In 1854, the bill named “An Act Making a Grant of Public Lands for the Benefit of Indigent Insane Persons” was passed by both Houses of the United States. It was the first attempt to assist the mentally insane. The bill would give 10,000,000 acres of Federal land to the states to be used for the mentally ill and for those who were blind or deaf. However, on May 3, 1854, President Franklin Pierce vetoed the bill, shutting down any chance of the Federal land being used for the disabled.
The veto message written by President Franklin Pierce was addressed to the Senate of the United States. In the veto, the president reasons why the federal land should not be given to the states for the mentally ill. Pierce assumed if the government provided for the indigent insane, that they would soon …show more content…
In his veto message, he references the Constitution to support how his decision upholds the law. I believe that President Pierce was trying to decipher the government’s measure of responsibility for providing services for the mentally unstable. His message specified the role of the federal government in social welfare. One can gather that President Pierce was not an advocate of social welfare policies in the United States.
If I was an adult living in the 19th century when President Pierce vetoed the “An Act Making a Grant of Public Lands for the Benefit of Indigent Insane Persons” bill, I would have strongly disagreed with the president’s actions. People with mental disorders that were unable to take care of themselves were taken in by individuals in that area. Often times these locals would abuse the unstable by confining them in cages, by keeping them naked and chained, and by beating them. I do not support this type of treatment, and I strongly believe the proposed system should have been approved by the president to protect the mentally disabled from such
The veto message written by President Franklin Pierce was addressed to the Senate of the United States. In the veto, the president reasons why the federal land should not be given to the states for the mentally ill. Pierce assumed if the government provided for the indigent insane, that they would soon …show more content…
In his veto message, he references the Constitution to support how his decision upholds the law. I believe that President Pierce was trying to decipher the government’s measure of responsibility for providing services for the mentally unstable. His message specified the role of the federal government in social welfare. One can gather that President Pierce was not an advocate of social welfare policies in the United States.
If I was an adult living in the 19th century when President Pierce vetoed the “An Act Making a Grant of Public Lands for the Benefit of Indigent Insane Persons” bill, I would have strongly disagreed with the president’s actions. People with mental disorders that were unable to take care of themselves were taken in by individuals in that area. Often times these locals would abuse the unstable by confining them in cages, by keeping them naked and chained, and by beating them. I do not support this type of treatment, and I strongly believe the proposed system should have been approved by the president to protect the mentally disabled from such