Political Issues & Controversies

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White man at microphone with finger raised
Act 401 of 1951
aka: Communist Registration Act
Also called the Communist Registration Act, Act 401 was approved in...
White man in suit and tie smiling with Arkansas flag behind him
Act 910 of 2019
aka: Transformation and Efficiencies Act of 2019
Act 910 of 2019 was a piece of signature legislation for Governor A...
Farmer and boy using a horse drawn plow in a field with hills in the background
Agricultural Adjustment Act
The experimental Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was the cornerstone farm legislation of President Franklin ...
Older white man with in brown suit and black tie
Amendments 19 and 20
aka: Futrell Amendments
Amendments 19 and 20 to the Arkansas Constitution, which are common...
"Debate over wolf scalp bounties led to fatal fight" newspaper clipping
Joseph J. Anthony (1780?–1837)
Joseph J. Anthony, a soldier, politician, and Arkansas pioneer, fell victim to one of the most extraordinary a...
Portrait painting of white man formal dress with pocket watch chain
Joseph J. Anthony (Murder of)
The only recorded violent death on the floor of the Arkansas General Assembly occurred on December 4, 1837, in...
Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes
In 1992, when the Arkansas Educational Television Commission (AETC) sponsored a debate for candidates in the T...
White man in suit holding his cowboy hat leaning against a rock with sky and valley behind him
Arkansas Freedom of Information Act
aka: Freedom of Information Act
aka: FOIA
The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), signed into law by ...
White man in suit sitting in chair before wife, son, and daughter, with bookshelves behind them
Arkansas Loan and Thrift
Arkansas Loan and Thrift Corporation (AL&T) was a hybrid bank that operated for three years outside state ...
White man in suit and bow tie
Arkansas Peace Society
The Arkansas Peace Society was a loose affiliation of local anti-Confederate groups that formed in response to...
White man in suit and tie sitting at his desk and posing with an open book
Arkansas Plan
The 1976 proposal known as the “Arkansas Plan” represented an important innovation in the relationship bet...
Concrete dam with water rushing over it and lake
Arkansas Power and Light (AP&L)
The Arkansas Power and Light Company (AP&L) was the primary electrical utility company for much of Arkansa...
White man in suit and striped tie writing at his desk
Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal
The Arkansas prison blood scandal resulted from the state’s selling plasma extracted from prisoners at the C...
White man in suit and striped tie writing at his desk
Arkansas Project
The Arkansas Project was a reporting venture in the mid-1990s undertaken with the aim of discrediting Presiden...
Hand signed print saying "1839 William Ryan twenty five shares" with interest divestment and transfer notes
Arkansas Real Estate Bank
In 1836, the establishment of the Real Estate Bank of Arkansas became the initial act to pass the first state ...
Square ticket text "Frosty the Doughman" next to illustration of snowman holding money and ten winter themed symbols with various cash amounts above text "20 Top Prices of $2
Arkansas Scholarship Lottery
The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery is a system of games of chance, implemented to generate revenue to fund the s...
Five dollar note with Native American man in center artwork
Arkansas State Bank
The Arkansas State Bank (1836–1843) was one of two banks created by the newly formed Arkansas state legislat...
Barbed wire fence post with "Choc." written on it
Arkansas State Boundaries
Arkansas’s boundaries have been the subject of international treaties, treaties with Native American tribes,...
Crowd of people gathered at boat dock and aboard a ship with horse-drawn cart in the foreground
Back-to-Africa Movement
The Back-to-Africa Movement mobilized thousands of African-American Arkansans who wished to leave the state fo...
White man with glasses in suit and tie sitting at his desk
George Stuart Benson (1898–1991)
George Stuart Benson was the second president of Harding College (now Harding University) in Searcy (White Cou...
"Big lake district hunters' paradise" newspaper clipping
Big Lake Wars
Competition and contention over an abundant (and unregulated) storehouse of northeastern Arkansas wildlife fro...
African-American man in white shirt and leather jacket holding his hand to his face
Black Power Movement
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) worker Willie Ricks coined the “Black power” slogan in Ju...
"Howl of protest at proposed blue laws" newspaper clipping
Blue Laws
Arkansas’s first blue laws, also called Sunday-closing laws, were enacted in 1837, only a year after Arkansa...
"Prepare for trial of other boodle cases" newspaper clipping
Boodle Prosecutions
aka: Boodle Scandal of 1905–1908
The Boodle Scandal of 1905–1908 dealt with pervasive bribery (“...
Bracero Program
To ensure that U.S. farmers had sufficient labor, the U.S. State Department and the Mexican Foreign Affairs De...
Soldiers and their supporters gathered in front of large marble building with four columns
Brooks-Baxter War
The Brooks-Baxter War, which occurred during April and May 1874, was an armed conflict between the supporters ...
"Supplies for California Emigrants at Fort Smith" newspaper clipping
Effect of the California Gold Rush
The California gold rush did not have the positive impact on Arkansas envisioned by its promoters, who hoped f...
Wooden electric chair with leather straps on display
Capital Punishment
aka: Death Penalty
The death penalty was practiced in Arkansas even before the state w...
Portrait white man balding stern expression three piece suit tie seated on carved wooden chair
Carpetbaggers and Scalawags
“Carpetbaggers” is a slang term denoting men who adhered to the newly formed Republican Party, which follo...
"What the mob of Chicot County did" newspaper clipping
Chicot County Race War of 1871
aka: Chicot County Massacre
In late 1871, Chicot County was taken over by several hundred Afric...
three black men and black woman looking off in the distance
Civil Rights Movement (Twentieth Century)
The 1957 desegregation crisis at Central High School in Little Rock (Pulaski County) is often viewed as the mo...
"Another resister is landed in jail" newspaper clipping
Cleburne County Draft War
The Cleburne County Draft War was one of three violent encounters in World War I–era Arkansas that occurred ...