Depression: a problem the nation has faced,
Not mentally, but
Within the economic structure.
The new President promised:
-relief for the needy
     +FDIC- insured bank deposits
     +FERA- gave money to the unemployed
-economic recovery
     +SEC- regulated the stock market and restricted margin buying
-financial reform
     +CCC- created jobs for unemployed men by restoring and conserving the environment
     +NYC- provided part time employment to many college and high school students

And that was only the beginning.

Such small things: a farm in the north, a plantation in the south.
A small urban home rather than
A mansion on the edge of an enormous field.
Paved roads and rail road tracks inside cities instead of
Gravel paths through paths of trees and cotton fields.
Business men walking by or a rich plantation owner
With two African slaves at his side.

They can cause conflict, major differences.
Political views and moral issues.
How the country should be run?
How the people are to live?
The laws and abilities surrounding slaves?
Is it right to own another human?

A man was elected with no view on the most controversial issue.
Ignoramus within the southern states believed
This man to be a danger to their lifestyle and their
Wanted rights.
One by one, they became their own.

One fort, Sumter, became a commonplace for
Controversy. Belonging to the north, within the
Newly founded Confederate States, the fort was tossed back and forth in a game of table tennis.
A threat of war hovered above their heads, but supplies were sent.
No weapons.
No orders to attack.
Complete neutrality.

The attack came from an impatient general Beauregard,
Who ordered his men to open fire,
In a hope to force evacuation and surrender.

It worked. And all hell broke loose.

Sumter, Gettysburg, Sherman's March,
Battles and fights, lives lost
Because of differences along the people.
Aren't people supposed to be different?

We, as a country, are not meant
To agree.
To belong in one room, repeating the same thing.
We will change the words.
Say them in a different order.
And men will die because of those words.
Those exact thought patterns.
Rights and laws are perceived
In different ways,
As well as morality.  

When it all began at Sumter, no one died.
It was a statement. A declaration of war.
At Gettysburg, it was a trick. A chilly,
Silly idea. And it was used to make
One of the greatest statements about war
Ever to leave someone's lips. Honoring
The dead and the living. The country and the people.
And the turning point of the fight between brothers.
Sherman's March was a move made by
The union as a mode of total war. Supply lines were cut and
Victory for the north was guaranteed.
Railroads were destroyed, towns were raided, and
Rebels were pushed east.
They had lost.

Beginning in WWI,
The men were at war,
Fighting, killing,
Causing their own Post Traumatic Stress.
And we stayed. Our country, our families needed us.
We replaced them. The men. We replaced them
In their jobs. We did as they did.
We kept the country and the troops
On their feet.
Created weapons.
Kept businesses running,
Did the banking.
The women took charge for once.
The war and the economic trouble got us
On our feet and we did the same
For our nation and our men.
Some did not like that we were working as they had,
Walking in their shoes, but we sure did.

Maybe people did not realize what they had done.
The ****** of the people and their hope.
Africans are no different, so why were they treated as such?
It's better now! Tables with no signs that say,
"White Only."
Benches for everyone to use. One drinking fountain instead of two:
One on each side of the building.
One in the same!
And college, striving for a better future
Is an option.
Now, was that so hard?

For years, they stole and robbed from our pockets.
For years, they murdered what faith we had,
Killed what hope we gained for ourselves.
Poverty loomed over us like death, the
Loss of materialistic payment. Currency controls;
We have none.

Beginning with a silly addition to parchment and paper.
A "stamp act," if you will. Oh, the rarity of a few extra
Coins to spend on a cake for the mistress!
Rebellion and violence against the act increased,
The Sons, the ones of Liberty left
Blood splattered on the ground we walk on.
Fear installed in the hearts of agents,
Collecting and shivering as coins ring in their satchels.
Soon, though, they left. Resigned and replaced themselves with
Another thief.
The Townshend- adding cents more to imported,
Provided, goods. The people starved for things
They need and can not afford.
Naive. They had materials. They had the skill,
But no need to use what they contained in their minds
And their bodies.
Begin the new world! Spin your own yarn and twine!
Build your own shoes! You don't need the goods
From old English factories and makers.

The disagreements and retaliation, the lack in
Morality in the brainwashed heads of soldiers.
A bothered redcoat drew his gun, leaving holes,
Horrible voids.
The dive from cliff to cliff, swing from tree to tree,
The ****** of blood and
The determination to be freed from the grasp of
A controlling monarchy.
The greed they exhibit and the cruelty.
Revenge for taking what is ours?
Sweet tea, English tea,
Soaked in the harbor. The tax will be no more!

The need for peace, rejected by one
Who wanted control and a steady reign.
The isolation, suffocation of the new land like an
Abused child.

It was only a matter of time before the child ran away.

All because or allies could not
Deal with losing
What they stole.
Communism was spreading, of course,
But why couldn't we let the others
Take care of it?
It's in their country,
Their neighbors, not ours.

It never should have happened,
Regardless of whether or not
We had a fire hose.

A place newly freed from the grips of its mother
Struggles with the rules that keep the mezzanine from
Crashing down.

1) The official and ever-wanted right to speak one's mind
In a way only they can do. Religion, politics,
Every matter ever opinionated.

2) If a man entered your home and threatened
Every loved one that lived there, would you want to be helpless?
Defenseless? Or would you **** or maim to protect
Your family? A gun, a knife, and the right to do so?

3) Many people would be honored to house a soldier.
Simple as that, but what if they didnt?
Money is tight, there is no room? And they are sick of giving up
Their own beds and food for a soldier fighting for
Something they do not agree with?
Preventative measures are needed.

4) Nothing to hide, but constantly searched.
Is privacy really that unimportant?
No; it is important.

5) A crime, a trial; it should be obvious.
The same crime twice? Impossible.
Self incrimination? Non existent.

6) The right to know what you've been accused of,
To have a quick trial with an attorney and witnesses at your defense.
Imagine having no clue, and suddenly having a gun to your head?

7) A crime done by you or another,
And a jury to help the decision, but not step in the
Judge's place. Simple discussions of which laws applied and not
No longer took place.
Sed lex, dura lex.

8) The banishment of cruel and unusual punishment,
Outrageous fees payed for bail, pain inflicted in strange ways.
The morality of punishment made into law.

9) A common arrangement that an individuals rights,
Not written in the constitution, are secure and valid.
Yet, for some odd reason, it had to be added to prevent
Violation of these rights.

10) Finally, the abilities of each individual state
To decide and enforce for its own people.
The individuality each separate place craves and
Wants as a child wants his own decisions to be made.

Stalingrad- Germany wanted control,
But they weren't going to get it. Silly men,
Unaware that they would freeze to the bone
In those harsh Russian mountains.
Is oil worth it?

Torch- the British thought it was a simple plan.
It was, but barely. The soft underbelly,
The Mediterranean to France, through Italy?
Kick the Axis out of North Africa?
Piece of cake.

D-Day- a finale? Maybe. The ships and planes at the ready,
A possible surprise. Parachutes
And men on foot storming the beaches of Normandy.
Shots fired, push east where they belong.
Coming from the North and South. Cinch like a corset
Strings are drawn against the axis.
Good luck holding up your empire in this day and age.

Midway- Surprise! We saw them
Coming from a mile away.
Japanese aircrafts and ships try and attack,
And they get their butts whooped!
And then we got the idea to island hop!

Hop to Iwo Jima- Slowly.... Slowly.... Don't scare it,
It's like a nest of bees!
And we got it! Two air bases captured
And one step closer to the mainland!
Japan may be fortified, but we
Have tons of muscle!

Hop to Okinawa- this one was a doozy...
The biggest amphibious battle of WWII,
And contained the most casualties! Pretty harsh.
Maybe you they shouldn't have attacked us in the firs place!
We only meant to invade and use the island as a
Springboard towards the mainland, but the
Battle took too long.
Just weeks after the fighting ended, Japan surrendered
And we bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki!
We never got to invade...

