celamb89:
Given that the example works, I would think everything is hooked up ok, and other hardware too since it works without the display. But everything together creates the fault...
I had a similar fault when I was using an LCD shield together with a servo and powering my Uno with USB power. If I split power so the servo was powered by a separate power supply (and connecting the two grounds), it worked well.
So as I delve into motors and servos, I now have two breadboards, one of which whose power rails are wired from the Arduino, and the other I have a separate power supply (either 5v USB phone charger or wall plug to 2.1mm power connector). When I was buying the secondary power supply, I thought it was the model where I could switch each side to 0, 3.3, or 5 volts, so that I could use just one breadboard, and have Arduino power on one rail, and external power on another.