Saturday, February 27, 2010

"Isolationism" and FDR (1935-1941)

1. What were the goals of the isolationists? Why is "isolationism" a misleading term?

The goals of the isolationists were staying out of war, keeping the peace, and being neutral and have a good standing. They thought that America wouldn't be able to make enough in industry or survive the war with the Great Depression still going on. Also, they wanted to keep the peace as means to keep foreign trade and etc. with Europe peaceful. Lastly, they wanted to be neutral and have a good standing in the war (be strong but not be active in the war), they didnt want to be on any side and wanted America to be a good strong example almost. "Isolationism" is a misnomer because it implies that some Americans should isolate itself but in fact this group of people favored international trade and certain bilateral agreements set in the 1930s. Also, many isolationists agreed with some of the terms set during World War I.

2. What did some isolationists feel that there was no need for Americans to feel threatened by developments in Europe and Asia?

They felt that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans cushoned them from the war, and the U.S. had made friendly alliances with the western hemisphere therefore America was safe all the way around (at least this is what some isolationists thought).

3. What were the purposes of the Nye Committee hearings?

The purposes of the Nye Committee hearings were to investigate why the U.S. went into World War I, let the people know and hopefully understand those reasons, and make people not want war inturn making the United States stay out of the problems in Europe and Asia.

4. List two impressions that the Nye Committee hearings created.

One impression the Nye Committee hearings created was that soldiers had died in WWI because of corporations looking to make profits and had convinced President Wilson to go to war. Secondly, it made Americans believe that big businesses again would drag them into this war too.

5. What were the purposes of the Neutrality Acts?

The purposes of the Neutrality Acts were to keep America from choosing sides in the war, prohibited the shipping of arms and weapons to nations at war, to bring the armament industry under the control of the government, and no Americans on warring country’s ships or American ships in the war.xd

6. List two reasons that some Americans considered Roosevelt's leadership radical and dangerous.

One reason, Americans considered Roosevelt’s leadership radical and dangerous because FDR attempted to “pack” the court with leaders he appointed himself to add to the court, for every man over the age of seventy. Secondly, FDR tried becoming president a third term in 1940, therefore people thought he was becoming overly powerful and in turn dangerous.

7. What was "Cash and Carry"?

“Cash and Carry” was part of the Neutrality Act of 1939 and allowed America to sell products to the warring nations but they would have to pay in cash and find a means as to bring the products to them (America wouldn’t send ships with the products to the warring nations the nations would have to get it themselves).

8. Why did President Roosevelt freeze Japanese assets in the United States?

FDR froze Japanese assets in the United States because FDR thought that Japan was moving too aggressively and after Japan took control of northern French Indochina FDR couldn’t take it anymore.

9. What was the purpose of the America First Committee?

The sole purpose of the America First Committee was to keep the country out of WWII. The AFC called FDR two-faced by saying he was against war but was forcing Congress to pass acts that aided the warring countries like Britain. Also, they urged America to not help any of the warring countries at all.

Monday, February 22, 2010

World Events Set Stage for Isolationism

1. What was the Japanese reaction to the Treaty of Versailles? (pgs. 4 - 5)

The Japanese reaction to the Treaty of Versailles was "at a crossroads" (p. 4). Some people wanted to join the League of Nations as means to obtain some of the natural resources and markets to help boost their growing economy. Others didn't think that Japan should join nor sign the treaty because they thought that the other countries would still consider them as inferior people and that they would just be ignored. This idea came from the strong discrimination and racial dispositions from France, Great Britain, and the U.S. Another side thought that the higher powers, like France, Great Britain, and the U.S., would just use Japan for their natural resources and markets.

2. Read the pull-out box on page 4 entitled, "Japan Becomes a Great Power." Cite specific evidence Japan was becoming a strong power that rivaled European & American interests. And, why specifically was Japan threatened by U.S. actions?

It began a program with the slogan: "Enrich the nation and strengthen the army," which clearly shows that it wanted to spread its traditions and its overall ways of life to the world; like America's "manifest destiny." Also, there were some strong opionions saying "others argued that Japan would need to use military force to achieve its goals," which shows that some people thought that Japan needed to take evasive and aggressive action "to achieve its goals." Then "Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War and gained access to parts of Man- churia. Japan annexed Korea in 1910. In 1914, Japan had declared war against Germany in order to "...establish its rights and interests in Asia," which furthermore shows that Japan was moving fast in expanding its territory and their ways of life. The aggression and expansion Japan started making was a great threat to Europe and America and their interests. Japan was threatened by U.S. actions because America was expanding farther west into the specific (the Philippines, Guam, and Hawaii), the U.S. made acts that stopped immigration of Japanese and Chinese immigrants from coming into America, and the U.S. had interests in the markets (and did have some control of some of the areas and markets).

