Analysis

Domestic Attitude

Despite the tragedies that were occurring overseas, many Americans opposed interfering in the European war. Even with the efforts made to refrain from interfering, the possibility of the United States entering the war grew larger. The United States had decided to isolate itself from the war in order to preserve the American lifestyle, democracy, also to prevent further damage and debt that was still seen from the Great Depression and World War I. Known leader of the America First Committee, Charles Lindbergh delivered a speech on May 23, 1941 reflecting on the reasons that the United States had isolated itself in order to try to maintain the citizens in a neutral state of mind in this ongoing war.

Charles Lindbergh began delivering several non interventional speeches as one of the American First Committee leaders, an isolationist group. This organization had over 800,000 members who were in favor of keeping out of the second world war.[1]  He states that, “ our country is not divided today because we fear war… we are divided because we are asked to fight over issues that are Europe’s and not ours…we are divided because we do not want to cross an ocean to fight on foreign continents, for foreign causes, against an entire world combined against us.”[2] A majority of the Americans believed that we had no business going out to war in Europe since this had started on their soil, therefore their problem. The United States was still trying to recover from the Great depression; going into war was only going to cause an enormous amount of unnecessary spending, not only in money but in the lives of the American soldiers.

The second issue that is addressed is the high possibility of not being victorious in this war, and the losses that the country would face. Charles Lindbergh did not believe that, “ our system of government in America can survive our participation or our way of life can survive our participation.”[3] Our fight to try to spread democracy abroad in World War I had failed. Lindbergh knew that trying to force democracy onto another nation would not be successful. Democracy would also be at risk back home, if we were forced onto a war that four fifths of the people voted against.[4] We had a low chance of victory, and that not only would we endanger our soldiers, but also the American lifestyle. The peace that was kept among the nation would be disturbed, and he feared that we would become filled with hate as the Europeans had. We as a nation had to learn to put the country first, and preserve the freedom for which we had fought hard for.

American isolationism was thought to be best for the country in order to preserve democracy, our lifestyle, and to prevent further damage that the country was trying to overcome because of the first World War and the Great Depression. The importance of this speech is because it is not only the opinion of Charles Lindbergh, but it was because he spoke on behalf of everyone who refused to go into war. The popular voice among American citizens may have been enough to prevent us from ever becoming involved in World War II, had it not been for the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

[1] Ranfranz Patrick, “Charles Lindbergh’s Noninterventionist Efforts & America First Committee Involvement,” Charles Lindbergh: An American Aviator, 2014, http://www.charleslindbergh.com/americanfirst/index.asp.

[2] “Speech at Madison Square Garden by Charles Lindbergh,” authentichistory.com, last modified July 15, 2012, http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/1-39-41/19410523_Charles_Lindbergh_Speech_at_Madison_Square_Garden.html.

[3] “Speech at Madison Square Garden by Charles Lindbergh,” authentichistory.com, last modified July 15, 2012, http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/1-39-41/19410523_Charles_Lindbergh_Speech_at_Madison_Square_Garden.html.

[4] “Speech at Madison Square Garden by Charles Lindbergh,” authentichistory.com, last modified July 15, 2012, http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/1-39-41/19410523_Charles_Lindbergh_Speech_at_Madison_Square_Garden.html.

Immigration

During isolationism immigration was an issue that was to be taken in a very serious manner. The bombing of Pearl Harbor became the catalyst that ignited and determined the future of the Japanese immigrants residing in the West Coast. As a result, the United States believed that the only way to have full control of the situation was to gather all Japanese race into specific locations. During this time the U.S was trying to control the amount of immigrants that were coming into the nation so they began to place immigration quotas on Jewish, Italian, and German members. Because the United States wanted to prevent any sabotaging on behalf of the Japanese immigrants, they made the decision to send Japanese immigrants to internment camps disregarding their loyalty as long term immigrants. By doing so, the Issei, first generation of Japanese Americans, became their primary concern for the American Government to keep under surveillance.

The Issei were sent to internment camps regardless of their clear devotion and loyalty to the American Government. The first generation of Japanese immigrants were amongst the oldest immigrants in the United States that did not represent a problem. As stated in the Memorandum on C.B. Munson’s Report “Japanese On The West Coast” on November 7, 1941, “They have made this their home. They have brought up children here, their wealth accumulated by hard labor is here, and many would have become American citizens had they been allowed to do so” (pg.9). Before the bombing on Pearl Harbor the Japanese immigrants did not pose a threat towards anyone because they had made the decision to leave their home country to establish a new life elsewhere. Even during the war the Japanese immigrants sent their children to defend the country in which they have full trust in regardless of being placed in internment camps. “Yet they do break, and send their boys off to the Army with pride and tears” (pg. 12). The Issei demonstrated that their loyalties were with the American people and they showed this honor by sending their children, which were their pride, to defend a country that they believed they belonged to.

The Japanese internment camps were created to keep a watchful and close eye on the enemy. The Issei were first generation Japanese immigrants that made up one-third of the internees in the Japanese internment camps during WWII. As stated in the Memorandum on C.B. Munson’s Report “Japanese On The West Coast” on November 7, 1941, “Entire cultural background Japanese. Probably loyal to Japan. They must be considered, however, as other races” (pg.9). The fact that the Issei were raised in Japan meant that their loyalty was bound to be with their home country, putting in doubt their loyalty towards the U.S. The nation feared betrayal from the immigrants because of their cultural background. “The Issei have to break with their religion, their god and Emperor, their family, their ancestors and their after-life in order to be loyal to the United States” (pg.12). The Americans believed that every aspect of the Issei’s was closely tied to betrayal and they asked that the only way to be completely loyal to the United States was to neglect their origins.

 

 

 

Propaganda

Between the times of 1941 to 1945, the government made several posters to give the public an idea as to how they could do “their part” during World War 2. Many of these posters had the main purpose to fight the war at home as the soldiers were fighting the war overseas. However, instead of creating a supportive system, the United States created propaganda that turned US citizens against their basic constitutional rights.

The particular poster that I immediately thought of was made by Glenn Grohe in 1942 and produced by the Office of Emergency Management. This poster depicts a soldier hunkered over a wall with the statement “he’s watching you” at the bottom.

The first aspect of the poster I noticed was the color scheme. The person and helmet are depicted in black. The only defining characteristics we have to guess the nationality of the man are his eyes and his war helmet. The eyes appear to be Japanese, but many note that the war helmet is German (https://www.nh.gov/nhsl/ww2/ww57.html). This creates an open-ended question because the American public did not know who this person was, or what side of the war he was on. For all anyone knows, he could be someone’s next door neighbor. There was a large anonymity factor that led the American public to become terrified and paranoid of everyone not being who they say they are. This is part of what created the large silence amongst Americans.

The second aspect that helped to create silence among the public was espionage and sedition acts. The espionage and sedition acts were passed by Woodrow Wilson in 1917 and 1918, respectively. Of course, both of these acts occurred during World War 1 but also occurred during World War 2. During espionage, dissenting opinion of war or the government’s actions was not tolerated and punishable by hefty fines and jail time (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3479).  Mail and magazines were censored (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3479). Sedition specified the rules of the espionage act by making it so anyone who spoke out against the United States government or was of another nationality and did not have an American flag in their yard or did not sell US bail bonds could be jailed (http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/482-espionage-and-sedition-acts-of-1917-1918.html). This greatly impacted the freedom of other races during World War 2 and also tied into propaganda. For instance, if there was German propaganda that someone found degrading, they could be jailed for speaking their mind.

Grohe’s poster is an amazing example of how rights were limited, however there were some controversial issues with it as well. The most well-known controversial element was the helmet on the soldier. Some of the American public said the helmet looked like the liberty bell and assumed that “he’s watching you” meant that Uncle Sam was watching over America to make sure that people were doing their wartime duties. This discrepancy created the OWI in 1942, however the poster created the same message: Constitutional rights were being taken away at the price of isolationism.

The poster by Glenn Grohe was one of many that created a loss of Constitutional rights. America became so isolationist that propaganda began to give direct instructions on how to be patriotic. If one spoke out against propaganda, especially if of a different race, they could be deported and shunned from the United States. This was not a drill, this was reality.

Diplomacy

Following the outbreak of war across Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Neutrality Act of 1939. Similarly to the earlier Neutrality Acts of the 1930s, this act kept the United States out of the war in Europe and isolated away from foreign interaction. It differed, however, in that other nations could trade on a system of cash-and-carry, or that nations must pay in cash for their goods and carry the goods away in their own ships. As many Americans did not want to enter the conflict in Europe, this act had given the United States a way of helping the Allied forces while still remaining technically neutral. Although the stated purpose of the Neutrality Act of 1939 was for America to continue trade with European countries while still remaining neutral, this act actually caused America to take a side in World War II because it lessened the restrictions of the previous Neutrality Acts, allowed neutral ships to still buy and sell arms and weapons with America, and allowed Americans to aid and support countries at war through the American Red Cross.

The restrictions of the previous Neutrality Acts of the 1930s made it so the United States would not trade arms and weapons or give any type of monetary loans to nations involved in a war at the time. It also warned American citizens that they should travel to these war-torn countries at their own risk. These acts helped insure that America remained neutral by prohibiting trade and cautioning against traveling to these countries. This attitude changed with the Neutrality Act of 1939, however. The act states that “Issuance of a bill of lading under which title to the articles or materials to be exported or transported passes to a foreign purchaser unconditionally upon the delivery of such articles or materials to a carrier, shall constitute a transfer of all right, title, and interest therein within the meaning of this subsection” (Digital History). This means that commerce, specifically arms and weapons, with countries at war could continue if those countries paid up front with cash and transported the goods themselves.

America again proved to be losing its neutral standing because it allowed “neutral” countries to still trade arms and weapons with America with no restrictions. The document states that the restrictions “shall not apply to the transportation by a neutral vessel to any port referred to in subsection (g) of this section of any articles or materials so long as such port is not included within a combat area as defined in section 3 which applies to American vessels” (Digital History). Many of these “neutral” countries had been supplying countries at war with the supplies they purchased from America with less expenses. By allowing the trade of arms with these neutral countries, America had been supplying the war of Europe with its own weapons. Even if it was unintentional, this sale of arms caused America to fuel the war.

The Neutrality Act of 1939 had made it seem like America had not taken a side in the war, but still allowed the American Red Cross to travel abroad and aid those who were harmed by the war. The Neutrality Act states that “shall not prohibit the transportation by vessels under charter or other direction and control of the American Red Cross, proceeding under safe conduct granted by states named in any proclamation issued under the authority of section 1 (a), of officers and American Red Cross personnel, medical personnel, and medical supplies, food, and clothing, for the relief of human suffering” (Digital History). Even though this was decreed with good intentions, allowing the American Red Cross to travel abroad and aid those who were “suffering” still caused America to become involved in the war in this way. If neutrality and isolationism really was the goal of the American government, it would have prohibited this organization from traveling abroad.

To summarize, the Neutrality Act of 1939 was supposed to keep America out of the war and isolated from Europe, but it instead had caused America to aid the Allied countries at war in Europe. The act allowed countries at war to purchase American arm and weapons, even if they had to pay up front and transport the good themselves. It also allowed neutral countries to purchase American weaponry which could then be sold to countries at war. Finally, the Neutrality Act of 1939 gave no restrictions to the American Red Cross, which aided and healed those who had been injured as a result of the war. Even though the goal of the Neutrality Act of 1939 was to remain neutral and just continue trade, it caused America to take sides in the conflict and become involved in World War II.

 

Military

Isolationism can simply understand as act difference or with anybody else, that is what happen to the United State of America during the early stage of World War II (1939 -1945). After suffered the strategic lost in casualty and mentality of World War I and the great depression, United State doesn’t want to be a part of any world event and move toward to the Isolationism. While in Europe everything is on fire, the Allies desperately needed the support from the US, and the Japanese begin strengthens their military and expands over North Pacific Ocean. Yet America still does not want risk any life to protect peace and freedom.

A series of Neutrality Acts were passed by the congress before the World War II, the key similarity for all of them is to keep the American from involving in any others country’s political, avoid unnecessary military conflict, forbade trade or selling weapon and supply for nation at war, avoid using transportation owned by nation at war. The main reason that Neutrality Acts are created to blame and stop merchants and government that the United State had been drawn to war and suffer unnecessary lost because we supported the Allies by sending them loans and war supply.

However, law are created for people to be broken. President Roosevelt underestimates the Neutrality Acts and does not carefully study the content of Hitler’s war aggression, combine with the event that Japan began to invade China. Allies suffer tremendous loss due to technological advance and brilliant commanders from German, the Great Britain is the last standing member but they are about to fall in no time. President Roosevelt is able to convince the congress to pass the Lend-Lease Act, which allows the US to send weapons, supply, and loans to other countries. The Great Britain with over 40 different nations were received support from the US with promises of a payment after the war. Thing doesn’t go as planned. Germany is the first country used the submarine, German U-boat division constantly patrols the Atlantic Ocean and threaten to sink a great number of US cargo ship. To fulfill the agreement, congress passed another Act called the Vinson-Walsh Act or also known as the Two-Ocean Navy Act, this is the largest naval improvement bill in US history, it basically improve the size of US Naval by 70%. With this new power plus the Allies be able to crank the message code and figure out where are the German submarine are hiding, America is now comfortably getting rid of the dangerous thread and cargo ship will be able to reach destination.

In September 1940, the AFC (American First Committee) were formed. This the biggest anti-war ever formed in America. The AFC have seen through the situation, they believe that the United State is making the same mistake as World War I, we send help to the Allies and eventually end up in the war. AFC have almost 800 000 members and continuously protests the government. The AFC only active until late 1941.

Imperial Japanese Naval launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Japan Military original plan was to take out as many US Navy ship as possible in Hawaii and prevent US Naval from interfering with the expansion of Japan. Yet Japan made a great mistake and turned the tide of the war, due to the attack on Pearl Harbor event Congress receive the majority vote support war. December 7, 1941 declare war on Germany, Italy and Japan.