The Pros And Cons Of Joining The League Of Nations

Great Essays
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors, following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris during 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries. After the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the United States had to decide whether to join the League of Nations. The League's purpose was to help maintain peace in the world by ensuring so many nations would not go to war at once again. Despite this fact, people in the United States remained split as the President favored joining the League of Nations and senators like William Borah opposed it; however, joining the League of Nations would have been the right move for the country to take in order to secure a small amount of world peace.

President
…show more content…
He states on November 19, 1919, "[M]r. President, there is another reason....why I shall record my vote against this treaty. It imperils what I conceive to be the underlying, the very first principles of this Republic. It is in conflict with the right of our people to govern themselves, free from all restraint, legal or moral, of foreign powers. It challenges every tenet of my political faith." Borah opposed joining the League of Nations because he feels it is in violation of the Constitution, and, by entering into this union, Borah believed foreign nations would be allowed to dictate American policy, which impedes the right of self governance by the people. This was one of the main objections that congress had to the idea of the League of Nations. They feared it would threaten United States foreign policy of isolationism. The League of Nations was believed to threaten sovereignty and pull the United States into foreign wars. Borah was fearful that by becoming a part of the League of Nations the United States foreign policy would be

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    1. World War I had many different causes including militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and more. To begin militarism, which is the focus on building up and glorifying a country’s military, was a long-range cause of the war. In most of the Western countries, excluding the US and Britain, conscription was being used to create a powerful military. All of this building up of military’s gave people a war-like attitude.…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1895-1920s Dbq Essay

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages

    After President Wilson declared a war, he much rather avoid, Germany had put aside its restraints of law and humanity (Doc. G). Whereas, Germany had agreed to not destroy any more American merchant ships without notice, which occurred after their U-Boat warfare was re-established. This left America in the stance of demeaning its power or joining the war effort to defend their own reputation. In the end of the war, the Treaty of Versaille made President Wilson compromise in numerous situations with one thought in mind, the League of Nations (Doc H). Although a republican delegate should have attended the meeting for the treaty, President Wilson made his appearance and had his intentions of getting what he wanted.…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    If the country of the creator did not want to be part of the League, why would the rest of the countries be forced to follow it? The British cartoon ‘The Gap in the Bridge’ published in Punch on December 1919 agreed with this. It argued that the absence of the U.S.A prevented the League from functioning efficiently. It represented the “keystone” that would lead the League to success. The League was meant to secure world peace, but the majority of it was composed of European powers.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The first of many erroneous mistakes made by Wilson in his attempts to have the Treaty of Versailles ratified by Congress, he blatantly refused the involvement of any Republican representative in his delegation for the Paris Peace talks. He decision to do so put him at great odds with most Republicans, no more so than in the case of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. An esteemed member of Congress, Lodge, the scholar of Washington prior to the arrival of Wilson, was overqualified for a spot in the Paris delegation with his service as chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations during the war. Another promising candidate for the delegation was former president Howard Taft, a long-time supporter of a League of Nation, whose presence would…

    • 278 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    League Of Nations Dbq

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages

    He negotiated to keep to the League, however this allowed openings for imperialism in his idealistic policies. The Treaty of Versailles included about four of Wilson’s original Fourteen Points. Also, varies groups in the United States opposed the treaty because it did not support…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lindbergh Neutrality

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It is the year 1939, and political turmoil is at its height. President Roosevelt has summoned both isolationist and interventionist political parties to a meeting that will be imperative is our country’s well-being. This will be P. Roosevelt’s final attempt to convince congress to amend the neutrality acts, the only thing preventing the United States from intervening itself in the impending war in Europe. Senator Borah is dismayed, stating that there “is no war in Europe” and that “all the hysteria is manufactured and artificial” thus stating that there is nothing to worry about and that there is no viable reason to repeal the neutrality acts. At the time, a compelling amount of citizens is in agreement with the senator, including the influential,…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Disfranchize The 1920s

