The Brightest Moment in American History: A Tournament

[John Dule]

Now, this one was much more fun to make!



My brackets:



I tried to include a nice array of civil rights moments, cultural watersheds, and political/military victories here. Ultimately though, I believe that Washington's decision to leave after eight years is the single greatest moment in this nation's history, and the one without which none of this would have been possible.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Why Reagan’s evil empire speech over his tear down your wall one ,


Also lol at putting Roe vs Wade on here

[KaiserDave]

Happy to help John

Here is my bracket

Some were very easy. The Marshall Plan was a smashing success, Japanese Reconstruction failed in many aspects. Some were very difficult, like the Civil Rights Act versus Washington Stepping Down ( went with the CRA but both work), and the Fall of Communism and the Underground Railroad. Overall however, I feel this was easier than the darkest moments. There still may very well be errors and thinks I may regret soon. But we'll see.

[Calthrina950]

Why Reagan’s evil empire speech over his tear down your wall one ,


Also lol at putting Roe vs Wade on here

I'd agree. Roe v. Wade, in the eyes of many Americans, counts as one of the darkest moments of American history, not as one of the brightest. And it's debatable in terms of how "bright" some of these other events (i.e. the Manhattan Project) were or how positive their impacts were upon this country and the world.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

Why Reagan’s evil empire speech over his tear down your wall one ,


Also lol at putting Roe vs Wade on here

I mean it's pretty fair given that one of the worst decisions of all time, DC v Heller is on there. Libertarian balance and all that.

And nothing deadbrain Reagan said deserves a mention tbh. You're lucky he got anything.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

If we're allowed to have fictional events on there, I will say the defeat of Emperor Palpatine. I'll fill out my bracket later tonight.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Nixon creating the EPA is a bright moment, but should've done before. Not sure if Nixon deserves credit for this or if it was to happen sooner or later, and the GOP's later negligence to do something about the environment (and protect it) is a stark contrast with where the party used to stand for. One event not in the bracket but that should be listed is the creation of national parks.

CRA, 13th amendment (although I would've liked it to it being expanded to include the CRA at the time and to include even voluntary servitude out of necessity to sustain theirselves basic needs & get human rifghts, which someday will happen) and Moon Landing compete for greatest & brightest moment! Perhaps Marshall Plan as opposed to the evil of the Treaty of Versailles, as an example of how it should be done. And declaration of independence as well, ofc.

Some moments are neutral or very subjectively "bright" (Roe vs Wade, 2008 election, Highway system, ¨Panama Canal, Louisiana Purchase, Founding of Microsoft... ) or a necessary evil to bring good in the world (Manhattan Project, would say NATO as well). Some moments were inspiring, but ultimately didn't change much. And founding of Microsoft, it's not like it changed things (if he didn't, someone else would've done it, it's the action of a single person and it's entourage. Did it bring good to the world that he's now the richest man and owns a monopoly. But more importantly, aside of perhaps Gates (& co-founders, co-investors?) itself no-one cheered on the day Microsoft was created.)

To be fair, lots of events i haven't heard about either.

[John Dule]

Why Reagan’s evil empire speech over his tear down your wall one ,


Also lol at putting Roe vs Wade on here

I'd agree. Roe v. Wade, in the eyes of many Americans, counts as one of the darkest moments of American history, not as one of the brightest. And it's debatable in terms of how "bright" some of these other events (i.e. the Manhattan Project) were or how positive their impacts were upon this country and the world.

Roe was suggested by a pro-life user. If other pro-lifers are too immature to cope with its inclusion, they need not participate.

[Anti-Bothsidesism]

[7,052,770]

The moon landing is humanity's greatest accomplishment, so we have a clear winner.

[Del Tachi]

Some of these weren't really "moments" and I'm not sure how to evaluate events that represent individual vs national effort

FWIW, I had D-Day winning vs the Moon Landing in the final round

[Calthrina950]

Why Reagan’s evil empire speech over his tear down your wall one ,


Also lol at putting Roe vs Wade on here

I'd agree. Roe v. Wade, in the eyes of many Americans, counts as one of the darkest moments of American history, not as one of the brightest. And it's debatable in terms of how "bright" some of these other events (i.e. the Manhattan Project) were or how positive their impacts were upon this country and the world.

Roe was suggested by a pro-life user. If other pro-lifers are too immature to cope with its inclusion, they need not participate.

I think you're misconstruing the motives of other posters on here, and what I was trying to get at here. Many moments in American history-such as 9/11 and Pearl Harbor-were undeniably dark, and are viewed as such by the overwhelming majority of the population. Other moments-such as the Moon Landing and the Emancipation Proclamation-are viewed as overwhelmingly positive moments. But Roe v. Wade has been and continues to be one of the most controversial judicial decisions in American history, and is one that doesn't enjoy the same kind of broad consensus. That's why I would hesitate to include it if I were creating this diagram.

[hyouzel the predictor]

Loving these Dule, keep em coming! Do most impactful overall or perhaps a more niche field like best event for human rights? Iunno either way this is fun

[John Dule]

Why Reagan’s evil empire speech over his tear down your wall one ,


Also lol at putting Roe vs Wade on here

I'd agree. Roe v. Wade, in the eyes of many Americans, counts as one of the darkest moments of American history, not as one of the brightest. And it's debatable in terms of how "bright" some of these other events (i.e. the Manhattan Project) were or how positive their impacts were upon this country and the world.

Roe was suggested by a pro-life user. If other pro-lifers are too immature to cope with its inclusion, they need not participate.

I think you're misconstruing the motives of other posters on here, and what I was trying to get at here. Many moments in American history-such as 9/11 and Pearl Harbor-were undeniably dark, and are viewed as such by the overwhelming majority of the population. Other moments-such as the Moon Landing and the Emancipation Proclamation-are viewed as overwhelmingly positive moments. But Roe v. Wade has been and continues to be one of the most controversial judicial decisions in American history, and is one that doesn't enjoy the same kind of broad consensus. That's why I would hesitate to include it if I were creating this diagram.

I'm not attacking your motives, but this is a weak argument. Everything on here-- from the fall of Communism to the killing of Bin Laden-- is "bad" from one perspective or another. Yellowhammer was saying just yesterday that the Appomattox surrender should have been on the "darkest" list. Hell, idiots in the 60s even complained about the space program because the government was "building rockets instead of feeding hungry kids." I don't have any interest in entertaining these ill-informed, regressive opinions for the purposes of this poll; if someone genuinely thinks Roe V Wade is bad, they are free to knock it out in the first round (as I did myself).

[S019]

DC v Heller is definitely a dark moment and one of the worst court decisions of the 21st century, in fact it's probably the second worst, behind only Bush v Gore

[Calthrina950]

Why Reagan’s evil empire speech over his tear down your wall one ,


Also lol at putting Roe vs Wade on here

I'd agree. Roe v. Wade, in the eyes of many Americans, counts as one of the darkest moments of American history, not as one of the brightest. And it's debatable in terms of how "bright" some of these other events (i.e. the Manhattan Project) were or how positive their impacts were upon this country and the world.

Roe was suggested by a pro-life user. If other pro-lifers are too immature to cope with its inclusion, they need not participate.

I think you're misconstruing the motives of other posters on here, and what I was trying to get at here. Many moments in American history-such as 9/11 and Pearl Harbor-were undeniably dark, and are viewed as such by the overwhelming majority of the population. Other moments-such as the Moon Landing and the Emancipation Proclamation-are viewed as overwhelmingly positive moments. But Roe v. Wade has been and continues to be one of the most controversial judicial decisions in American history, and is one that doesn't enjoy the same kind of broad consensus. That's why I would hesitate to include it if I were creating this diagram.

I'm not attacking your motives, but this is a weak argument. Everything on here-- from the fall of Communism to the killing of Bin Laden-- is "bad" from one perspective or another. Yellowhammer was saying just yesterday that the Appomattox surrender should have been on the "darkest" list. Hell, idiots in the 60s even complained about the space program because the government was "building rockets instead of feeding hungry kids." I don't have any interest in entertaining these ill-informed, regressive opinions for the purposes of this poll; if someone genuinely thinks Roe V Wade is bad, they are free to knock it out in the first round (as I did myself).

Well then, that makes your entire exercise subjective here, does it not? Your claim that my arguments are "weak" could be construed as subjective. Those events which you describe as "positive" or "negative" may not actually be so. I'm not trying to undermine what you're trying to do here, but it doesn't mean that I have to agree that everything which you included is relevant.

[John Dule]

Well then, that makes your entire exercise subjective here, does it not? Your claim that my arguments are "weak" could be construed as subjective. Those events which you describe as "positive" or "negative" may not actually be so. I'm not trying to undermine what you're trying to do here, but it doesn't mean that I have to agree that everything which you included is relevant.

No, I totally get what you're saying. I'm just pointing out that your argument isn't limited solely to Roe V Wade. "Good" and "bad" are inherently subjective terms; landing on the moon, while "good" for the US, was clearly "bad" from the perspective of someone in the Soviet politburo. The 1936 Olympics were "good" for the US, while being a total embarrassment for Hitler and the Nazis. The Declaration of Independence was bad for the British, the Panama Canal was bad for the untold thousands who died building it, the 2008 Election was bad for McCain supporters... on and on it goes.

This whole exercise was subjective from the get-go and I don't think I ever claimed otherwise

[Calthrina950]

Well then, that makes your entire exercise subjective here, does it not? Your claim that my arguments are "weak" could be construed as subjective. Those events which you describe as "positive" or "negative" may not actually be so. I'm not trying to undermine what you're trying to do here, but it doesn't mean that I have to agree that everything which you included is relevant.

No, I totally get what you're saying. I'm just pointing out that your argument isn't limited solely to Roe V Wade. "Good" and "bad" are inherently subjective terms; landing on the moon, while "good" for the US, was clearly "bad" from the perspective of someone in the Soviet politburo. The 1936 Olympics were "good" for the US, while being a total embarrassment for Hitler and the Nazis. The Declaration of Independence was bad for the British, the Panama Canal was bad for the untold thousands who died building it, the 2008 Election was bad for McCain supporters... on and on it goes.

This whole exercise was subjective from the get-go and I don't think I ever claimed otherwise

I understand what you're saying now, although I still don't think that I would include Roe v. Wade on this list.

[John Dule]

Well then, that makes your entire exercise subjective here, does it not? Your claim that my arguments are "weak" could be construed as subjective. Those events which you describe as "positive" or "negative" may not actually be so. I'm not trying to undermine what you're trying to do here, but it doesn't mean that I have to agree that everything which you included is relevant.

No, I totally get what you're saying. I'm just pointing out that your argument isn't limited solely to Roe V Wade. "Good" and "bad" are inherently subjective terms; landing on the moon, while "good" for the US, was clearly "bad" from the perspective of someone in the Soviet politburo. The 1936 Olympics were "good" for the US, while being a total embarrassment for Hitler and the Nazis. The Declaration of Independence was bad for the British, the Panama Canal was bad for the untold thousands who died building it, the 2008 Election was bad for McCain supporters... on and on it goes.

This whole exercise was subjective from the get-go and I don't think I ever claimed otherwise

I understand what you're saying now, although I still don't think that I would include Roe v. Wade on this list.

Would you keep the 2008 election? Like Roe, it's clearly a historical milestone that improved many people's lives and their opinions of America-- but also like Roe, many people view it as a negative to this day.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Calthrina has totally fallen for my trolling

LOLOLOL

Yes, I am the one who suggested Roe v. Wade (horrible decision for the record). Call me a troll.

[Calthrina950]

Well then, that makes your entire exercise subjective here, does it not? Your claim that my arguments are "weak" could be construed as subjective. Those events which you describe as "positive" or "negative" may not actually be so. I'm not trying to undermine what you're trying to do here, but it doesn't mean that I have to agree that everything which you included is relevant.

