot Lodge: Speech on Mexico
- Woodrow Wilson: Second Inaugural Address
- Zimmermann Telegram
- Woodrow Wilson: Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War against Germany
- Emma Goldman: Speech against Conscription and War
- Robert La Follette: Speech Opposing War with Germany
- Henry Cabot Lodge: Speech on President Woodrow Wilson’s Plan for a World Peace
- Espionage Act
- “Gee! I Wish I Were a Man”: Navy Recruiting Poster
- Eugene V. Debs: Antiwar Speech
- Theodore Roosevelt: Speech to the New York Republican State Convention
- Robert Russa Moton: “The American Negro and the World War”
- Sedition Act
- Woodrow Wilson: Fourteen Points
- Covenant of the League of Nations
- Treaty of Versailles
- W. E. B. Du Bois: “Returning Soldiers”
- Henry Cabot Lodge: Speech Opposing the League of Nations
- “The Colored Americans in France”
- Photograph of Harlem Hellfighters Regiment
- Chapter 10:: World War II
- U.S. Congress: Neutrality Act of 1939
- George Marshall: Speech to the American Historical Association on the National Organization for War
- Walter Reuther: “500 Planes a Day”
- Kichisaburō Nomura: Draft Proposals for Peace between the Governments of Japan and the United States
- Harold Ickes: Speech for “I Am an American Day”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt: Four Freedoms Message to Congress
- Lend-Lease Act
- Executive Order 8802: Banning Discrimination in Government and Defense Industries
- Japan’s Fourteen-part Message
- Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Pearl Harbor” Speech
- Executive Order 9066: Internment of Japanese Americans
- John L. DeWitt: Order for Internment of Japanese Americans in San Francisco
- John DeWitt: Final Report: The Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942
- George Marshall: Speech to the Graduating Class of the U.S. Military Academy
- Bayard Rustin: “The Negro and Nonviolence”
- “We Can Do It!” Rosie the Riveter Poster
- “Kultur-terror” Pro-German, Anti-American Propaganda Poster
- U.S. War Department: Pamphlet on Censorship
- National War Labor Board: Case No. 771—Southport Petroleum Company (Texas City, Texas) and Oil Workers’ International Union
- Photograph of B-17 Formation over Schweinfurt, Germany
- Ansel Adams: “Manzanar Relocation Center” Photograph
- Photograph of Navajo Code Talkers
- Alfred T. Palmer: “Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant (Chrysler)” Photograph
- Korematsu v. United States
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: Order of the Day
- Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill)
- John Pehle and John McCloy: Debate about the Bombing of Auschwitz
- U.S. Department of Defense: Combat Interview of D-Day Survivors of the 116th Infantry Regiment
- Joe Rosenthal: Raising the Flag over Iwo Jima
- Emperor Hirohito: Imperial Rescript on Surrender of Japan
- Douglas MacArthur: Radio Broadcast after the Surrender of Japan
- Harry S. Truman: Statement Announcing the Use of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima
- J. Robert Oppenheimer: Memorandum on the Radiological Dangers of a Nuclear Detonation
- Declaration Regarding the Defeat of Germany
- Yalta Conference Joint Statement
- Potsdam Conference Protocols
- U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey Summary Report
- J. Robert Oppenheimer: Report on the International Control of Atomic Energy
- Robert H. Jackson: Closing Statement before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, Germany
- Chapter 11:: The Cold War
- Winston Churchill: “Iron Curtain” Speech
- George F. Kennan: “Long Telegram”
- George Marshall: The Mediator’s View of the Situation in China
- J. Edgar Hoover: Testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee
- Marshall Plan
- Truman Doctrine
- George F. Kennan: “PPS/23: Review of Current Trends in U.S. Foreign Policy”
- Executive Order 9981: Desegregation of the Armed Forces
- North Atlantic Treaty
- Harry S. Truman: Inaugural Address
- Joseph McCarthy: “Enemies from Within” Speech
- J. Edgar Hoover: Letter to Harry Truman’s Special Consultant, Sidney Souers
- Joseph McCarthy: Telegram to President Harry S. Truman
- Joseph McCarthy: Letter to President Dwight Eisenhower
- George Marshall: Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: First Inaugural Address
- John Foster Dulles: Radio and Television Address on Communism in Guatemala
- Warsaw Security Pact
- Allen Dulles: Television Interview on the Soviets’ Intentions
- Paul Robeson: Testimony before HUAC
- John Foster Dulles: Address on U.S. Policy toward Communist China
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: Second Inaugural Address
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: Eisenhower Doctrine
- John Foster Dulles: News Conference on U.S. Relations with Latin American Nations
- Richard M. Nixon: “Kitchen” Debate with Nikita Khrushchev
- Allen Dulles: Address on the Soviet Military Threat
- Walter Reuther: Address before the Berlin Freedom Rally
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: Farewell Address
- John F. Kennedy: Inaugural Address
- Tom Hayden: “The Port Huron Statement of the Students for a Democratic Society”
- John F. Kennedy: Report to the American People on the Soviet Arms Buildup in Cuba
- Lyndon Baines Johnson: Speech to Congress on Assuming the Presidency
- Henry Kissinger and Zhou Enlai: Shanghai Communique
- Biological Weapons Convention
- Helsinki Final Act
- Ronald Reagan: “Evil Empire” Speech
- Ronald Reagan: Address to the Nation on United States Policy in Central America
- Ronald Reagan: Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate
- Photograph of Berlin Wall Teardown
- George H. W. Bush: Address to the Nation on the Commonwealth of Independent States
- Chapter 12:: The Korean War
- UN Security Council: Resolutions on Hostilities in Korea
- David Douglas Duncan: Captain Francis “Ike” Fenton Photograph
- Harry S. Truman: Report to the American People on Korea
- Thurgood Marshall: Draft of Report on Korea
- Harry S. Truman: Statement and Order on Relieving General MacArthur of His Commands
- Armistice Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: Radio and Television Address to the American People Announcing the Signing of the Korean Armistice
- Chapter 13:: Vietnam War
- John McNaughton: Plan of Action for South Vietnam
- Joint Chiefs of Staff: U.S. Department of Defense Rules of Engagement
- Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
- Lyndon Baines Johnson: Remarks on the Gulf of Tonkin Incident
- J. Edgar Hoover: Memo on the Leak of Vietnam War Information
- Bond v. Floyd
- Martin Luther King Jr.: “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”
- My Lai Massacre Witness Statements and Testimony
- Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
- Richard M. Nixon: “Silent Majority” Speech
- Richard M. Nixon: Address to the Nation on the Situation in Southeast Asia
- Mexican American Marines in Vietnam
- John Kerry: Testimony of Vietnam Veterans Against the War
- Clay v. United States
- Photograph of Vietnam War Destruction
- Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho: Paris Peace Accords
- Herbert Block: “National Security Blanket” Cartoon
- Chapter 14:: Post–Cold War Conflicts
- George H. W. Bush: Address to the Nation on Panama
- George H. W. Bush: Memorandum on the Arrest of General Manuel Noriega in Panama
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 687
- George H. W. Bush: Address to the Nation Announcing Operation Desert Storm
- Bernie Sanders: Speech on the Persian Gulf War
- Jonas Jordan: Photograph of Burning Oil Field in Kuwait
- William J. Clinton: Address to the Nation on Somalia
- John D. Gresham: “Black Hawk Down” Interview with Michael J. Durant
- Chapter 15:: Iraq-Afghanistan
- George W. Bush: Address to the Nation on September 11, 2001
- 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force
- George W. Bush: Second State of the Union Address
- Bybee Torture Memo
- Colin Powell: Remarks to the United Nations Security Council
- George W. Bush: Address to the Nation on Military Operations in Iraq
- J. Scott Applewhite: “Mission Accomplished” Photograph
- Robert C. Byrd: “The Emperor Has No Clothes” Speech
- Antonio Taguba: Taguba Report
- Condoleezza Rice: “International Support for Iraqi Democracy”
- Iraq Study Group Report
- Report on the Death of Pat Tillman
- Barack Obama: “A New Beginning” Speech on U.S.-Muslim Relations
- Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan
- Brennen Lege: Photograph of U.S. Withdrawal from Kabul