    • 111 Words
    • 1 Pages

    President Wilson's failure to secure the Senate's ratification of America's entrance into the League of Nations, gave Americans the illusion that it was sufficient to have a major economic role in world affair…

    • 111 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    From 1933 to 1948 Newfoundlanders were faced with the possibility of joining the Confederation of Canada. Some historians speculate that Newfoundland was coerced into joining Canada by both Britain and Canada itself because of the financial issues that Newfoundland was facing at the time. Newfoundlanders were concerned about religion, education, and their children. Some Newfoundlanders were debating whether Britain could legally force them to join the Confederation. Newfoundlanders had both positive and negative reactions to the idea of joining Canada in 1948.…

    • 1889 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    American Identity Dbq

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Our nation was acting on it’s own interests and now had begun to have the power to back them up. Some examples of our growing power was “gunboat diplomacy”, which was when the military and the navy would use their power to get what they wanted, like when we gained influence over Japan. Another name for this was Roosevelt’s “Big Stick Diplomacy” which was the idea that we would use our military power to keep countries from fighting, therefore ensuring peace. One of the main things that allowed these actions was the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine which was written in 1904. One of the lines found in this doctrine, clarifies that “In asserting the Monroe Doctrine, in taking such steps as we have taken in regard to Cuba, Venezuela, and Panama, and in endeavoring to circumscribe the theater of war in the Far East, and to secure the open door in China, we have acted in our own interests as well as in the interest of humanity at large.”…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Wilson was a man of determined means, who worked tirelessly for peace and the League of Nations (282). He was the first president to travel to Europe when he attended the peace conference (282). When opposition arose about him losing dignity by attending the conference, he sent word he was not concerned about losing dignity as this was what he lived his whole life for (282). Wilson did not want to amend the treaty and when it came time to vote, there was not a majority (402). The Senate rejected the treaty and membership to the League of Nations (402).…

    • 1522 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Democratic-Republicans did not agree with this treaty because they believed nothing was accomplished and they did not want to become allies with Britain after they just broke free from them. The point of view of this treaty was that the Federalists wanted to…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    FRONT The Treaty of Versailles is a document of peace terms imposed on Germany after World War I by the winning Allies. The treaty is composed of fifteen parts and was created on June 28, 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference with nearly no German participation. Some of the terms included demilitarizing the German army, so that they would be incapable to start another war.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The League of Nations was introduced to keep peace between countries throughout the world after World War I. All nations were supposed to be members of the League and if any conflict occurs between countries they were to negotiate instead of war. If the League fails then the countries were to stop trading with hostile countries and if it fails then countries could use their army to fight. One reason of its failure was that not all countries joined the League. Germany was not allowed to join the League because of their punishment for World War I. Russia was excluded because of Communism and United Sates didn’t agree to join the league.…

    • 1056 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Peace Built on Quicksand The Treaty of Versailles once referred to as “A Peace Built on Quicksand” due to it’s lacking abilities in keeping peace between nations that have already been through a world war. After WW1, the allied powers came together to create an organization that would create lasting peace between the nations, ironically the League of Nation did the total opposite, it created more chaos and tension between the nations. In 1919 the League of Nations created a treaty known as the Treaty of Versailles. This treaty did anything but promote peace. The Treaty of Versailles after WW1 caused conflict and ongoing tension, it allowed the Allied powers to strip germany of all its rights, it…

    • 1273 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The League of Nations was borne out of collective desire of the nations around the world to prevent war, promote world peace and stability. Not to mention, the unprecedented destruction and death caused by World War I spurred the victorious nations into establishing a system of collective security in the form of League of Nations. The primary motive of the League of Nations was to prevent/deter or address any aggression by a state through collective response from other states, thereby ensuring collective security. By ensuring collective security, the member states aimed to discourage an aggressor nation from waging war against the victim nation through the prospect of the aggressor having to face the collective power of the members who were signatories to the ‘League of Nations’. Along with other objectives such as disarmament, dispute settlement between countries by conducting…

    • 1731 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays