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Sunday, February 28, 2010

"Isolationism" and FDR (1935 - 1941)

1. What were the goals of the isolationists? Why is "isolationism" a misleading term?
Isolationists wanted to stay in the world but they didn't want to be drawn into war and have to fight in war. They still wanted to trade with other countires. The term isolationism is misleading because America didn't want to fully isolate itself from the world they only wanted to stay out of foreign war.
2. What did some isolationists feel that there was no need for Americans to feel threatened by developments in Europe and Asia?
America was seperated from the troubles of Europe and Asia by the Pacific and the Atlantic and they had friendly relationships with all the countries in the Western part of the world.
3. What were the purposes of the Nye Committee hearings?
The Nye Committee was made to find out why the U.S. fought in World War I.
4. List two impressions that the Nye Committee hearings created.
That bankers were greedy and munitions makers were war mongers. Also that big business drove the U.S. into World War I and they would do so again.
5. What were the purposes of the Neutrality Acts?
The Neutrality Acts were made to prevent big business from suppling weapons and other supplies to countries who were fighting in a war and to prevent Big Business from dragging the U.S. into War.
6. List two reasons that some Americans considered Roosevelt's leadership radical and dangerous.
He was changing the government with his "New Deal" programs. He tried to pack the Supreme Court. He ran for a third term of president which no one had done before.
7. What was "Cash and Carry"?
This allowed countries to buy supplies from the U.S however they had to pay in cash and they had to transport the supplies themselves.
8. Why did President Roosevelt freeze Japanese assets in the United States?
The Japanese invaded the colonies of European countries in Asia and this really angered F.D.R which is why he froze Japanese assets in the United States.
9. What was the purpose of the America First Committee?
The America First Committee was made to help prevent America from going to war with Japan and Nazi Gemrany.

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 were pissed about the Treaty of Versailles. They were one of the more major allies and they were being ignored. All the ideas they made were shot down and were all vetoed.
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?
Japan was annexing and taking over the land around China. This treatened U.S and British intrests in the area. For example the Japanese annexing Korea in 1910 and the Manchuria area from Russia after the Russo-Japanesse war. Also the U.S expanding it's influence in the Pacific worried the Japanesse. For example the U.S annexing Hawaii in 1898 and the territories of the Philippines and Guam gained after winning the Spainish-American War.
3. Why was the Washington Naval Conference convened and what was accomplished? (pg. 6) (Note: Japan signs the agreement.)
The Washington Naval Conference was called by the U.S and they invited other countries to come and talk about the naval threat Japan possed to U.S intrests in the Pacific. It limitied the navies of the nations of the world, made them have less battleships and subs and forbid them from using poison gas. Also it made China its on country and those 9 nations recognized it's soveriengty.
4. The Senate's willingness to ratify the Kellogg-Briand Pact relected two strong and widely held sentiments. What were they? (pgs. 6 - 7)
America could act in self-defense using it's military and that America couldn't be forced into war by having to enforce the treaty. America wanted to avoid being dragged into war and that America couldn't be tied down by alliances.
5. Why did Hitler enjoy popular support in Germany for most of the 1930s? Give three reasons. (pgs. 9 - 10)
Hitler played off of the Treaty of Varsailles and it's harsh treatment of the German people. He gave Germans more jobs and a better economy by systamatically eliminating all minorities or those he considered inferior. He made an attack on the German government so that the people would support him more and so he could eliminate his political rivals.
6. Japan voiced its intentions to invade China for what two reasons? (pg. 10)
Japan wanted to invade China to increase it's military power and for more raw resources.
7. Compare the Reichstag fire and the explosion on the Japanese railway in Manchuria. What did they accompllish?
The Reichstag fire and the explosion of the Japanese railway in Manchuria both accomplished the same things. Both were attacks on themselves. This made the people want to give their government more power to combat the "internal threat" or "inferior people". They both also were ways that both governments justified doing actions that would otherwise be condenmed by the rest of the world.
8. Why was the united States unable to oppose Japan in the early 1930s with a significant military force? (pgs. 11 - 12)
The U.S stupidally thinking that World War I was the war to end all wars and their isolationist attitudes decreased their military forces and their navies. This made them to weak to effectivly fight the Japanese who had been building apon their army and their navy for a long time.
9. Describe the major similarities and differences among liberal democracy, fascism, and socialism. (pg. 8)
All three are governments that are designed to help the people. However Liberal Democracy is the only on where it's truly democratic. Fascism and Socialism are both government systesms where the government takes control of the economy. However, Fascism and Socialism put the needs of the government before the needs of the people and are brutally efficent in controling the people through violence and other horrible means.

Monday, February 8, 2010

New Deal Essay Outline

The great depression wasn't solved by the "New Deal" but the "New Deal" helped solve some of the problems of the great depression. Some of the programs that helped were the AAA, the Wpa, the emergency banking act, and the Securities exchange comission.



Roosevelt face a huge problem with the Great Depression because the great depression affected all aspects of American life. There was no sector of anything that wasn't affected by the Great Depression. It was economic, political, and social.



he helped pass and make all of the new deal programs like the wpa, the emergency banking act, the Securities exhcange commission, and the TVA.

The critics of the "New Deal" were mostly conservatives and the rich. The rich didn't like the "New Deal" because they lost money from many of the programs. The conservatives wanted the country to fix itself which can never work because no two people or more will ever agree on everything. The "New Deal" was definetly made of programs which the conservatives didn't like. The critics of the "New Deal" didn't have the intrests of the people in heart they had their own intrests in mind.