3. Why was the Washington Naval Conference convened and what was accomplished? (pg. 6) (Note: Japan signs the agreement.)

The Washington Naval Conference was convened because U.S. interests were threatened by the immense growth of Japan's navy in the Pacific Ocean. The conference accomplished limited the size of naval ships, placed a mora- torium on building new battleships, outlawed the use of poison gases, and limited the role of submarines in future wars. Also, the nations agreed on an open policy trade with China and agreed to recognize and fix disputes about the issues in the Pacific by sending them to a committee for resolution.

4. The Senate's willingness to ratify the Kellogg-Briand Pact relected two strong and widely held sentiments. What were they? (pgs. 6 - 7)

Americans remembered the carnage of World War I and wanted strongly to avoid being dragged into another European war. Also, policy-makers continued to resist the obligations of permanent alliances and wished to preserve the ability to act when and where they wanted.

5. Why did Hitler enjoy popular support in Germany for most of the 1930s? Give three reasons. (pgs. 9 - 10)

Hitler enjoyed popular support in Germany for most of the 1930s because he improved the economic situation, reduced unemployment, and made Germans feel proud of their country again after being humiliated in the Treaty of Versailles by the strong European countries like France and Great Britain.

6. Japan voiced its intentions to invade China for what two reasons? (pg. 10)

The two voiced reasons were said as a means of obtaining raw material and increasing their power.

7. Compare the Reichstag fire and the explosion on the Japanese railway in Manchuria. What did they accompllish?

The Reichstag fire was supposidly made by communists but it is suspected to be made by Hitler and the nazis, and the railway in Machuria was supposidly made by China but it is also suspected the Japan did it. They were both suspected to be done to start an uproar. Japan used it (and made it) to start or invade Manchuria and take control, to basically start this control and expansion of Japan. The fire was made and used by the Nazis and Hitler to suspend the rights of the people (including freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom to assemble). He blamed German communists that they were trying to incite a revolution and overthrow the government. The railway accomplished for Japan control, Japan got to control that part of China and it started the big aggression of Japan's expansion. The fire gave Hitler more power, he got to control the people.

8. Why was the united States unable to oppose Japan in the early 1930s with a significant military force? (pgs. 11 - 12)

The United States was unable to oppose Japan in the early 1930s because their military force was only in the low hundred thousand whil Japan's was in the millions. Also, the League was also afraid and didn't want to get involved. So America woul have no help, everyone was backing out of fighting and so did America.

9. Describe the major similarities and differences among liberal democracy, fascism, and socialism. (pg. 8)

Some of the major similarities with liberal democracy, fascisim, and socialism are that there is a group of leaders that more or less control the people of their country and the people aren't in complete control. In fascism the Nazis were controled by Hitler he told the nazis what to do to the people to control them and he made laws that controled the people. In socialism the people didn't have any control over pretty much everything, there was a group of people led by Josef Stalin who controled what the people did and what they had. In liberal democracy, there are different levels of groups of people that make laws and such that regulate many things and make rules for people. These rules somewhat control the people, but there are a lot more freedoms here than the others. Here there is freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom to assembly and much more. The people weren't controled in certain ways like how much work they had to do, whether they lived or died. However in fascism under Hitler he tried exterminating certain races such as Jewish people and African Americans. Also, in socialism the people had no rights, they had to go to this assigned job and make a certain amount or quota of whatever they made, and if they didn't they'd be sent to this horrible camps that were very much like the concentration camps run by Hitler.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

