"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.

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.

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.

FDR & the New Deal

1. Describe how people struggled to survive during the depression.
People were being evicted from their homes and being laid off and they were living in Shantytowns or any piece of junk big enough for them to live in and going to soup kitchens and bread lines to have access to food.
2. How was what happened to men during the Great Depression different from what happened to women? Children?
The men who were accustomed to working were worse off than women because they felt usless that they couldn't get a job or provide for their family. Women were able to make food and clothing for their children and their families. Schools were cut and with out good nutrition children were getting preventable diseases. Kids were also trying to find work and tour the country and deaths rose.
3. Describe the causes and effects (on people) because of the Dust Bowl.
The farmers who had farms lost them because of the dust bowl which didn't allow anyone to grow crops because the soil would fly away. So the farming sector of the economy worsened.
Objective: Summarize the initial steps Franklin D. Roosevelt took to reform banking and finance.
4. What was the New Deal and its three general goals? (The 3 Rs)
The New Deal was FDR's promise to give relief to the needy, economic recover, and financial reform.
5. What did Roosevelt do during the Hundred Days?
In the 100 days FDR passed over 15 laws that would help and benift his new deal.
6. Why were Roosevelt's fireside chats significant?
They made the common people think that Roosevelt was talking to them and informing them himself.
7. Describe four significant agencies and/or bills that tightened regulation of banking and finance.
The Glass-Steagall act of 1933 established the FDIC or thee Federal Deposit Insurance Company which provided insuarnce to banks so if they lost money they could get some to relace it. He persuaded congress to make the 21 ammendment which repealled prohibition. He passed the Federal Securities Act which required all companies to state everything possible about their stock. He also helped make the SEC or Securities and Exchange Commisions which regulated the stock market.

Causes of the Great Depression Outline

Thesis: The Wall Street Crash wasn't a cuase of the Great Depression it is an effect of it. The Main cause of the Great Depression were the crisis in farming, Overproduction in industry, the tariffs on trade.

Main Point 1: Crisis in Farming
a. After World War 1 the amount of crops bought and needed went down. b. Then the farmer bought more land and equipment on credit and planted more crops. c. Then the farmers when the price kept dropping they lost a lot more money and their farms were foreclosed on.

Main Point 2: Overproduction in industry
a. After World War 1 the need for war tinme materials like steel and coal went down and those prices droped. When the econmy worsened the companies started laying people off. Then when no one could buy the goods even other countries the companies collapsed.

Main Point 3: Tariffs on trade
a. After World War 1 the European economies were failing. They were putting up tariffs to sell their own goods instead of importing other countries' goods. America did this also. When the German economy dried up they couldn't pay France and Britian any longer and therefore Britian and France couldn't pay the U.S. Then when compaines couldn't export their goods to other countries they collapsed.

Causes & Early Effects of the Great Depression

1. What happened on "Black Tuesday"?
Black Tuesday was the day the stock market crashed and the U.S economy crashed.
2. How did the economic trends of the 1920s in industry, agriculture, and with consumers help cause the Great Depression? (Make sure you include significant details about each area in your answer. It should be at least a paragraph)
The industries like coal and agriculture which Europe and America bought so much of in World War I suffered greatly because the demand wasn't as big as it used to be and therefore they lost a lot of their products and profits causing the farmers and the companies to lay people off and try to salvage what was left. This cause consumerism to go down dramatically because if people didn't have jobs and money then they didn't buy things and be consumers.
3. According to your reading, what are the major causes of the Great Depression?
The causes of the Great Depression were the markets in europe being cut because of them trying to stabalize their economies by making tariffs and having war debts. The argicultural market breaking down and all the farmers losing their land. Credit payments that people couldn't pay put them into huge debt. Finally the gap between the income levels hurt the economy tremendously.
4. What was Hoover’s philosophy of government?
He thought the citizens should succed or fail by their own merit and that the government shouldn't help the people economically.
5. What was Hoover’s initial reaction to the stock market crash of 1929?
Hoover brought all the business, banking , and union leaders together and asked them to try and fix the economy by not cutting wages and hours and by not asking for higher wages.

6. What was the nation’s economic situation in 1930?
The economy was becoming worse and more companies went bankrupt and more people lost their jobs.

7. How did voters in 1930 respond to this situation?
The people voted in more Decomcrats than Republicans.

8. What did Hoover do about the economic situation?
He made the Federal Farm Board which helped farmers increase the price of their crops and the National Credit Corporation which was the nation's largest bank loaning money to small banks therfore helping them avoid bankrupcy.

9. How did the economy respond to his efforts?
The economy still worsened even with Hoover's efforts.