Isolationism and Wwii
Isolationism and World War II
The Unites States attempted to stay neutral for as long as possible when World War II broke out overseas. However, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor forced the US to get involved in a war that would change American society forever. Most Americans strongly supported the war, even though their families and their ways of living changed in an instant when men began shipping out to fight across the ocean.
In Franklin Roosevelt’s State of the Union address in January 1941, he asked Congress for support in assisting the British with funds and munitions in fighting the aggressor nations in the war. He wanted to make it clear that Americans were concerned with the defense of their freedom and they would take measures to protect it. He gives some basic principles of a healthy democracy including jobs for those that can work and the preservation of liberty for all. He says that the world should be founded upon four essential human freedoms which are: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of every person to worship God in his own way, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Roosevelt felt that the US should support those who struggle to gain or keep these rights and that is why we should support those fighting the socialistic aggressors in Europe and Asia. He made it sound like it was the American people’s duty to help these countries gain the freedoms that the people of the US had enjoyed for centuries.
A part of the United States’ population opposed American involvement in World War II. Charles Lindberg was a famous spokesperson for the America First Committee, which was made up of some prominent businessmen and politicians. He believed that the United States did not have a chance of winning the war, and therefore should not become involved. Lindberg told Americans that they had a right to think of their country first and to weigh the chances of success if we were to enter the war. He said that the country should not concentrate on foreign affairs, but instead focus on the building of our own military so no other nation would try to invade our land. Lindberg tried to gain the support of Americans by convincing them that we should be concerned with our own problems and our own economy. He did not think that it was the responsibility of the United States to protect the freedoms of other countries, as Roosevelt did. Helping other nations, in his eyes, would only hurt our own country and put Americans is a war that could not be won.
Though the United States wanted to remain uninvolved in World War II, after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, neutrality was no longer an option. On December 8, President Roosevelt gave a speech and asked Congress to declare war on the Japanese Empire. The president explained the circumstances of the attack and said the attack had been planned days or even weeks in advance. He mentioned