New Deal Essay Outline

The U.S. government tried to solve the problems of the Great Depression with acts and administrations, some with great success and others with little, barely effective success of helping to fix the problems of the Great Depression. The Emergency Banking Act helped to restore faith in banks, the Civilians Conservation Corps helped to give jobs to the unemployed, the Social Security Act helped to give benefits to retired people and more, and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration helped to raise crop prices and lower crop and livestock production.
I. The problems facing Roosevelt
A. No trust in banks
1. after the great wall street crash everyone tried to take their money out of the banks, but they ended up not being able to pay all their costumers because they invested their money in stocks and the stock market had crashed so they had lost all their money
2. and the people that owed the banks money couldn’t pay them back because they used credit which added more to the banks not being able to pay their costumers
B. A very high number of unemployment
1. less demand of things, overproduction of everything, increase in prices so employers either having to cut wages or fire people
C. Over-production of crops and livestock
1. there were so many products that weren’t getting sold because there was less demand in them and so there were trying to be sold at very low prices and most weren’t even selling, so there was more selling than buying and products weren’t being used
D. Homelessness
1. since businesses couldn’t afford to have as many workers as they did they fired some to stay in business and those unemployed workers couldn’t find jobs after and then became homeless (couldn’t afford a place to stay, they either were homeless where they had already been living or had moved away from home in search of work and couldn’t find anything.)
II. Emergency Banking Act
A. first official day in office he closed down all banks
1. had them investigated, those who were able to be re-opened were re-opened
B. Civilians Conservation Corps
1. made millions of jobs for the unemployed (2.5 million)
a. it restored forests, beaches, and parks
b. it payed them a dollar a day, free food and board,
c. women were also able to get jobs from CCC
C. Social Security Act
1. payed retired men (pensions)
2. women with children with no provider also got payed even though they didn’t have a job
3. workers would get benefits if they survived a serious injury on the job
4. unemploymenet insurance
5. the blind and physically disabled would get payed
D. Agricultural Adjustment Administration
1. tried getting rid of overproduction of crops and livestock by the government buying them and destroying them
a. because the demand in these foods lessened after WWI and then farmers were losing their farms and going into debt
III. Actions FDR took
A. for the banks
1. Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act
a. closed all banks and they were to be inspected
b. those who passed (were able to re-open) re-opened
c. FDR reassured the people that these re-opened banks were good, so faith in banks returned
d. He explained furthermore what was going on through the radio which became known as fireside chats
I. in one of these fireside chats he said that the reason the banks closed and some people weren’t able to get their money was because many people rushed to the banks to take their money out when they didn’t have the money at that time because they invested it, so people didn’t get their money (this is called bank runs)
B. For unemployment
1. The Civilians Conservation Corps
a. it created 2.5 million jobs for the unemployed
b. the jobs restored forests, beaches, and parks
c. it payed them a dollar a day plus free board and food
C. Also for the unemployed who weren’t able to get jobs to begin with or just couldn’t provide for their family
1. Social Security Act
a. retired workers (over 60) would receive pensions
b. women with children and without a husband would receive benefits
c. the blind and physically disabled would receive benefits
d. unemployment insurance
e. benefits to workers who survived a serious injury on the job
D. for farmers
1. Agricultural Adjustment Act
a. tried to keep farmers in business and not go into more debt or get foreclosed on
b. the government bought the “extra” crops and livestock but they were never used they were destroyed so that they could raise prices on crops and livestock in the market
c. by doing this they helped farmers (from the buying of their crops)
IV. Success and failures of these programs and acts
A. Emergency Banking Act
1. returned faith in banks
2. many people, after his fireside chat and the banks reopening went and put their money back in the banks
B. Civilian Conservation Corps
1. created 2.5 million jobs for Americans who were unemployed
2. their self-esteem increased
C. Social Security Act
1. government recognized citizens social rights
2. made many americans feel more secure
3. failed to recognize sickness, farm and domestic workers too
D. Agricultural Adjustment Act
1. provided some relief
2. wasted many pigs (livestock)
3. plowed over many fields
4. both the killing of livestock and plowing of fields cost over $200 million
5. this modernization did put some farmers out of work
6. later declared unconstitutional because farmers were benenfitting and being payed off of processors money
V. Reasons for Being Against It
A. Senator Huey Long of Louisianna
1.didn’t think it was doing enough
a. his “share the wealth” program included:
• more money would be taken from the wealthy and given to the poor or things such as helping the poor, building schools, and etc.
• it set a maximum national income of $3 million
• the average person could only earn $1 million a year
• proposed pensions for people over 60 and unemployed
B. Father Coughlin
1. didn't think government was moving fast enough to inflate the currency
C. Big Businesses and Republicans
1. didn't like the support for unions and higher wages, the market should deal with these issues themselves
2. it was too complicated, there were too many codes and regulations
3. they said that some administrations were unfair competition to private businesses (like the TVA)
4. compared these administrations to the schemes going on in USSR (communism)
5. the wealthy were wealthy because they worked hard for it, high taxes discouraged people from working hard and gave money to people for doing nothing or unnecessary jobs
6. accussed FDR of becoming a dictator
VI. I believe that FDR’s New Deal was moderately successful because it did solve some problems but then it failed to recognize all groups that needed help and the areas of those groups that needed help.
A. African Americans
1. failed to stop lynching and discrimination (either got no work, low wages, or worse treatment)
B. Women
1.most programs were never aimed to help women
2. local governments tried to avoid paying social security to women by putting in special requirements to receive pensions/benefits
3. were also discriminated against
C. Native Americans
1. they remained poor and secluded from society
D. Industrial Workers
1. the employers hated that it supported unions so they didn’t really listen to it
a. they hired thugs to beat up leaders of labor unions
2. workers took advantage of this by having huge boycotts where they would just sit around and do nothing (called sit-ins)