History Awesome / LittleHouseOnThePrairie

* In "Barn Burner", the mean-spirited Jur Larrabee is accused of burning the Garvey's barn and the only juror to believe he might be innocent is the black pig farmer Joe Kagan, who was a constant target of the accused's racism. When the judge questions his hesitation to covinct Larabee, Joe Kagan treats the present and by extension the audience to an astonishing speech about how he saw what happens when people are unfairly accused and condemend with little to no evidence, and how he must stick for what he believes:
--->Joe Kagan: "Mr Larabee there, I ain't got no use for him or his kind. We all know what he did to this town and to the Garvey boy. If him and others like him fell off the earth tomorrow, the world would be a better place. That's for sure. But that ain't up to me. I gotta live my life the best way I can knowing that the Larabees of this world are always looking at me and my kind with hatred in their hearts. I can't change that. But I gotta believe in the law, and I gotta believe in justice, and I gotta believe that justice applies to each and every one of us including Mr. Larabee. Maybe I see things different than most people. Maybe I am different. But for less reason than you'd convict a man for burning a barn that nobody saw him burn, I've seen my people with ropes around their necks hangin dead. Maybe that's what makes me different. Cuz I can't erase those pictures from my brain. I've seen what can happen when justice disappears and I will bring harm to no man when his guilt ain't been proved in my eyes".

** Even better, near the end of the episode but before the aforementioned sermon, youngest Gallender Bubba steals Mary's tablet, with Nellie backing him up. Mary calmly but pointedly asks for the tablet back, and Bubba proceeds to insult Pa, taunting her about the time his brithers beat him up. Cue [[ProperLady gentle, refined Mary]] ''hitting Bubba in the jaw with her metal lunchpail and knocking him to the ground.'' The awesomeness is cranked up when Mary continues to beat the crap out of Bubba, inspiring several schoolmates to join her. Willie Oleson excepted, all these schoolmates are girls. Let us repeat: A huge, bullying schoolboy got his butt handed to him, courtesy of several girls, many of whom are 12 or younger.

** [[NiceGuy Paul Cooley]], after being tattled on by Rose (accidentally) and recieving a whupping, gets his own revenge when he tricks Rose into a grape fight that gets her caught and grounded by Laura. He then tells her, after smugly noting how he'd never rat her out and that he got her good, that all is forgiven.

--->Mr Larabee there, I ain't got no use for him or his kind. We all know what he did to this town and to the Garvey boy. If him and others like him fell off the earth tomorrow, the world would be a better place. That's for sure. But that ain't up to me. I gotta live my life the best way I can knowing that the Larabees of this world are always looking at me and my kind with hatred in their hearts. I can't change that. But I gotta believe in the law, and I gotta believe in justice, and I gotta believe that justice applies to each and every one of us including Mr. Larabee. Maybe I see things different than most people. Maybe I am different. But for less reason than you'd convict a man for burning a barn that nobody saw him burn, I've seen my people with ropes around their necks hangin dead. Maybe that's what makes me different. Cuz I can't erase those pictures from my brain. I've seen what can happen when justice disappears and I will bring harm to no man when his guilt ain't been proved in my eyes.

--->'''Mr Larabee there, I ain't got no use for him or his kind. We all know what he did to this town and to the Garvey boy. If him and others like him fell off the earth tomorrow, the world would be a better place. That's for sure. But that ain't up to me. I gotta live my life the best way I can knowing that the Larabees of this world are always looking at me and my kind with hatred in their hearts. I can't change that. But I gotta believe in the law, and I gotta believe in justice, and I gotta believe that justice applies to each and every one of us including Mr. Larabee. Maybe I see things different than most people. Maybe I am different. But for less reason than you'd convict a man for burning a barn that nobody saw him burn, I've seen my people with ropes around their necks hangin dead. Maybe that's what makes me different. Cuz I can't erase those pictures from my brain. I've seen what can happen when justice disappears and I will bring harm to no man when his guilt ain't been proved in my eyes.'''

* Willie Olesen's transformation from mean little spoiled kid to one of Walnut Grove's finest, most responsible young men. The change happened ever so gradually, starting in Season 8 where – in the episode "Stone Soup" – he helps organize an effort to help farmers during a drought; this comes as the outgrowth of seeing a pregnant Laura collapse while working to exhaustion in tending to Almanzo's orchard, and Caroline telling the story "Stone Soup" to inspire the kids. (Clearly, Willie got the message). This far into the series, Willie was nearing maturity and starting to realize how much of a fool he had been and that he needed to make a change in his life, and Laura supported him. Willie had shed his troublemaking ways after that, but his real crowning moment comes in Season 9's "May I Have This Dance," where he [[CallingTheOldManOut calls out his overbearing mother]], Mrs. Olesen, after she tries to coddle him again (by sending him to college). He says he intends to oversee the restaurant/hotel named for his sister, Nellie (who had also broken off of her mother's spoiled ways a couple of seasons earlier), and plans to marry an attractive-but-poor country girl named Rachel Brown ... and stands his ground when his mother continues her attempts to intervene. When Mrs. Olesen asks Nels what had gotten into her son, he replies, "A backbone!" But even before his changeover, there were signs that Willie was not quite as bad as Nellie at her peak – her own change from spoiled brat to hard-working and responsible is quite remarkable and awesome in and of itself – as he often sticks up for himself and his friends (more than once, he stands his ground against Nellie) and by Season 7, he's showing signs he's grown tired of his mother's constant pampering. When Willie finally puts his foot down at his mother's abrasiveness, Harriet claims Rachel is the one responsible for his disobedience, when in reality, she's the reason he's completed his maturity into his own man.

** Even better, near the end of the episode but before the aforementioned sermon, youngest Gallender Bubba steals Mary's tablet, with Nellie backing him up. Mary calmly but pointedly asks for the tablet back, and Bubba proceeds to insult Pa. Cue [[ProperLady gentle, refined Mary]] ''punching Bubba in the jaw and knocking him to the ground.'' The awesomeness is cranked up when Mary continues to beat the crap out of Bubba, inspiring several schoolmates to join her. Willie Oleson excepted, all these schoolmates are girls. Let us repeat: A huge, bullying schoolboy got his butt handed to him, courtesy of several girls, many of whom are 12 or younger.

* Cassandra fighting Nancy in "For the Love of Nancy". Fights between the Ingalls and Oleson kids are now commonplace, but this is [[TheCutie Cassandra]] holding her own against [[EnfanteTerrible Nancy]] [[SpoiledBrat Oleson]]. It's a sign of growth for an otherwise OutOfFocus character, showing that she has incorporated the Ingalls spirit, [[BewareTheNiceOnes being a good person by heart but won't let people push her too far or mess with her own]].

** Laura telling off Lois Beaumont, for her judgemental remarks about the teacher [[ChristmasCake Miss]] [[OldMaid Sarah]]'s love life given that the girl caused her family a scandal a year before with her behavior, it must've been also catharitc to Rose to see that. Given that she was so jealous and insecure given that Lois was taking all her friends and the attention of Paul Cooley until her AlphaBitch behavior put them off and for that dirty trick she played on Paul that humiliated him at a pie sale.

--->'''Rose:''' Oh, nothing ever comes out right for me! I don't know why, but it just never does."
--->'''Laura:''' Rose, really.
--->'''Eliza Jane:''' Young lady, you are suffering an attack of defeatism. Do you think your mother and father would have survived if they sat around bemoaning life's every little stumble? (Rose shakes her head) And look at me (bitter chuckle). My grand scheme to have my family close to me in Louisiana. What happened? Father's fortune lost. Then Father died. My poor sister Laura died. My husband died, and then his family descended upon me like a flock of vultures. Do you hear me groan about my terrible life?"
--->'''Rose:''' No.
--->'''Eliza Jane:''' You come from sturdy, independent stock, on both sides. We have all survived the very worst that life could fling at us. And you shall, too.

** ''Across the Puddingstone Dam'': [[CoolOldLady Auntie Rho]], an elderly aunt of Charlotte's friend, is asked by Charlotte if she likes being an OldMaid. [[DontYouDarePityMe Rho congratulates Charlotte for being frank and not pitying her behind her back]]. She tells Charlotte, no she doesn't regret it and is blessed with a large, loving family just like when she was young. She tells Charlotte [[EarnYourHappyEnding that one must eat what they can get and season it however they want]]. It's an amazing attitude to have given [[StayInTheKitchen how the attitudes tow]][[BabyFactory ards women]], [[OldMaid especially]] [[MaidenAunt single]] [[ChristmasCake women]], were in the 1820s [[ValuesResonance (and still are)]].

* A meta example: according to Alison Arngrim's book, a producer on the show tried to pay a bunch of the young extras with bubblegum. An incensed Michael Landon read him the riot act, stating "How about you pay these kids with actual money so they can buy their own damn gum?" After that, it was made sure kid extras for any scene were paid a proper wage.

** Even better, near the end of the episode but before the aforementioned sermon, youngest Gallender Bubba steals Mary's tablet, with Nellie backing him up. Mary calmly but pointedly asks for the tablet back, and Bubba proceeds to insult Pa. Cue [[ProperLady gentle, refined Mary]] ''punching Bubba in the jaw and knocking him to the ground.'' The awesomeness gets taken UpToEleven when Mary continues to beat the crap out of Bubba, inspiring several schoolmates to join her. Willie Oleson excepted, all these schoolmates are girls. Let us repeat: A huge, bullying schoolboy got his butt handed to him, courtesy of several girls, many of whom are 12 or younger.

* Pa has an awesome moment in the early episode "Country Girls." Laura and Mary have invited the girls in their class to a party, but the new girl Olga can't play because of a club foot. Inspired by Laura's questions about horseshoes, Pa makes Olga a wooden block that elevates her weakened leg's shoe, allowing her to run and play with the other kids.

* Mr. Edwards' choice to take in the orphan Matthew Rogers is this, especially considering he had [[spoiler: somewhat recently lost his own family due to alcoholism.]]

* In Nancy's premiere, "The Reincarnation of Nellie," Nancy explains that the reason she's such a brat is because her abusive mother abandoned her. However, [[spoiler: this turns out to be the very definition of BlatantLies.]] Laura and the kids team up to do something about it. Naturally, Mrs. Oleson is against it at first because she wants to find some way to excuse Nancy's horrible actions. However, by the end, [[spoiler: she's in there with both feet. Special mention to her explosive, "I AM YOUR MOTHER, I LOVE YOU, AND [[PunctuatedForEmphasis '''YOU. WON'T. LIE TO ME. AGAIN!''']]]]
** The plan itself is pretty darn awesome. The kids convince Nancy to participate in a school charity bazaar instead of the originally planned pageant, telling her she will be the star of the whole thing. She's going to be the beautiful mermaid of the Mermade [sic] Booth. What they don't tell her is [[spoiler: the Mermaid Booth is a ''dunking booth.'']] Also doubles as a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}.

* "Bully Boys" has several, all because a trio of ne'er-do-well men have invaded their happy community and caused mayhem to ensue. The payback begins when Charles comes after the eldest Galender brothers for accosting his wife in public. As soon as he finds out that his Caroline been hurt, he ''immediately'' runs off to the Gallender residence to defend the honor of his wife, engaging in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that he almost ''won'', had not the more able-bodied beefier brother jumped back in the fight. Then, the Reverend, who has been personally lied to by the Galenders with some nonsense about a sick ma (when their ma is every bit a deadbeat as they are and even ran off with a circus performer, leaving behind their love child as brother number three), invites them to church. You'd think this is simply because it's a kind gesture he's supposed to extend to anyone, but this time, it's to rope them into a town-wide intervention against their tyranny. At the Sunday service, Reverend Alden, normally the kindest and least aggressive of all the townspeople, changes gears from his usual gentle and virtuous sermons to a very fiery sermon about Hell directly aimed at the Galenders, and clarifies that Christians are not pushovers or punching bags who have to put up with evils that won't quit vexing them. It is not unjustified for Christians to fight back against injustice and fight, if the fight in question is the good fight. When one of them catches Alden's drift and confronts him, ''the Reverend pins him up against the chapel wall''. Then, all of the men at church form a posse and march the Gallenders out of town peacefully, while their wives, spared the dirty work, sing them off with a round of "Onward Christian Soldiers". This is just one of many times the ''entire'' town of Walnut Grove bands together to show that they will ''not'' be intimidated.

* ''Little House On the Prairie'' has a moment where the children are alone in the house, and the blaze in the fireplace gets out of control with Mary rocking Carrie before it. As a burning stick gets ''very'' close to Mary, who is scared stiff, Laura (her junior by a year) yanks the rocking chair carrying her sisters back across the floor to safety and tosses the stick into the fireplace. Only when she describes the scene to her parents later does she notice her hand is burnt; she says she was too scared at the time to feel any pain.

* ''Little House On the Prairie'' has a moment where the children are alone in the house, and the blaze in the fireplace gets out of control with Mary rocking Carrie before it. As a burning stick gets ''very'' close to Mary, who is scared stiff, Laura (her junior by two years) yanks the rocking chair carrying her sisters back across the floor to safety and tosses the stick into the fireplace. Only when she describes the scene to her parents later does she notice her hand is burnt; she says she was too scared at the time to feel any pain.

* A meta example: according to Alison Arngrim's book, a producer on the show tried to pay a bunch of the young extras with bubblegum. An incensed Michael Landon read him the riot act, stating "How about you pay these kids with actual money so they can buy their own damn gum?" After that, it was made sure kid extras for any scene were paid a proper wage.

* "Bully Boys" has several, all because a trio of ne'er-do-well men have invaded their happy community and caused mayhem to ensue. The payback begins when Charles comes after the eldest Gallaender brothers for accosting his wife in public. As soon as he finds out that his Caroline been hurt, he ''immediately'' runs off to the Gallender residence to defend the honor of his wife, engaging in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that he almost ''won'', had not the more able-bodied beefier brother jumped back in the fight. Then, the Reverend, who has been personally lied to by the Gallaenders with some nonsense about a sick ma (when their ma is every bit a deadbeat as they are and even ran off with a circus performer, leaving behind their love child as brother number three), invites them to church. You'd think this is simply because it's a kind gesture he's supposed to extend to anyone, but this time, it's to rope them into a town-wide intervention against their tyranny. At the Sunday service, Reverend Alden, normally the kindest and least aggressive of all the townspeople, changes gears from his usual gentle and virtuous sermons to a very fiery sermon about Hell directly aimed at the Gallenders, and clarifies that Christians are not pushovers or punching bags who have to put up with evils that won't quit vexing them. It is not unjustified for Christians to fight back against injustice and fight, if the fight in question is the good fight. When one of them catches his drift and confronts him, ''the Reverend pins him up against the chapel wall''. Then, all of the men at church form a posse and march the Gallenders out of town peacefully, while their wives, spared the dirty work, sing them off with a round of "Onward Christian Soldiers". This is just one of many times the ''entire'' town of Walnut Grove bands together to show that they will ''not'' be intimidated.

* In "The Long Road Home", Charles and Isaiah take on a dangerous job transporting nitroglycerin to a blasting site. It has the [[AnAesop corollary Aesop]] of anti-discrimination; among the group of nitroglycerine haulers is a black man who is a veteran with the job that takes the place of someone who gets cold feet, and used to being the butt of many racist comments and takes it all in stride, to the dismay of a white man who can't stand the idea of working with a Negro, let alone a snarky one. All the workers hired for the job also have to ride on the freight car because they didn't have seats paid for by the ones who hired them. By the end of the episode, the person who was picking on him has realized the man is of splendid character and worthy of respect. Now the group gets to take the train back home on board the passenger car. Unfortunately, one of the conductors on the train ride back to the station throws him out of the coach because he's black. Thus, he goes back to sitting on the freight car... and is soon joined by Charles and Isaiah, who quietly leave the coach in silent protest and look about a half a second away from beating the stuffing out of the acidic conductor. But the one fellow who originally picked on the black man lingers behind for a while, as though he decided to stay where he was... and then emerges on the freight car with an absolutely ''glorious'' one-liner:

* The episode where Charles and Isaiah took on a dangerous job transporting nitroglycerin to a blasting site. It has the [[AnAesop corollary Aesop]] of anti-discrimination; among the group of nitroglycerine haulers is a black man who is a veteran with the job that takes the place of someone who gets cold feet, and used to being the butt of many racist comments and takes it all in stride, to the dismay of a white man who can't stand the idea of working with a Negro, let alone a snarky one. All the workers hired for the job also have to ride on the freight car because they didn't have seats paid for by the ones who hired them. By the end of the episode, the person who was picking on him has realized the man is of splendid character and worthy of respect. Now the group gets to take the train back home on board the passenger car. Unfortunately, one of the conductors on the train ride back to the station throws him out of the coach because he's black. Thus, he goes back to sitting on the freight car... and is soon joined by Charles and Isaiah, who quietly leave the coach in silent protest and look about a half a second away from beating the stuffing out of the acidic conductor. But the one fellow who originally picked on the black man lingers behind for a while, as though he decided to stay where he was... and then emerges on the freight car with an absolutely ''glorious'' one-liner: