Isolationism
Directly following the end of World War I the United States returned to a policy of isolationism and would follow this policy for the most part until 1941. The First World War proved to be extremely costly in both money and in loss of lives. The United States did not want to be involved in another costly war effort and tried hard to stay neutral but by the end of 1939 when the Second World War began in Europe many American citizens realized that they could not remain neutral for much longer.
Directly following the end of World War I the United States returned to a policy of isolationism and would follow this policy for the most part until 1941. The First World War proved to be extremely costly in both money and in loss of lives. The United States did not want to be involved in another costly war effort and tried hard to stay neutral but by the end of 1939 when the Second World War began in Europe many American citizens realized that they could not remain neutral for much longer.
The following power point presentation highlights the policies and the shift in attitudes that occurred from the end of World War I to the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.
The following short movie shows President Roosevelt making a speach about the United States remaining neutral and not entering the war in Europe shortly after Hitler invades Poland in 1939.
1919 Congress Passes 19th Amendment
Women Can Now Vote
Perhaps one of the most significant changes in the United States during the time period between 1919 and 1939 was the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote providing a happy ending to the long struggle for woman’s suffrage. The fight for woman’s suffrage originally began in the United States in 1838 when Kentucky authorized women to vote in school elections.
In May, 1919, the necessary two-thirds vote in favor of the women suffrage amendment was finally mustered in Congress, and the proposed amendment was sent to the states for ratification. By July 1920, with a number of primarily southern states adamantly opposed to the amendment, it all came down to Tennessee. It appeared that the amendment might fail by one vote in the Tennessee house, but twenty-four-year-old Harry Burns surprised observers by casting the deciding vote for ratification. At the time of his vote, Burns had in his pocket a letter he had received from his mother urging him, "Don't forget to be a good boy" and "vote for suffrage." Women had finally won the vote.
Women Can Now Vote
Perhaps one of the most significant changes in the United States during the time period between 1919 and 1939 was the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote providing a happy ending to the long struggle for woman’s suffrage. The fight for woman’s suffrage originally began in the United States in 1838 when Kentucky authorized women to vote in school elections.
In May, 1919, the necessary two-thirds vote in favor of the women suffrage amendment was finally mustered in Congress, and the proposed amendment was sent to the states for ratification. By July 1920, with a number of primarily southern states adamantly opposed to the amendment, it all came down to Tennessee. It appeared that the amendment might fail by one vote in the Tennessee house, but twenty-four-year-old Harry Burns surprised observers by casting the deciding vote for ratification. At the time of his vote, Burns had in his pocket a letter he had received from his mother urging him, "Don't forget to be a good boy" and "vote for suffrage." Women had finally won the vote.
Nineteenth Amendment
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919.
Ratified August 18, 1920.
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919.
Ratified August 18, 1920.
Section 1: The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Section 2: Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 2: Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
1921 Washington Naval Conference
In 1921 the United States Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes called for a naval conference in Washington to address the armaments race that many had seen as an underlying cause of the First Word War, the first of many steps taken internationally to try to prevent the outbreak of further conflict. The resulting Washington Naval Conference convened in November 1921. In the opening address Secretary Hughes gave a candid speech in which he declared that “the way to disarm is to disarm,” and that the time to begin was immediately. He then proposed a ten-year holiday in the construction of capital ships – battleships and heavy cruisers – and recommended scrapping of additional ships.
This conference also settled many concerns about the Pacific Theater with a series of treaties which was signed by major parties. This included the four-power treaty signed by Great Britain, the United States, Japan and France and stated that they agreed to respect each other’s interests in the Pacific and another crucial treaty referred to as the Nine-Power Treaty which introduced an Open Door policy in China. Those who signed it agreed to respect the “sovereignty, independence and territorial and administrative integrity of China” and to uphold the principles of this policy. This was an attempt to protect China from exploitation.
In 1921 the United States Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes called for a naval conference in Washington to address the armaments race that many had seen as an underlying cause of the First Word War, the first of many steps taken internationally to try to prevent the outbreak of further conflict. The resulting Washington Naval Conference convened in November 1921. In the opening address Secretary Hughes gave a candid speech in which he declared that “the way to disarm is to disarm,” and that the time to begin was immediately. He then proposed a ten-year holiday in the construction of capital ships – battleships and heavy cruisers – and recommended scrapping of additional ships.
This conference also settled many concerns about the Pacific Theater with a series of treaties which was signed by major parties. This included the four-power treaty signed by Great Britain, the United States, Japan and France and stated that they agreed to respect each other’s interests in the Pacific and another crucial treaty referred to as the Nine-Power Treaty which introduced an Open Door policy in China. Those who signed it agreed to respect the “sovereignty, independence and territorial and administrative integrity of China” and to uphold the principles of this policy. This was an attempt to protect China from exploitation.
1921 U.S. Still Fails to Join League of Nations
Upon entry of the United States into the first World War, proposals for the establishment of an international organization to secure peace found powerful support in President Woodrow Wilson. On January 8, 1918, a provision for a “general association of nations….under specific covenants” was included in his famous “Fourteen Points”, which set forth as a peace program for the warring nations. In subsequent messages Wilson emphasized the necessity of erecting a definite tribunal of opinion to which all must submit.
The Covenant of the League was drawn up by a special commission of the Peace Conference, appointed on January 20, 1919. The final draft of the Covenant was approved by the Peace Conference on April 28, 1919.
When the Treaty of Versailles went into effect in January 1920, the League entered upon its formal existence. Twenty nine of the Allied powers ratified the Peace Treaties and thus became original members of the League of Nations. The United States however did not join the League of Nations.
One of the main reasons that the United States did not join the League of Nations was that a certain group of United States Senators opposed to the League, especially Senators Henry Cabot Lodge, William E. Borah, and Hiram Johnson. All American treaties, though promulgated by the President, must be ratified by the Senate of the United States by a two thirds majority. These three senators were opponents of the treaty, and carried on a bitter fight against President Wilson and the League.
The great alarm felt by these senators was created by Article X of the Covenant which read as follows: “Article X. The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the Council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled.” This article, it was claimed, “threw away” the sovereignty of the United States, violated Washington’s last message to Congress to keep free from foreign entanglements, and would forever involve the US in foreign wars to protect the territories of other actions.
These arguments aroused the Americans, and many began to wonder to what extent the League might keep the US involved in international disputes and wars.
President Wilson, in a last attempt to convince Congress to ratify entry into the League, decided to appeal to the American people and began a speaking tour of the country to restore sentiment in favor of the League. He was successful in arousing the people of the Pacific Coast to his support. But the strain of the tour was too much for the President and he collapsed at Wichita, Kansas, on September 26, 1919.
Finally, on March 20, 1920, with President Wilson unable due to health reason to continue the push for the United States to join the League of Nations a resolution of ratification was presented the resolution was lost by a vote of 57-37. Many historian believe that it was the failure of the US to enter the League that made the League weak
Upon entry of the United States into the first World War, proposals for the establishment of an international organization to secure peace found powerful support in President Woodrow Wilson. On January 8, 1918, a provision for a “general association of nations….under specific covenants” was included in his famous “Fourteen Points”, which set forth as a peace program for the warring nations. In subsequent messages Wilson emphasized the necessity of erecting a definite tribunal of opinion to which all must submit.
The Covenant of the League was drawn up by a special commission of the Peace Conference, appointed on January 20, 1919. The final draft of the Covenant was approved by the Peace Conference on April 28, 1919.
When the Treaty of Versailles went into effect in January 1920, the League entered upon its formal existence. Twenty nine of the Allied powers ratified the Peace Treaties and thus became original members of the League of Nations. The United States however did not join the League of Nations.
One of the main reasons that the United States did not join the League of Nations was that a certain group of United States Senators opposed to the League, especially Senators Henry Cabot Lodge, William E. Borah, and Hiram Johnson. All American treaties, though promulgated by the President, must be ratified by the Senate of the United States by a two thirds majority. These three senators were opponents of the treaty, and carried on a bitter fight against President Wilson and the League.
The great alarm felt by these senators was created by Article X of the Covenant which read as follows: “Article X. The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the Council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled.” This article, it was claimed, “threw away” the sovereignty of the United States, violated Washington’s last message to Congress to keep free from foreign entanglements, and would forever involve the US in foreign wars to protect the territories of other actions.
These arguments aroused the Americans, and many began to wonder to what extent the League might keep the US involved in international disputes and wars.
President Wilson, in a last attempt to convince Congress to ratify entry into the League, decided to appeal to the American people and began a speaking tour of the country to restore sentiment in favor of the League. He was successful in arousing the people of the Pacific Coast to his support. But the strain of the tour was too much for the President and he collapsed at Wichita, Kansas, on September 26, 1919.
Finally, on March 20, 1920, with President Wilson unable due to health reason to continue the push for the United States to join the League of Nations a resolution of ratification was presented the resolution was lost by a vote of 57-37. Many historian believe that it was the failure of the US to enter the League that made the League weak
1928 Kellogg-Briand Act signed
This is also called Pact of Paris, (Aug. 27, 1928), multilateral agreement attempting to eliminate war as an instrument of national policy. It was the most grandiose of a series of peacekeeping efforts after World War I.
Hoping to tie the United States into a system of protective alliances directed against a possible resurgence of German aggression, the French foreign minister, Aristide Briand, first suggested a bilateral nonaggression pact in the spring of 1927. The U.S. secretary of state, Frank B. Kellogg, prodded by the American “outlawry of war” movement and supported by those who were disappointed at the failure of the United States to join the League of Nations, proposed that the pact be converted into a general multilateral treaty, which the French accepted.
As a result of Kellogg’s proposal, nearly all the nations of the world eventually subscribed to the Kellogg-Briand Pact, agreeing to renounce war as an instrument of national policy and to settle all international disputes by peaceful means. The signatories allowed themselves a great variety of qualifications and interpretations, however, so that the pact would not prohibit, for example, wars of self-defense or certain military obligations arising from the League Covenant, the Monroe Doctrine, or postwar treaties of alliance. These conditions, in addition to the treaty’s failure to establish a means of enforcement, rendered the agreement completely ineffective.
This is also called Pact of Paris, (Aug. 27, 1928), multilateral agreement attempting to eliminate war as an instrument of national policy. It was the most grandiose of a series of peacekeeping efforts after World War I.
Hoping to tie the United States into a system of protective alliances directed against a possible resurgence of German aggression, the French foreign minister, Aristide Briand, first suggested a bilateral nonaggression pact in the spring of 1927. The U.S. secretary of state, Frank B. Kellogg, prodded by the American “outlawry of war” movement and supported by those who were disappointed at the failure of the United States to join the League of Nations, proposed that the pact be converted into a general multilateral treaty, which the French accepted.
As a result of Kellogg’s proposal, nearly all the nations of the world eventually subscribed to the Kellogg-Briand Pact, agreeing to renounce war as an instrument of national policy and to settle all international disputes by peaceful means. The signatories allowed themselves a great variety of qualifications and interpretations, however, so that the pact would not prohibit, for example, wars of self-defense or certain military obligations arising from the League Covenant, the Monroe Doctrine, or postwar treaties of alliance. These conditions, in addition to the treaty’s failure to establish a means of enforcement, rendered the agreement completely ineffective.
1935 Neutrality Act
In 1934 Senator Gerald Nye of North Dakota began a series of hearings that tried to show munitions makers had made "huge" profits during World War I and were therefore somehow responsible for America's involvement in the conflict. These munitions makers were referred to as "merchants of death". The results of this committee were to provide additional justification for the United States to follow the policy of isolationism. This would lead to President Roosevelt tasking the Nye Committee to prepare legislation that is referred to as the Neutrality Act of 1935. Further Neutrality Acts were passed in 1936 and 1937.
These acts included the following legislations:
- Forbade sale of arms to belligerents. Civilians would enter war zones on
belligerent ships at their own risk (this was due to the many volunteers
who traveled to Spain in support of their civil war)
- Refused immigration from the country of Japan
- Reinforced the United States intention on remaining neutral and
following a policy of isolationism
In 1934 Senator Gerald Nye of North Dakota began a series of hearings that tried to show munitions makers had made "huge" profits during World War I and were therefore somehow responsible for America's involvement in the conflict. These munitions makers were referred to as "merchants of death". The results of this committee were to provide additional justification for the United States to follow the policy of isolationism. This would lead to President Roosevelt tasking the Nye Committee to prepare legislation that is referred to as the Neutrality Act of 1935. Further Neutrality Acts were passed in 1936 and 1937.
These acts included the following legislations:
- Forbade sale of arms to belligerents. Civilians would enter war zones on
belligerent ships at their own risk (this was due to the many volunteers
who traveled to Spain in support of their civil war)
- Refused immigration from the country of Japan
- Reinforced the United States intention on remaining neutral and
following a policy of isolationism
1941 March Lend-Lease Act approved
The United States was determined to not get involved directly in the war in Europe but President Roosevelt took several indirect steps to support the allies especially Great Britain through a Lend Lease program. Through the use of this program the United States provided necessary supplies, ships and arms to the allies (especially Great Britain) which helped keep the allies fighting until the United States actually enters the war. The following movie explains this program in greater detail.
The United States was determined to not get involved directly in the war in Europe but President Roosevelt took several indirect steps to support the allies especially Great Britain through a Lend Lease program. Through the use of this program the United States provided necessary supplies, ships and arms to the allies (especially Great Britain) which helped keep the allies fighting until the United States actually enters the war. The following movie explains this program in greater detail.
1941 August The Atlantic Charter
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill meet aboard the Prince of Wales on August 9-13, 1941 at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. Churchill briefed the President on Britain's perilous strategic position urging President Roosevelt for American intervention. Out of the discussions emerged the Atlantic Charter. The Atlantic Charter was to state the aims of the world's two great democracies in the upcoming struggle and the peace to follow.
President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill meet aboard the Prince of Wales on August 9-13, 1941 at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland. Churchill briefed the President on Britain's perilous strategic position urging President Roosevelt for American intervention. Out of the discussions emerged the Atlantic Charter. The Atlantic Charter was to state the aims of the world's two great democracies in the upcoming struggle and the peace to follow.
1941 December 7th Japenese Bomb Pearl Harbor
This will be covered extensively in lesson 3