No, I totally get what you're saying. I'm just pointing out that your argument isn't limited solely to Roe V Wade. "Good" and "bad" are inherently subjective terms; landing on the moon, while "good" for the US, was clearly "bad" from the perspective of someone in the Soviet politburo. The 1936 Olympics were "good" for the US, while being a total embarrassment for Hitler and the Nazis. The Declaration of Independence was bad for the British, the Panama Canal was bad for the untold thousands who died building it, the 2008 Election was bad for McCain supporters... on and on it goes.

This whole exercise was subjective from the get-go and I don't think I ever claimed otherwise

I understand what you're saying now, although I still don't think that I would include Roe v. Wade on this list.

Would you keep the 2008 election? Like Roe, it's clearly a historical milestone that improved many people's lives and their opinions of America-- but also like Roe, many people view it as a negative to this day.

Yes, although I hope you're not trying to launch me into an exercise of determining the value of each and every single event which you've included on this list.

Calthrina has totally fallen for my trolling

LOLOLOL

Yes, I am the one who suggested Roe v. Wade (horrible decision for the record). Call me a troll.

How could I know that you were the one who proposed it? Why did you do so?

[Alcibiades]

Calthrina has totally fallen for my trolling

LOLOLOL

Yes, I am the one who suggested Roe v. Wade (horrible decision for the record). Call me a troll.

Nice one.

For the record, I don’t think Roe was a bright moment in American history, even though I am glad it was decided the way it was. Obviously I support legal abortion, and I’m not even that concerned that it was “legislating from the bench”. Rather, it was the event which birthed one of the issues which contributed most to toxifying American discourse and creating the culture wars by emboldening the Religious Right and leading to many voters prioritising social issues over economic ones. 

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Calthrina has totally fallen for my trolling

LOLOLOL

Yes, I am the one who suggested Roe v. Wade (horrible decision for the record). Call me a troll.

How could I know that you were the one who proposed it? Why did you do so?

You couldn't, and I now recognize that I came off as a blowhard against you in my post. I'm sorry for that.

For the record, I don’t think Roe was a bright moment in American history, even though I am glad it was decided the way it was. Obviously I support legal abortion, and I’m not even that concerned that it was “legislating from the bench”. Rather, it was the event which birthed one of the issues which contributed most to toxifying American discourse and creating the culture wars by emboldening the Religious Right and leading to many voters prioritising social issues over economic ones. 

I deeply agree about its toxic effect on the American discourse (not so much about the rest, of course).

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

[OSR stands with Israel]

Left Side of Bracket:

First Round:

Moon Landing
Antiquities Act
 killing of Bin Laden
Seneca Falls
Bell
Lousiana
Marbury
13th Amendment
Underground Railroad
Fort McHenry
Fall of Global Communism
Marshall Plan
Polio Vacinne
I have a Dream
Appotomox Surrender
Reperations

2nd Round:

Moon Landing
Seneca Falls
Lousiana Purchase
13th Amendment
Underground Railroad
Fall of Global Communism
I have a Dream
Appomattox Surrender

3rd Round:

Moon Landing
13th Amendment
Fall of Global Communism
Appomattox Surrender

4th Round:

13th Amendment
Appomattox Surrender

Advances to Finals: 13th Amendment


Right Side of Bracket:

First Round:

Washington Steps Aside
Civil Rights Act
Lewis and Clark
Highway System
Treaty of Paris
D-Day
Bill of Rights
Model T
Nixon
Gideon
FDA
Evil Empire Speech
Surrender of Cornwallis
Fair Labor Standards act
Owens
ARPANET

Second Round:

Washington Steps Aside
Lewis and Clark
Treaty of Paris
Bill of Rights
Gideon
FDA
Surrender of Cornwallis
ARPANET

Third Round:

Washington Steps Aside
Bill of Rights
FDA
Surrender of Cornwallis

Fourth Round:

Bill of Rights
Surrender of Cornwallis


Moves on To Finals: Bill of Rights



Finals Matchup: 13th Amendment vs Bill of Rights


Brightest Day in American History: Ratification of the Bill of Rights