Among the mountains and oceans we claimed,
Environments we no longer know,
Starvation from the knowledge lacked.
Strange men of unknown origin push us away
With feathered spears and their spirits
Flying above us like the angels we seek.

The spread of our culture like margarine
Angers the earth it's ancestors tread on;
War and thievery. Disease and infection
Was wildfire in a land containing no such
Immunities to the harshness.

First cities died as infants, stillborns
Of history and freedom, yet
They survived in their determination.

Aren't they supposed to be people, too?
Pigment is really that important?
They are not *****!
A separate restaurant,
Drinking fountain,
Theater,
Bench,
Everything!
Because you can deal with "different" people.
They had "rights,"
But if they were considered people, the segregation would not have happened. They had no choice.
The conditions were worse.
How is that fair?
Hardly any jobs were open to them.

And I know you know exactly what I am
Talking about, but I never said once
That almost everyone called them that one despicable word:
******.

Lies! Money is greed, greed is money,
Credit is given to the wrong types of people.
The stupid ones who were not taught
How to behave with their newfound freedom
And systems of fake income!
Don't spend what you do not have,
But they believed they had everything.
Love. Money. ***. Fame and fortune, the world
Was in their hands!
Until it all crashed down in 1929

Jazz, women, and the start of a new era.
Gambling, drinking, the illegal actions
That gave everyone a thrill.

They are doing it, so why can't I?
Parties, drinking, music, recklessness.

A bit of freedom and women run loose like
They've never seen the light of the moon,
They are the flappers.

Moving pictures like magic,
Lets go to the movies,
Lets go see the stars!
The drama!

The machines! The wonders of
Mass production and a gas engine!
Speed and toxic smells of factories.

No one knew.
Why: the reasons we did what we did.
Massacres and chemical warfare, the draft
Because no one would volunteer.
Why did we go to war?
The government spinning lies of what happened,
Yet the footage on the news says the opposite.
We were losing everything. Killed
For no reason, and so were they.

My mother always said to get along with people.
I made allies, I worked with people, and I stayed away from
Fights that were not mine.
My allies and I have had fights, but we worked it out.
(WWI and the treaty of Versailles)

It all changed though, when nearly everyone around me
Began to hate each other.
One of the kids I knew, but never played with,
Began to bully the others.
He said he hated Jews.
(Germany/ ******)

He was a part of a promise my friends and I made,
Because he was a part of our fight, before.
He broke the promise
And he began to... Collect.... My friends
And take over their lives. They were controlled and
Manipulated and suppressed by him.
(Taking over Rhineland, Poland, etc.)

We decided to leave it alone. We didn't want to
Get involved again. (France/ Britain appeasement)

He promised that he would leave a few kids
Alone, but he lied. He controlled them, too. (Italy and Japan)
He had his friends that helped him,
But I think they were just scared of him
And acted like they were his friends.

When my other friends got involved, I wanted out,
But if they needed my help with some things,
I would help them if they gave me a cookie (cash).

After a while, I started to help my friends more,
But I wasn't really fighting... I did, though, when one
Of the bullies friends (Japan) threw a crayon at me.
It hurt really bad and I got angry.

On the brink of war, within our own borders,
Among our neighbors and brothers.
Interesting how we think of them as brothers, neighbors,
And how we are willing to go to war.

A compromise to end it? Willing.
Naive.

California may have become a free state,
Migrations to the gold mines and the economic
Boom improved the economy and diversity.
But war still came.
New Mexico and Utah were able to decide for themselves,
People rushed to sway the decision, it was even.
Fair.
But still, war came.
Texas got their money, and we drew new borders with more land.
A line was drawn, metaphorically and nationally.
But still, war came.
The south got back their fugitive slaves from the north,
The work force resumed, and a reward for the slave was paid to the holders.
Everyone seemed to win,
But still, war came.